The Toff and the Fallen Angels (13 page)

‘If you can manage to find twenty-two—'

‘Cor, bless you, there's so much short time and redundancy I could do fifty! Get ‘em over there asking for jobs, no one will be surprised. Ok, Mr Ar, you leave it to me. The flipping coppers - beg your pardon, Miss - are the first line of attack, we stand by to pick up the pieces. I'll go over and spy out the land after the pub's closed. Now, how about coming across to the Blue Dog for a couple, Mr Ar? And you, Miss - it'll be a kindness, to prove you've no hard feelings.'

‘Rolly,' said Gwendoline Fell, some time later, ‘I like your friends very much, and they certainly like you. Perhaps I
was
a little hasty when I first talked to you. I think I've reformed.'

‘I don't mind you reforming, providing you don't blame me for it,' said Rollison. ‘I can't wait to read your column in the morning.'

‘If you care to come to Fleet Street, you could see some early editions now,' said Gwendoline.

‘Nothing I'd like more,' said Rollison. ‘But I've an appointment I mustn't miss. Show an unnatural restraint, Gwendoline - and don't follow me.'

As far as he could judge he was not followed by her or by anyone else on his way to break into Sir Douglas Slatter's house. He called Jolly from a call box and made sure Angela hadn't telephoned; so she had Guy Slatter out somewhere in the West End.

And the big house should be empty, although the police were nearby.

Rollison drove past both houses. There were two police cars, and policemen were to be seen patrolling the grounds. The front porch of Number 29 was brightly lit and there was a light on in an upstairs room. Rollison parked not far from the spot where he had left his car that afternoon, and walked by a roundabout route across Bloomdale Square towards the back of the house. There were bright lights at Smith Hall, in spite of the fact that it was midnight, but only one light glowed at the back of Slatter's house, and he judged it to be on a landing.

The police were not watching Slatter's; their fears were for the residents of Smith Hall.

Rollison went to the back door of Number 29, and tried the handle; the door yielded, so Angela had done her job.

An inside door was open and a dim light showed. He slipped inside, closed the outer door and entered a large kitchen which led to the passage alongside the stairs. Landing and hall lights were fully on. He opened the doors of the main downstairs rooms, satisfied himself that they were empty, then went upstairs. All landing lights were on, but the house was absolutely silent. He went into the first bedroom he came to. Obviously occupied, a man's clothes were everywhere, on the bed and on the floor; the door of a bathroom, leading off, was open and water dripped from a shower.

Rollison opened cupboards and drawers until he came to one which was locked. He forced this, without difficulty. His eye lighted on a bundle of letters addressed to Guy Slatter.

Love letters?

He opened two, and each was on the same theme. Both of them were from dead Winifred de Vaux, stating simply that Guy was the father of her child. They went further, and stated with some bitterness that this had happened before to other, many other, unfortunate girls, all of whose illegitimate children Guy had fathered.

Very thoughtful, Rollison went out, leaving the door ajar. He entered a room opposite.

This was obviously Sir Douglas Slatter's room. There was a huge Victorian wardrobe, of some dark, highly polished wood, a dressing table and chest of drawers of the same suite. The wardrobe was where the stockings and gloves had been hidden. Rollison saw a photograph on the dressing chest, of young Guy taken a few years ago. The likeness between the two men had been quite remarkable, even then. By it was a smaller picture - of Naomi Smith.

Rollison left the door ajar, and began to search.

He found the drawer where the stockings had been kept; Angela had left one behind. In another, immediately above it, were ordinary clothes and underwear. Beneath a hanging section were several pairs of shoes, and Rollison took each pair out and examined it.

On one, were mud stains and splashes; the kind of marks there would quite likely be on the shoes of a man who had run over muddy ground - as Naomi's attacker had run. Rollison put these back, and then looked through the clothes. There was a pair of flannels with mud splashes at the turn-ups, some nearly as high as the knees.

He was putting these back when he heard a sudden furious blaring of horns, not just one or two, but half a dozen on different notes. He heard voices, too; shouting and whistling. He went to the window, keeping close to the side, and looked down into the street. A convoy of cars, eight or nine of them, was pulled up in the road, blocking all the traffic in each direction, and youths poured out of them, heading for Smith Hall.

For an awful moment he was afraid the large scale attack he had half-feared had come before Ebbutt's men were here to help. Four policemen appeared in a solid line, blocking the gateway, but three youths rushed into Slatter's drive, and vaulted the wall. They did not go to the front door, but hurled stones at the side door and the windows of Smith Hall, while the honking and bellowing and whistling grew worse.

Rollison ran out of the room, down the stairs to the back door, and saw the youths already on the run; two scared girls were standing at one window, which had a big hole in the middle. Cars snorted and moved off, tyres screeching. From the corner he could see two policemen grappling with some of the youths, who broke away and rushed towards the last car, which was already moving. A man leaned out to drag the youths in, as the cars swung round the corner, engines roaring.

Slowly, silence settled.

Very clearly, a girl's voice sounded: ‘I can't stand it, I just can't stand any more!'

It was Judy Lyons.

Someone began to soothe her, someone else called out: ‘Nor can I.'

The sound of Naomi's voice followed, calm and clear despite the ugly incident.

‘Is anyone hurt? I want to know at once - is anyone hurt?'

No one had been hurt, it seemed, but Judy was still sobbing, her wails low, persistent and hopeless. Rollison withdrew cautiously. The noise of the invasion had died away, even the distant sound of racing engines had gone. Policemen were talking, and police cars had appeared. One man began to report what had happened as the newcomers drew near and inspected the damage to the windows.

Rollison went back into Slatter's house, and hurried up the stairs. As he reached the main bedroom, it occurred to him that he was using the house almost as if it were his own. He crossed to the photographs and studied them, then tried all the drawers in the room. None were locked. He went across to the study, and saw flashlights down below, heard voices through the window. But hardboard had been placed across the broken pane, there was no danger of him being seen if he were careful. He took a pencil-slim torch from his pocket, twisted the top so that it spread a glow of diffused light, then sat in Slatter's chair and tried the drawers.

The top one was open and the keys were in it. Angela certainly made burglary easy. He paused for a moment, feeling a natural reluctance to intrude on another man's privacy; and then he thought of the girls next door, and of all that had happened, and he opened drawer after drawer without compunction, looking through account books and papers. The more he read, the more he realised Slatter's great wealth, and he spent five minutes poring over one book, obviously kept by Slatter himself, for many years. This was a record of houses and land bought and sold over a long period.

Oct. 10th, 192.. Bought 21 Padfield Road, Fulham, SW6 £399

Total outgoings over 40 years £1,070

Total income from rents over 40 years £4,180

Sold, Oct. 1st, 196.. at a price of £5,550

On the opposite page were details of tenants and repairs, and general details about the house, offers of purchase and the amounts involved.

This book had a hundred and twenty entries, of houses which Slatter had bought and sold in nearly every part of London. There was a similar book which covered properties in the SW1, W1 and the WC1, and WC2 areas - at least as many properties, some of them costing a hundred thousand pounds and all sold for at least ten times the purchase price after yielding a substantial income for twenty or more years.

It was easy to think of old Slatter sitting in this very chair and making the entries carefully, with an old- fashioned J-type nib.

Then Rollison came upon a small book, which covered the properties in Bloomdale Street and other streets nearby. Slatter had once owned a whole block of forty- four houses, but had sold them over the years until now he owned only two - this one and the house next door. On the entry for this house was a cryptic:

Offered £45,000 by Bensoni and Tilford . . . refused.

And on the pages covering the house next door, Smith Hall, was a similar entry:

Offered £45,000 by Bensoni and Tilford . . . refused.

Both entries had been made only two weeks ago.

Rollison was sitting back, studying these entries and comparing them, recalling all he could of the firm of Bensoni and Tilford, one of the biggest housing and construction companies in Britain, when he heard a giggle. There was no mistaking it - a girl was approaching
up the stairs,
giggling. Almost at once a man said in a harsh whisper: ‘Be quiet! There's someone here!'

That was Guy Slatter, and he could not be more than ten yards from the open door of the room. But for Angela's warning giggle, Rollison might have been caught red-handed at the desk.

He did not even push the drawer in, but stood up swiftly and tiptoed towards the door. There was another giggle, much more subdued, from Angela. By then he was standing at the wall alongside the door. He heard a footfall, saw a shadow - and it was remarkably like the shadow which he had seen outside the house next door on the previous night.

Very cautiously, Guy Slatter appeared.

He looked across at the desk, and there was enough light for him to see that the drawers were open and books cluttered the desk. The sight made Guy stride into the room, and as he passed, Rollison struck a chopping blow on the back of his neck - the kind of blow that could kill. Guy staggered forward a few paces, then crumpled up.

Angela appeared almost instantly in the doorway, staring as if dumbstruck at the untidy heap on the floor.

Rollison moved to Guy, bent down, and felt his pulse. It was beating, but he was out cold, and was likely to be for several minutes. Rollison went to the desk and put the book covering this property back into the drawer, placing it beneath the one which was already there, as if the burglar had not had time to inspect that before being disturbed. Angela hadn't moved when Rollison reached her. He put an arm round her waist and hustled her into the passage.

‘What brought you back?' he demanded.

‘Guy decided he liked me much better at home. Rolly, I tried to keep him away, but—'

‘Did he give any special reason?'

‘No. No, I don't think so—'

‘Angela, my poppet, I think you'd better come with me,' said Rollison. ‘You can tell me everything on the way.'

Angela hesitated, and then said: ‘I rather like him, Rolly, but I think perhaps you're right. Did you get what you came for?' They were already hurrying down the stairs.

‘I think so,' Rollison answered.

‘Don't I qualify for the CID?' Angela demanded.

‘You certainly collected the evidence,' Rollison said. They went out the back way and walked in the opposite direction to Smith Hall. No one appeared to notice them leaving the grounds by the narrow tradesmen's entrance. ‘What did happen?'

‘Guy had a telephone call at the nightclub,' answered Angela.

‘So he left a number where he could be found after you'd persuaded him to take you out,' said Rollison. ‘So his mind wasn't entirely on you and romance. Did he answer the call at the table?'

‘No, he went out to the foyer,' answered Angela. They reached the Austin A35, and she paused, her voice changing as she asked plaintively: ‘If I get into that it won't blow up, will it?'

‘I'll lift the bonnet first,' said Rollison and he did so at once, so that the clear light from a street lamp shone on to the engine. ‘Nothing there that shouldn't be,' he assured her, opening the door for Angela, then taking the wheel. ‘And was he on edge to go as soon as he had the call?'

‘No, but he kept looking at his watch,' said Angela.

‘What time did the call come through?' asked Rollison.

‘About twelve o'clock.'

‘That was about the time when Smith Hall had visitors,' remarked Rollison. ‘Did he seem pleased or sorry?'

‘Oh, pleased,' answered Angela. ‘I had the idea that he wanted to be away from the house for a couple of hours, I didn't have to persuade him very hard. And although he kept telling me how beautiful it would be to spend the night alone with me, I can't say he behaved like a gallant lover.'

‘When did he say he suspected someone was at the house?' They were moving along Holborn, then, heading for Oxford Street.

‘As soon as we came in. He brought me the back way, and when he found the door open he became suspicious. After all, that
was
natural. Rolly, did you really find out anything that matters? Did you find any other evidence that it was Sir Douglas who tried to attack Naomi Smith?'

‘Good lord, no!' exclaimed Rollison.

She gaped up at him.

‘But—but—'

‘His clothes were mud-stained and the things were in his wardrobe, but he hadn't worn them,' Rollison said. ‘He couldn't possibly have moved at speed, and would probably have broken his arm if he'd jarred it against mine like the attacker did. No, it wasn't Sir Douglas. He could possibly have another nephew who could get into his clothes, and put them back in his wardrobe, but I don't think it very likely.'

‘You mean—
Guy
was going to kill Naomi?'

‘There's certainly a possibility that he was,' answered Rollison. ‘But I don't believe he's the moving spirit behind all this, although he
may
have murdered the four victims. We need to find the influence and the pressures behind Guy Slatter,' added Rollison, as he pulled up outside his house in Gresham Terrace. ‘I wonder,' he went on almost as if speaking to himself, ‘whether there is a Mr Bensoni or a Mr Tilford in the firm.'

‘What on earth made you ask
that
?' cried Angela. ‘The man who telephoned him was named Bensoni. I heard the head waiter say so. “Mr Bensoni is on the line”, he said. I haven't any doubt at all.'