Fellow Passenger (31 page)
Authors: Geoffrey Household
Tags: #Fiction, #Thrillers, #General, #Suspense
The withdrawal of the prosecution, after all the publicity which had attended Mr Howard-Wolferstan’s arrest and rearrest, was indeed difficult to justify. I venture to suggest that a note of gaiety might profitably have been introduced into the explanations to Parliament and public. In this solemn century, however, no government can afford to be accused of light-heartedness; and, while the fear of ridicule may excuse the indefinite and unhelpful nature of the information given to the House of Commons by the former government, it had regrettably little influence upon the scenes which led to the suspension of Mr Elias Thomas Conger and the appointment of a Select Committee.
That publication of this narrative is desirable I cannot admit; but that misconceptions on both sides of the Atlantic have rendered it necessary I do not deny. Mr Howard-Wolferstan’s permission and that of a former member of my staff were given with a complacency in which patriotism no doubt outweighed the hope of profit; for their joint recommendation was that the manuscript should be printed without alteration or amendment in order that the internal evidence of its authenticity, provided by both style and matter, should be unassailable.
While recognizing the truth of their contention, the publishers have found such exactitude impossible. To avoid causing unbearable distress to living persons, names have been changed where necessary, and the fugitive’s route has been slightly altered.
As regards the extraneous evidence of Mr Howard-Wolferstan’s veracity:
- I have already mentioned that his solicitor received the manuscript directly from Mr Howard-Wolferstan before the release of the latter from the Tower. I should add, perhaps, that the firm of solicitors in question is well known to me, is of the very highest repute and does not normally engage in practice in the criminal courts.
- The Chief Constable of my County has permitted me to state that on November 4th, 1953, at the request of the Metropolitan Police, search was made in the attic chimneys of Moreton Intrinseca Manor and the remains of a pillow-case, bearing the monogram of the late Sir Edward Lockinge, were discovered
in situ
together with three rings, valued at £105 16s. 8d., and a single diamond which appeared to have become detached from its setting.
- The Assistant Commissioner of Metropolitan Police ultimately responsible for the investigation has authorized me to state:
that Mr Howard-Wolferstan’s account of his movements, where it can be confirmed, has been found to be accurate;
that in so far as his voyage is concerned the information given to the police by Lieut. Karlis tends to agree with that of Mr Howard-Wolferstan, especially in Karlis’ second statement given after the death of Mr C. C. Emmassin;
that the sworn statement of the gentleman described in the narrative as ‘Harry Cole’ is consistent with the records of Scotland Yard, but that, since there is no evidence apart from Mr Howard-Wolferstan’s manuscript that the proceeds of the Lockinge burglary were in fact recovered by him and his alleged accomplice, no further action can be taken at present;
that owing to the usual intelligent co-operation between the Metropolitan Police and the Public, Mr Howard-Wolferstan’s bandage was discovered in a coal merchant’s yard near Shadwell Station, and that brilliant and imaginative work by an Inspector of the C.I.D. led almost immediately to the identification of the sweep. Mr Howard-Wolferstan would have been arrested the following day if he had not unexpectedly changed his appearance meanwhile.
I should add, perhaps, that I have no desire to enter into idle correspondence or engage in controversy. My concern is solely with the facts, not with such interpretation as may be put upon them by communists, anti-communists and other religious sectaries. And, if I may be permitted to finish upon a personal note, it is that I myself, unlike the majority of my uninvited correspondents, consider this earth upon which we are privileged to carry out our duties a most pleasurable dwelling-place. Let that be my assurance to those who flatter my colleagues and myself by supposing that we are not only able but resigned to effect destruction which the infinite dangers of a hostile cosmos have, since the birth of the planet, been inadequate to accomplish.