Timetable of Death (20 page)

‘Did he ever talk to you about Miss Lydia Quayle?’

Cleary was emphatic. ‘No – it was none of my business.’

‘Were you shocked when the truth came out?’

‘We all were, Inspector.’

‘Did it cause a lot of upset here?’

‘Yes, it did. But that’s all in the past.’

‘The murder of Mr Quayle has brought it alive again,’ said Colbeck, ‘because Mr Burns is bound to be viewed as someone with a strong motive to kill his former employer.’ Cleary shook his head violently. ‘You disagree?’

‘Gerard would never do such a thing, sir.’

‘Have you seen him since he moved away from here?’

‘Only once – but I don’t need to see him. I
know
him. He’s not a killer.’

‘People can change, Mr Cleary.’

‘Our sort stay the same,’ said the other, steadfastly.

His identification with the gardener was complete. Cleary and Burns were kindred spirits. The coachman refused to believe that his friend was capable of murder. While he admired the man’s loyalty, Colbeck doubted his judgement.

‘Did Mr Quayle ever stay away from home?’ he asked.

‘Yes, sir – he often went to London on business.’

‘Where else did he go?’

‘I don’t know. All I was told was when he was coming back.’

‘Let me ask you a final question, Mr Cleary,’ he said, ‘and I want you to take all the time you need before answering it. On the day of the murder, you took Mr Quayle to the railway station at the usual time. Presumably, he caught the usual train but you are in no position to confirm that. Was there
anything
– anything at all – that was different that day? Did Mr Quayle say or do anything out of the ordinary? Now, please – think carefully.’

The coachman needed only a few seconds to recall something unusual.

‘I could be wrong, of course,’ he warned.

‘What do you remember?’

‘Well, Mr Quayle took very little notice of me as a rule. When he got out of the carriage, he just muttered his thanks.’

‘Was there something different on the last day you saw him?’

‘Yes,’ replied Cleary, ‘there was. He didn’t say a single word to me at the railway station and … I had a feeling that he’d been crying.’

As the wheel of the cab hit another deep pothole, Edward Tallis cursed the fact that Melbourne did not have its own railway station. The drive to the village was an ordeal of bumping, jerking, twisting and sudden lurches that threw him against the side of the vehicle. Every possible hazard in the road seemed to have been explored, leaving the passenger with unwelcome bruises. It was almost as if the driver had set out to injure Tallis. When he finally reached the Hall, he paid the man his fare and left a series of stinging complaints in lieu of a tip. Having introduced himself to the housekeeper, he asked to see Burns in his own domain. The gardener was poring over a catalogue when Tallis appeared. He scrambled to his feet.

The housekeeper introduced the visitor then left them alone.

‘Can I help you, sir?’ asked the gardener.

‘I believe that you’ve met my colleague, Inspector Colbeck.’

‘I spoke to him a few hours ago. There’s nothing else I wish to add.’

‘
My
wishes are paramount here, Burns. I require your attention.’

Burns sighed and put the catalogue aside. He indicated the bench and they both sat down. During his career in the army, Tallis had dealt with a large number of men and developed a knack of summing up a person’s character at a glance. Burns might seem polite and open-faced but the superintendent saw a hint of the unspoken insolence that broke out in the ranks from time to time and on which he’d always stamped firmly. In his opinion, the gardener looked as if he might have a mutinous streak.

‘How long have you worked here, Burns?’

‘Does it matter?’

‘I’ll ask the questions.’

‘Then talk to the inspector before you ask the same things he did. He’ll tell you my history. There’s no point in going through it again. I was honest with him about my setbacks. I’m much happier with my lot now.’

‘Is your happiness connected with the death of Vivian Quayle?’

Burns was jolted. ‘That did give me pleasure,’ he said, slowly.

‘It must have been a cause for celebration.’

‘I’m too busy here to think about such things, sir.’

‘The inspector told me about the weedkiller you use.’

‘I’m not the only gardener who’s experimented with it. I could name two or three. When I worked for Mr Quayle, I used a similar preparation on weeds. Perhaps you should be talking to the head gardener there.’

‘There’s no need for flippancy.’

‘Then I apologise.’

Tallis gazed around. The gardens were spectacular and the man in charge of them was clearly knowledgeable. It seemed unlikely that he’d desert his post to plot the murder of an old enemy. Yet he had a strong motive, access to one of the poisons found in the dead man and was known to have been close to Spondon on the night in question. Added to that was the calculated stubbornness he was now displaying.

‘I’m told that you’re a fine cricketer,’ said Tallis.

‘I used to be.’

‘Did you never wish to play for the All-England team?’

‘Gardening always came first.’

‘But you were encouraged to play the game when you were in Mr Quayle’s employ. It seems that your bowling was the crucial ingredient of the team’s success. You must miss the chance to play to such a high standard.’

‘There are compensations, sir.’

‘In your position, I’d resent the man that took that chance away from me.’

‘I still play cricket now and then,’ said Burns, arrogance showing through, ‘and Mr Quayle had more cause for resentment than me. Since I left, his team haven’t won a single game.’

‘How do you know that?’

‘Gossip travels.’

‘I thought you’d lost all interest in what happens on his estate.’

‘I can’t help it if I hear rumours, Superintendent.’

Tallis removed his top hat carefully and used a
handkerchief to dab at the light perspiration on his brow. His next question came without warning.

‘You’re hiding something, aren’t you?’ he challenged.

‘No, sir, I’m not.’

‘You’re hiding the fact that you’ve kept in touch with your old place of work so that you could be aware of the movements of the man you hated. You’ve been biding your time, Burns, haven’t you?’

‘I’ve not seen Mr Quayle since the day I left.’

‘You didn’t need to if you had a confederate who still worked there.’

‘But I don’t.’

‘We only have your word for it.’

‘I’m telling the truth.’

‘It doesn’t sound like it to me – or to Inspector Colbeck, for that matter.’

Burns was angry. ‘What has he been saying about me?’

‘He thought that you couldn’t be trusted. I’m inclined to agree. It was his suggestion that you might have someone working on Mr Quayle’s estate who reported back to you.’

‘I haven’t been anywhere near the place,’ yelled the other.

‘There’s no need to shout.’

‘I don’t like being accused of something I didn’t do.’

‘Where were you on the day that the murder took place?’

‘You know quite well,’ said Burns with exasperation. ‘I played cricket in Ilkeston then went to Derby in the evening.’

‘But you refuse to say what you were doing there.’

‘I went to see a friend.’

Eyes glinting, Tallis put his face close to that of the other man.

‘Was it a friend or an accomplice?’

The directness of the question made Burns recoil slightly. For the first time, he looked uncomfortable. As Tallis glared at him from close range, the gardener lapsed into a bruised silence.

The visit to the Quayle house had been profitable. Colbeck had learnt far more than he’d managed on the first occasion when he called there. It was the conversation with John Cleary that had been revelatory. He’d made some illuminating comments about his former employer. Colbeck was interested in the news that Quayle often stayed away from home at some unknown location. If the man had been crying on his way to the station on his last day alive, it was highly uncharacteristic. After taking soundings from a number of quarters, Colbeck had built up a picture of a man who savoured power and exercised it mercilessly. It was an image reinforced by the portrait of Vivian Quayle that hung in his house. The man in that, Colbeck recalled, looked as if he’d never shed a tear in his life.

Against the excitement of finding new and important information, Colbeck had to set the discomfort of having Tallis as an unwanted assistant. Apart from the fact that the superintendent would insist on leading the investigation, there was the certainty that he would get under the feet of Colbeck and Leeming. The inspector had devised strategies of dealing with Tallis but the sergeant had not. As long as the older man was there, Leeming would be working with reduced effectiveness, always looking over his shoulder. With the arrival of the superintendent, a complicated case had instantly become even more difficult to solve. If there
was some way to dispatch Tallis back to London, it had to be seized.

Colbeck was still enjoying fantasies about how to get rid of him when his cab rolled up outside Nottingham railway station. After paying the driver, he went onto the platform and looked up and down. At the far end, a smartly dressed woman was perched on a bench. She looked so much like Madeleine that he stared at her for a minute before deciding that it couldn’t possibly be his wife because he didn’t recognise the hat she was wearing. He was about to turn away when she glanced in his direction for the first time.

‘Robert!’ she exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

Fired by his good fortune, he ran the length of the platform to embrace her.

‘What on earth are
you
doing here?’ he asked in disbelief.

‘I came with Miss Quayle. She’s decided to return home.’

Bolstered by Madeleine’s presence, Lydia Quayle had felt confident that she would be given a welcome at the house. As soon as her cab turned in through the main gates of the estate, however, that confidence was replaced by apprehension and, in turn, by cold fear. Her break from the family had been so dramatic and final that she couldn’t imagine that any member of it would wish to see her, let alone be delighted by her reappearance. Lydia was tempted to abandon the visit altogether and ask the driver to take her back to the station. Somehow she fought off that temptation. Memories flooded back to please and unsettle her simultaneously. She passed a glade where she and Gerard Burns had often met in secret, and there were other places that brought their romance fleetingly alive
again. It died instantly as the grotto where she and Burns had been discovered together appeared in her mind’s eye. Her memories darkened at once and she shook her head in an effort to get rid of them but they were too vivid to be dislodged. She had returned to an estate that had held joy and terror for her. When the house came into view, her heart sank. It looked so forbidding.

The cab drew up on the gravel in front of the portico and she needed time to compose herself before she stepped uncertainly out of the vehicle. As she stood alone in front of what had once been her whole world, she felt lonely and unwanted. Someone must have seen her through the windows but nobody came out. The door remained closed as if delivering a blunt message. Lydia waited for minutes. She was on the point of leaving when the door suddenly swung open. Her brothers and her sister stepped out together, staring at her as if she was a complete stranger. The sense of rejection was like a physical blow.

In a flash, the mood changed. Her younger brother suddenly ran out to greet her and threw his arms around her.

‘Welcome home!’ cried Lucas. ‘Thank God you’ve come at last.’

There was so much news for Colbeck to hear that it wasn’t until the train arrived, and she sat opposite him in an empty compartment, that he noticed how pale his wife was.

‘Are you unwell?’ he asked in concern.

‘No, no, I’m just tired after the journey. Trying to keep up Lydia’s spirits has put a lot of strain on me. I do hope that the effort was worthwhile.’

‘She obviously has great faith in you.’

‘I don’t think she’d have come back without me.’

‘I’m glad that you were able to offer her support, Madeleine. The murder of a father – even if one dislikes him – is bound to have a profound impact. She needs to be with the rest of the family at such a time.’

‘Only if they want her there,’ she pointed out.

He peered at her. ‘You’re wearing a new hat.’

‘I bought it the day you left. I needed something to cheer me up.’

‘It’s wonderful to see you again,’ he said, beaming.

‘I had no idea that you’d be in Nottingham today, Robert.’

‘It’s a case of happenstance, my love.’

‘What stage is the investigation at now?’

‘After my visit this morning,’ he explained, ‘it’s moved forward in the right direction. But there’s still a long way to go.’

‘In your first letter, you mentioned that Mr Haygarth was a possible suspect.’

‘He still is, Madeleine.’

‘If he’s the acting chairman of the Midland Railway, you ought to ask him why Nottingham isn’t on the main line. Lydia told me that her father had plans to make it easier to reach by train.’

‘Quayle was a man with vision. Haygarth is merely a man with a vision of power and monetary gain. The one loved railways for their own sake and the other loves them for what they can deliver to him.’

‘Lydia spoke very harshly of Mr Haygarth – but even more so of her father.’ She pursed her lips. ‘Oh, I do hope that she’s reconciled with her family.’

‘What will happen if she isn’t?’

‘Then she’ll try to join me in Derby. Having come this far, I wasn’t going to miss the chance of seeing my husband. I know it was presumptuous of me but I hoped I’d stay with you at the Royal Hotel.’

‘I can’t think of anything nicer, Madeleine.’

She saw his brow corrugate. ‘Is there a problem?’

‘Yes,’ he replied, ‘and I’ve just remembered it. But it’s an obstacle we can circumvent. Superintendent Tallis turned up out of the blue. You can imagine how Victor and I feel.’

‘Doesn’t he trust you to run the investigation?’

‘He always thinks he can do our job better than we can. Stay at the hotel with me, by all means,’ said Colbeck, ‘but be on your guard. With the superintendent on the prowl, you may have to play a game of hide-and-seek.’

Lydia Quayle was so touched by the warm reception she was given that she burst into tears. Her brother Lucas was the most demonstrative of her siblings, putting an arm around her to shepherd her into the house. Agnes rose to a kiss on the cheek and even Stanley, aloof though he was, abandoned his earlier hostility and raised no objection to her return. The domestic servants who glimpsed her were thrilled to see her and rushed off to spread the news of her return. But the major test was the reunion with her mother. Having heard from the others how poorly the old woman was, she went upstairs on her own and tapped on the door of her mother’s bedroom. Since there was no response, she let herself in and heard a gentle snore. Not wishing to disturb her mother’s sleep, she sat beside the bed and waited, noting the bottles of medicine and boxes of tablets on the bedside table. Her
mother was even older and feebler than she remembered.

The others had insisted she went into the room on her own. Though Lydia had been grateful at first, she now wished that they’d been with her so that her mother would awake to see familiar faces instead of one she had learnt to forget. It might have been better if Lydia had been seen as part of the family again instead of as a lone visitor from the past. The longer the wait, the more uncomfortable she became and the greater the urge to tiptoe out of the room to summon help. When she tried to move, however, she seemed to be bolted to the chair. There was no escape.

It was half an hour before Harriet Quayle stirred. She opened watery eyes.

‘Is that you, Agnes?’ she whispered.

‘No, Mother, it’s not. It’s me – Lydia.’

‘Who?’

‘It’s Lydia, your daughter,’ she said, putting her face closer. ‘I came back.’

Harriet was confused. ‘Am I dreaming?’