A Bespoke Murder (25 page)

‘Choose them with care, Joe. We don’t have the manpower to cover them all.’ After a long sip of his drink, he rose to his feet and picked up Keedy’s empty tankard. ‘Let me get you another.’

‘Thanks, Harv. Oh, by the way, who won the argument?’

‘What argument?’

‘You remember – the one that you and Ellen had earlier today when we called in at the house. When Alice announced her decision, you took it in your stride. Ellen wasn’t happy about that.’

Marmion chuckled. ‘She certainly wasn’t.’

‘So who won the argument?’

‘I suppose that I did, Joe.’

‘You mean that your wife has accepted the decision now?’

‘No,’ said Marmion, ‘I mean that Ellen came to see that my strategy is best. Now that Alice has made her decision, it’s the worst possible time to tackle her. She’s full of enthusiasm for the idea. Any opposition would only encourage her. Give her a few weeks, however,’ he went on, ‘and she may be more vulnerable to persuasion. There’s a long time to go before the end of term. We must bide our time.’

‘You’re a cunning old fox.’

‘My strategy may not work, of course.’

‘I’m sure it won’t.’

‘What makes you think that?’

‘I had a long talk with Alice earlier on,’ said Keedy. ‘She takes after you, Harv. When she’s set on a course of action, she’ll stick to it, come hell or high water.’

Alice was a voracious reader. She liked nothing better of an evening than to bury her head in a book. Ellen did not interrupt her. Though she was sorely tempted to raise the subject of the Women’s Emergency Corps, she held back on her husband’s advice. While Alice was reading, her mother sat beside her sewing basket and repaired items of clothing.
She’d just finished putting a button on Marmion’s trousers when her daughter looked up.

‘Why don’t you say it, Mummy?’

‘Say what?’

‘Come on – I know it’s on the tip of your tongue. I’m surprised you haven’t gone round to Vera’s house and tried to get her parents on your side. If you want to discuss it, speak up.’

‘I’d rather not say anything, Alice,’ her mother told her. ‘We’ve had enough rows about it. It’s time for an armistice.’

‘I couldn’t agree more,’ said Alice with relief. ‘Thank you.’ She saw the trousers. ‘Don’t you think it’s time you taught Daddy to sew on his own buttons?’

‘He’s all fingers and thumbs.’

‘I bet that Joe does all his own sewing.’

‘Is that what he told you?’

‘No – but it stands to reason.’

‘Why?’

‘He lives on his own. Who else would do his running repairs?’

‘What about that lady friend of his?’

‘I don’t think any man would keep a lady friend very long if he expected her to do his sewing. It’s not very romantic. Well,’ said Alice, developing her argument, ‘think back to the time when Daddy was courting you. How would
you
have felt if he’d turned up and asked you to darn his socks?’

Ellen laughed. ‘I take your point.’

‘In any case, Joe doesn’t have a lady friend at the moment.’

‘What happened to the nurse?’

‘They came to the parting of the ways.’

‘When did you discover that?’

‘It was while you and Daddy were in the kitchen.’

‘Did Joe simply come out with it?’

‘No,’ said Alice, ‘I sort of drew it out of him.’

Ellen laughed again. Since she’d been a young woman, Alice had brought home a succession of boyfriends but they never seemed to last long. Ironically, it was the ones Ellen liked most who disappeared first. They found Alice too intelligent and assertive. Her mother had long felt that she needed an older man and the name of Joe Keedy had crossed her mind more than once. It was a friendship she’d be ready to condone but she knew that her husband would have objections.

‘You like Joe, don’t you?’ she said.

‘I always have, Mummy.’

‘He obviously likes you.’

‘Oh, I don’t really think I’m his type,’ said Alice. ‘If I had been, something might have happened long before now.’

‘I rather hoped that it would.’

‘You can’t force these things.’

‘Well, at least you have a clear field now.’

‘Mummy!’

‘There’s no need to sound so scandalised, Alice. I’m only being practical. If a man is involved with someone else, then it’s wrong to set your cap at him. When he’s on the loose, however …’

‘I’m not going to chase
any
man,’ said Alice, firmly. ‘I never have and I never will. That’s not the sort of person I am. Let’s not discuss it any further. I’ve got my book to read.’

Ellen was repentant. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you.’

Hiding behind her book, Alice wondered why she felt so jangled.

* * *

When she said her prayers that night, Irene asked to be forgiven for entertaining such terrible thoughts about Ernie Gill. He’d always been given to boasting and she should have known not to take his words too literally. She’d placed far too much weight on the fact that the incident in Liverpool had occurred on the very day that he returned there. The whole city was full of people with a rabid dislike and distrust of German immigrants. Many of them had already been on the rampage. It would probably happen again. Why should she assume that Gill was guilty of murder on such slender evidence? It was grossly unfair on him. As she got into bed, she writhed in embarrassment at the memory of her visit to the Three Tuns. It would take a long time for her to live it down.

There was nothing sinister about Gill’s arrival in London. Like many other people, he’d come to the capital in search of work. It was what she’d done herself, after all. While she had a sister to go to, Gill had a friend. Admittedly, Brad Thompson lived in a disreputable area but it was only a temporary arrangement. Once Gill found his feet, he would no doubt move to a better lodging. The question that gnawed away at her was whether or not she wanted to see him again. Irene would certainly avoid him in the short term. She needed time to get over the awkwardness of their latest encounter. Gill had his job as a barber to go to and she’d soon be starting at the toy factory. They’d both be far too preoccupied to enjoy much of a social life.

Meanwhile, she could settle into her new existence. She would soon make new friends at work and enjoy Christian fellowship at church on Sundays. It would be a full and satisfying life, free from the dangers of being torpedoed by enemy submarines. She still had nightmares about the sinking. In her waking hours, however, she kept reminding herself that she’d survived, a blessing bestowed on her for
a purpose. That purpose – she felt humiliated to recall it – was most definitely not to make unwarranted accusations against an innocent man. Ernie Gill was her friend. It was time she learnt to trust him.

The car was parked in a yard at the side ofThe car was parked in a yard at the side of the garage. It took them less than a minute to gain entry. Closing the double doors behind them, they loaded the vehicle with combustible materials. The man in the dungarees lit a cigarette, then took several puffs before holding it out to one of h the garage. It took them less than a minute to gain entry. Closing the double doors behind them, they loaded the vehicle with combustible materials. The man in the dungarees lit a cigarette, then took several puffs before holding it out to one of his companions.

‘Here you are, Ernie,’ he said. ‘I think it’s your turn.’

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Harvey Marmion had acquired a well-deserved reputation for being conscientious and few people arrived earlier at Scotland Yard than he did. When he got there next morning, however, he discovered that the commissioner was already at his desk and in urgent need of help. Summoned by a secretary, Marmion hurried along the corridor and found that Sir Edward was besieged by Herbert Stone. The visitor wasted no time on pleasantries. With an accusatory glare, he turned his fire on the newcomer.

‘You’re as much to blame as anyone, Inspector,’ he said, puce with rage. ‘You should have arranged protection for me.’

‘Against what, Mr Stone?’ asked Marmion.

‘There’s been an incident,’ explained Sir Edward.

‘Yes, I heard about the car wheels being removed.’

‘This is more serious, Inspector. Some time in the night, Mr Stone’s car was set on fire.’

‘It was utterly destroyed,’ said Stone. ‘I left it at the garage to have new wheels put on and the windscreen repaired. Somebody broke in for the sole purpose of setting it alight.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that, sir,’ said Marmion.

‘You are indirectly responsible.’

‘I don’t accept that.’

‘Neither do I,’ said the commissioner.

‘The fire at the synagogue was a signal,’ argued Stone. ‘Whoever killed my brother is directing his aim at me.’

‘That’s a rather exaggerated claim,’ Marmion pointed out. ‘I know that you’re closely associated with the synagogue but so are lots of other people. Each of them might feel there was something personal in the attack. My own view is that it’s your brother’s link with it that may have provoked the outrage. When I released the body to Rabbi Hirsch,’ he remembered, ‘he told me that Jacob Stein had been his most generous benefactor.’

Stone shifted his feet. ‘My brother was a generous man.’

‘He was identified with that particular synagogue.’

‘So am I, Inspector – so am I!’

Stone was determined to portray himself as the victim of all the crimes so far committed. Marmion and the commissioner held their peace while their visitor insisted that his brother had been killed as a punishment for him, Herbert Stone, and that the attack on the synagogue and on his motor car were additional acts of persecution. When the man finally paused for breath, Marmion asked a question.

‘Can you name any discontented former employees?’

‘You already know them – Cyril Burridge and Howard Fine.’

‘I was thinking about people who worked for you in one of your
warehouses, sir. As well as being a successful importer, I believe that you have widespread business interests. Can you think of anyone you sacked who might have taken umbrage?’

‘People often make wild threats when they’re dismissed,’ said Stone, flapping a hand, ‘but they rarely act on them.’

‘All the same, I think you should compile a list of names, sir.’

‘That’s sound advice,’ added the commissioner.

‘If you
have
become the target of someone with a grievance against you, then the culprit must lie in your past.’

Stone’s brow crinkled as he went slowly through a mental list. Marmion took the opportunity to exchange a glance with Sir Edward, who was clearly grateful for his arrival. The shop, the synagogue and the car were connected by one thing – fire. The pattern was clear. What Marmion could not fit so easily into it was the murder of Jacob Stein. Was that a parallel crime or one obscurely tied to the others? Herbert Stone came back to life again.

‘I can give you a few names,’ he conceded.

‘That would be very useful, sir,’ said Marmion. ‘And while we’re talking about employees with a potential grudge, why didn’t you tell me the real reason you sent Howard Fine packing?’

‘I don’t know what you mean.’

‘You suspected that he was a homosexual.’

‘Really?’ exclaimed the commissioner. ‘That is a surprise.’

‘It was no surprise to me,’ said Stone, scowling. ‘I saw through his little charade the moment I laid eyes on him. For my brother’s sake, I gave Howard Fine the benefit of the doubt. When the truth became unequivocal, I sent him on his way.’

‘How did he react?’

‘It was with a barefaced denial, Inspector. But it was no use. I
had evidence, you see. I’d hired a private detective to find out if his phantom wife really did exist.’

‘I’m not sure I’m following all this,’ said the commissioner.

‘He tried to pass himself off as a married man,’ said Marmion. ‘It was all a ruse behind which to hide his true sexuality. Not that I blame him for that. People take an unduly harsh view of men with those proclivities.’

‘They should be hanged, drawn and quartered,’ snarled Stone.

‘I don’t think that medieval barbarity is the answer, sir.’

‘I was not having that fop polluting my brother’s shop.’

‘I understood that he was a very skilful tailor.’

‘He was living a lie, Inspector. I exposed it.’

Stone made the announcement so grandiloquently that Marmion could imagine how much he must have enjoyed sacking Fine. He wondered how the tailor would have reacted. Instant dismissal would surely have had a profound effect on Fine and given him a strong motive to strike back. If that were the case, his target should have been Stone and not his brother. Marmion was confused.

‘When he was interviewed by Sergeant Keedy,’ he recalled, ‘Mr Fine claimed that he lived with his parents in Brighton.’

‘That was another lie,’ said Stone. ‘It’s true that he lives in the family house but his father is dead and his mother is in a nursing home.’ He smirked. ‘My private detective was very thorough.’

‘Perhaps you should have hired him to guard your car, sir.’

Stone glowered. ‘I find that remark flippant, Inspector.’

‘Then I withdraw it at once,’ said Marmion, pleased to see the smile on the commissioner’s face. ‘It was only a passing comment.’

‘What are you going to do about last night’s outrage?’

‘If you tell me the name of the garage, I’ll send detectives there to
investigate. Meanwhile, I’d advise you to exercise caution. There does appear to be someone stalking you.’

‘I need a police bodyguard.’

‘I don’t believe that it’s justified, sir,’ said the commissioner.

‘But I’m under threat, Sir Edward,’ wailed Stone. ‘You’ve seen what they did to my car.’

‘That’s tantamount to an attack on your property, Mr Stone, but not on your person. If someone had designs on your life, they’d surely have struck by now.’

‘I agree with Sir Edward,’ said Marmion. ‘I don’t believe your life is in any way in danger. When I urge caution, I’m really asking you to keep your wits about you. The best way to avoid further incidents is to anticipate them. I believe you already have private security at your warehouses. Extend it to your other businesses.’