“And it makes you sick to think of it, and you’ve been through the wringer. I’ll type it while you shut your eyes. Your Frenchman doesn’t need chapter and verse, just the facts.”

*   *   *

As it happened, the courier did not hear her alarm. She woke after four hours, annoyed at the delay.

I was glad Harriet was there to wave her off. The sight of a young woman setting off on a motorbike to ride over two hundred miles was something she ought to see. Barring some accident, our painstakingly gathered statements and my letter would be delivered safely.

*   *   *

“Is our case nearly finished?” Harriet asked.

“We have done all we can—or almost.”

“What else is there to do?”

“Oh not a great deal, some loose ends.”

The loose ends included interviewing Kevin O’Donnell, nickname Giant Jack, and discovering whether Eliot Dell and Gertrude had been found and questioned.

When the telephone rang, Harriet went to answer it. I heard her saying, in her best telephone voice, “Just a moment, I will bring Mrs. Shackleton to the telephone.”

I was shifting myself from the sofa when she came back in. “It’s Chief Inspector Emsley.”

This might be what I was waiting for.

He spoke in a flat tone of voice. “The two people in question had gone from the house when you arrived. They were on their way to Manchester for a meeting with potential investors, and from there to London.”

“But you saw what happened. And they were seen leaving.”

“There are conflicting accounts. Mr. Dell’s bailiff was nearby and confirms that they left before you arrived.”

“And you accept that?”

There was a long pause. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Shackleton.”

So was I. And so would be Stephen Walmsley, still in his cell, awaiting the trial that loomed closer.

Chapter 58

Chapter Fifty-Eight

At Benjie’s request, Raynor booked a first class carriage to transport Sykes, Mr. and Mrs. Arkwright, Milly and me to Liverpool Lime Street, and two first class carriages to bring us and the orphans back. They would stay at Thorpefield Manor. Eliot Dell and Gertrude had wriggled out of sight. Not knowing where they were or what they were up to left me feeling uneasy.

Raynor drove over to bring Sykes’s and my rail tickets. He could have put them in the post, but this way we could talk.

“Raynor, if you know where Gertrude and Eliot are staying, tell me.”

“That’s what Mr. Emsley of CID would like to know.” He was unruffled. “These things have a way of working themselves out.”

“So far the workings out have led to murder and attempted murder.”

“That is rather difficult, but the police are still investigating. The house has been searched. The Lord Lieutenant asked to see Mr. Brockman. I drove him there. The sadness in his eyes after that meeting was almost unbearable. We do not know how this will end.”