The Loss of the Jane Vosper (33 page)

He had more cause for suspicion than he knew of. Taking cover behind a shed was Tanner, and at the entrance, chatting with a stevedore, was Shaw. French held up his handkerchief at the porthole and was glad to see that each of the other men took his handkerchief from his pocket and gave it a slight wave before putting it to its predestined use.

Then suddenly French felt a thrill of pure satisfaction. A middle-aged man of medium height, with a firm jaw and an intelligent expression, had strolled on to the wharf and had stopped in a casual way to light a cigarette. One glance at him was sufficient. It was Henty, the lorryman of Morgan & Trusett’s, and almost certainly the man who had helped to cart the timber to the shed and Cruttenden’s most frequent caller at the house at Pinner!

French was at once faced with a problem which clamoured for immediate settlement. Here were his two suspects. Should he make sure of them while he could? He had sufficient force to do it.

For a moment he was tempted to act, then wiser counsels prevailed. He did not know that only these two men were in the thing. It behooved him to make sure. If he moved now, he would probably never know. Besides, Tanner and Shaw might misunderstand his change of plan, and there might be a hitch in the arrests. No, for better or worse, he would stick to his programme.

The
Kursk
was a purely cargo ship, and Cruttenden was the only passenger. He had, as a matter of fact, signed on as steward to keep within the letter of the law. As soon as the gangway was in place he went ashore, carrying two small suitcases. In them, French was certain, were somewhere about 100,000 one-pound Bank of England notes.

As the man passed down the gangway, French again fluttered his handkerchief. Shaw nodded to his acquaintance and left the wharf in advance of the quarry, while Tanner came to life and moved round the corner of his shed. Henty had also gone towards the exit. Soon all four had disappeared, Cruttenden, obviously unconscious of his position, between the others.

Directly the coast was clear French hurried off the ship, and in the Borough High Street was just in time to see Tanner hailing a taxi. By a stroke of luck another was coasting past at the moment, and French jumped in and told the man to follow Tanner’s.

The chase led through the High Street and Borough Road into Waterloo Road, and up to the station. There, discreetly shadowed by their two satellites, Cruttenden and Henty moved towards the booking office. Cruttenden bought a ticket, and the two men disappeared into an electric train.

Shaw, after a word with the ticket examiner, sprinted for tickets, while French joined Tanner, and with platform tickets both men went through the barrier, so that if the quarry attempted any diversion, they should not be left unattended. But they made no move. Shaw presently arrived back with the tickets and, openly joining forces, the three officers got into a compartment in the last coach.

The train was a local to Surbiton and stopped at every station. At each halt Shaw cocked out an eye, but for a considerable time there was no sign of the quarry. Then at Raynes Park the two men got out and, without looking round, left the platform.

The others were not far behind them, Shaw keeping to the front and French, whom both men had seen, dropping behind. In the open, however, there was not such need for care, as it had grown practically dark.

On the approach to the station a private car was parked. Cruttenden and Henty got in, started the engine, and drove off towards the south. There was no other vehicle in sight.

‘Damn it,’ cried French, ‘we can’t afford to lose them.’ He rushed out into the road and looked quickly up and down. From the direction of Town a car was approaching, empty save for the driver. French hailed it.

‘Officers from Scotland Yard,’ he cried. ‘We’re after a man in that car – a murder case. A lift, please, as quick as you can.’

Whether the driver was aware that the police have the right to call on civilians for assistance in emergencies, or whether he was of sporting tendencies and the idea of a chase appealed to him, he nodded, and while the three men wrenched open the doors, he set his gears. As they leapt on the running-board he let them in and the car bounded forward.

The other car had by this time disappeared round a bend, but when they swung round in their turn, French caught sight of its rear light far ahead.

‘What about the speed limit?’ queried the driver as he manoeuvred round a lorry.

‘You needn’t exceed,’ said French. ‘They’ll go well within it so as not to risk being held up.’

Their assistant was a skilful driver, and the needle of his speedometer never rose above thirty nor fell below twenty-nine. Steadily they overhauled the other, whose speed seemed to be about twenty-four or twenty-five. The chase led towards such country as obtains in that district, and presently the car ahead turned into the drive of a small detached house.

‘Splendid!’ said French. ‘Drive past and let us out at the corner.’

French took their good Samaritan’s name, so that an official letter of thanks for his services should be written him, then, bidding him a cordial good night, saw that he drove away. The three officers crept slowly back to the house.

It was a square-built structure standing in small grounds thickly planted over with shrubs. These made it wonderfully private, considering how close were its neighbours on either side. The drive had a wide sweep and the shrubs blocked the view of the door from the road. A light shone through the fan-light of this door, but all the front windows were in darkness.

The three men advanced up the drive, keeping as much in the shadow of the bushes as possible. It was now so dark that there was very little chance of their being seen, unless someone actually left the house. However, French did not want to run any risks, and they took cover as if it were broad daylight.

The wind had died down and the sky had cleared. Luckily there was no moon, though the stars were shining brightly. It was bitterly cold; if it was not actually freezing it would do so before long. The men shivered as they huddled uncomfortably behind the bushes. All devoutly hoped their vigil would not last long.

They had waited only a very few minutes when a light sprang up in a window on the left side of the house.

Motioning the others to remain where they were, French crept forward to investigate. But he was immediately disappointed. The window was fitted with a blind, which was drawn down so fully as to prevent any view into the room. The window, moreover, was tightly shut, and no sound could be heard.

French saw that to remain where he was would be simply to waste his time. He therefore tiptoed back to the others, warned them to keep a sharp look-out and let no one get away, and explained that he was going to ring up for help to rush the place.

He had noticed a telephone booth at a corner not long before they reached the house, and hurrying back, he called up the local police station. Explaining what he proposed to do, he obtained the local superintendent’s blessing, and asked for a local man in uniform to be sent to work under his instructions. Then he got on to the Yard and demanded reinforcements.

Till these forces arrived there was nothing to be done but watch. The local man was the first to put in an appearance, and him French stationed behind a bush where he could be called on when required. The others could not turn up for another fifteen or twenty minutes. Having adjured everyone to maintain complete silence, French took cover again.

His precautions proved themselves justified when, not five minutes later, a car turned into the drive and pulled up beside the other one in front of the door. Two men got out, rang, and were presently admitted. From his hiding-place French could not see them clearly, being satisfied only that there were two, and that both went into the house.

This put another complexion on the affair, better in the sense that if there were a gang, all the members might be taken, worse because it would not be possible to take four men so easily as two. If the four were armed, an arrest might be a costly business enough. He wondered would he be wise to risk it with the force at his disposal.

A few seconds’ reflection showed him that he would not. If any of the men got away he would be seriously to blame for having done so. With a word of explanation he returned to the telephone booth, and once again ringing up the local station, asked for four men to surround the house during his operations.

He was a good deal surprised by the arrival of the two visitors. So far as he had ascertained, only two had functioned – Cruttenden and Henty. If these other two had taken an active part in the affair, he could not imagine what they had done. And it was unlikely that they would be given a share in the proceeds if they had not had one in the work.

For a moment he thought they might be capitalists who had financed the scheme, but he soon remembered that Cruttenden’s bank account showed that he had paid out what appeared to be the necessary sums for this purpose. No, this did not seem to be the explanation, and the development puzzled him.

However, this was not the time to try to think out puzzles. Or, rather, he had to solve a more pressing one of a different nature. How was he going to arrest four – or perhaps more – men, probably armed and certainly desperate, without getting some of his men shot?

He had a scheme in his mind, but he was not now sure that it was good enough. It was to help in it that he had sent for the local policeman. He tried to think of something better. But before he could do so the four local constables arrived, followed in a few seconds by two cars from the Yard, and it was too late to change his plans.

He had been watching out for the reinforcements, and, telling the constables to wait at the gate, he waved the drivers round the next corner, lest the sound of cars pulling up at the gate should be heard. Including the drivers, five fresh men had come, so that there were now thirteen available for the attempt.

French was not altogether happy about making the attempt with so few, particularly as according to his scheme seven would be employed outside the house, and therefore only six could enter. However, his scheme also provided for getting one of the enemy outside, so that the numbers of those within should be depleted to this extent. For some minutes he weighed the matter, then he decided to try his luck.

He began by placing the four local constables round the house, with instructions to hold anyone who might break away from the attackers. Then, calling the others together, he instructed them in their parts. When they had repeated the directions and he was sure that they understood what was expected of them, all but the single local constable crept forward and took cover behind some bushes just beside the door. Tanner then moved out to the left corner of the house, close to the lighted window, while another man hid round the corner to the right. French crept stealthily about, seeing that all were posted correctly, and making sure in particular that the little group of his immediate followers were out of sight of the door, though close enough to rush in at a moment’s notice.

Though his heart was beating somewhat more rapidly than usual, French felt perfectly cool and sure of himself. There was a certain amount of danger in what they were undertaking, but personal danger did not greatly worry him. What he did fear was losing any of the others, either of the criminals or of his own men. If Cruttenden or Henty or their visitors got away or committed suicide, it would be a serious matter for him, while if one of his helpers were killed or injured he would never forgive himself.

It was profoundly still as he moved about, making sure that all was right for the attempt. The road was far removed from the main thoroughfares with their ceaseless roar of traffic. The wind had fallen completely, and for the moment no trains seemed to be passing on the railway. Save for a faint starlight, it was now pitch dark. There was no need to delay any longer.

Satisfied at last that everything was ready, he gave a whispered warning to be ready and flashed his torch three times in the direction of the gate. Then, setting his teeth, he waited, his nerves on edge with suspense.

This was the signal to the local constable to begin operations, and very well he responded. There came the sound of running footsteps, first on the footpath and then on the drive, and the man rushed up to the door, rang with one hand and thundered with the knocker with the other. Presently hurrying steps were heard within, and the door was thrown open. A man peered out. French could see from the light in the hall that it was Henty.

The constable gave him no time to look about him. ‘Fire!’ he shouted urgently. ‘Your house, sir! At the back! Come round!’

He led the way to the right and Henty, taken by surprise, rushed after him. French, knowing that he would be held by the constable and the man waiting round the corner, stood still for a moment. Then as there was no further sign from the house, he hurriedly tiptoed into the hall, followed by all his men except Tanner.

He had rather expected this development. All the men might, of course, have rushed out, in which case he would have taken them at a disadvantage with his group. But he imagined they would remain silently in that room with the lighted window, so as not to betray their presence unnecessarily. Doubtless, if the alleged fire proved serious, they would slip away unnoticed in the confusion.

But this immobility involved using the second plan which French had prepared and which he was now about to put into operation.

The front door led into a smallish hall, with two doors on either side and the staircase rising from the back. All the doors were shut, but from the arrangement of the windows outside French realized the lighted room was reached by the second door to the left. He silently grasped the handle, while his followers crowded behind him. There for a breath they waited.

Then they got their signal. There was a tremendous crash from within. Tanner had carried out his orders and heaved a large flowerpot through the window. Before the reverberations died away French threw open the door and dashed in, followed by his six officers.