Peril on the Royal Train Read online

  ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘Think it through,’ he advised. ‘They limited the disaster on purpose. That suggests to me that it’s not an isolated phenomenon.’

  ‘Then what is it, sir?’

  ‘I fancy that it might simply be a precursor.’

  Leeming started. ‘There’s going to be another crash?’

  ‘They’re saving that gunpowder for some reason. What we witnessed at the site was an experiment. They wanted to see if they could contrive a railway accident without going too far. In short, it was a rehearsal.’

  ‘A rehearsal for what, sir?’

  Lips pursed and teeth gritted, Colbeck inhaled deeply through his nose.

  ‘I dread to think,’ he said.

  Bella Drew had never beheld so much money. It was only a fraction of the advertised reward but that didn’t trouble her. It was cash in hand and Farr had earned it. She brushed aside his apology that he didn’t have the full amount he’d promised. In her eyes, he was a hero who’d helped to catch two criminals. They met on the hillside and shared a meagre repast. While he munched his bread, she held the banknotes and stared at them in awe. Farr was beset by guilt.

  ‘I shouldnae have done it,’ he said.

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘I hate railways. If people steal from ’em, I ought to wish ’em guid luck and no’ help the p’lice catch them.’

  ‘But ye thought they’d caused tha’ crash, Jamie.’

  ‘Aye, I did.’

  ‘It was right to tell what ye’d seen.’

  ‘That wasnae why I did it.’

  ‘Why else?’

  ‘It was for ye, Bella.’

  It was the closest he’d ever get to a declaration of love but it had an instantaneous effect. The unspoken and unresolved affection that had been lying dormant for years now came bubbling to the surface. She flung herself into his arms and kissed him on the lips. He responded at once, mutual passion atoning for their clumsiness and lack of experience. They held each other tight for a long time. Feeling excluded, Angus began to whine. Farr released her and patted the dog. Bella looked down at the money again.

  ‘We could buy a wee cottage wi’ this,’ she said, covetously.

  ‘We could buy a lot more with four hundred pounds.’

  ‘There’s no’ a hope of getting tha’, Jamie.’

  ‘There is,’ he said. ‘They’ve no’ caught them as set off tha’ explosion. Inspector Colbeck told me to keep ma eyes peeled – and ye must do the same, Bella. There may be clues still lying aboot. We might even catch sight of the men the p’lice are after. Someone has to get tha’ reward. Why no’ us?’

  By way of an answer, she kissed and hugged him again. Farr eased her down onto the grass. Angus’s protest went unheard.

  Not for the first time, Madeleine felt a surge of admiration for her father. She was exhausted by what seemed like an interminable train journey yet she was in the relative comfort of a first-class carriage. When her father had spent lengthy periods on a train every working day, he’d been standing on the footplate. His strength and endurance had been remarkable. Once they’d crossed the border into Scotland, his gaze had been fixed on the window, taking in the glorious sights that floated past and showing a particular interest in the ascent to Beattock Summit. It set off a series of reminiscences about steep gradients he’d had to negotiate on the LNWR. While half-listening to his commentary, Madeleine had been capturing memories of her own in her sketch pad, attempting landscapes for once then drawing quick sketches of a station whenever they pulled into one. It helped to pass the time and to distract her from the increasing discomfort.

  When they reached Glasgow, they asked for directions to the headquarters of the Caledonian and went there by cab. Though it was mid evening, John Mudie was still on duty there and told them where they might find Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming. Another cab ride took them to the Strathallan Hotel and they arrived in time to see the detectives emerging from the dining room. Dropping her valise, Madeleine ran across the lounge on her toes.

  ‘Robert!’ she exclaimed.

  He took her in his arms. ‘Where did you come from?’ he asked in amazement.

  ‘Aren’t you pleased to see me?’ she teased.

  ‘I’m delighted.’

  ‘And so am I,’ said Leeming. He nodded to her father who’d walked over to join them. ‘Good evening, Mr Andrews.’

  ‘Do they serve a decent beer here?’ said Andrews.

  ‘I can recommend it.’

  When he heard that they had some important news, Colbeck took his visitors to an unoccupied reading room. After drinks had been ordered, they sat in a corner. Madeleine and her father took it in turns to tell their story. The detectives had met Archibald Renwick in the course of a previous investigation and they were intrigued to hear about the burglary at his house. Andrews wanted his moment of fame.

  ‘I was the one who realised the danger,’ he insisted. ‘Maddy was about to go off to bed without a second thought. It was me who saw the connection with the royal family. That’s why I went straight round to the house and why we caught the earliest train to Glasgow.’

  ‘We’re very grateful to you,’ said Colbeck.

  ‘Does that mean we were right to come?’ asked Madeleine.

  ‘Yes, it does – though I’m surprised that you didn’t take the easier alternative of passing on your concerns to Superintendent Tallis.’

  ‘If we’d gone to Scotland Yard, I’d never have seen you.’

  ‘And I’d never have had the chance to go up Beattock Bank,’ said Andrews. ‘I’ve heard so much about it over the years.’

  ‘I went up with my eyes closed,’ admitted Leeming.

  ‘Then you missed a treat, Sergeant.’

  ‘Going back to what you’ve told us,’ said Colbeck, ‘I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done. Especial thanks must go to my father-in-law, of course. If he hadn’t been such an exceptional driver, he’d never have been invited to that dinner with the general manager and wouldn’t therefore have even heard of the burglary.’

  ‘There you are, Maddy,’ said her father. ‘It was all down to me.’

  ‘Not entirely – it was Madeleine who noticed how uneasy Mrs Renwick was and who elicited the reason. Neither the lady nor her husband divined what might turn out to be the true motive behind the burglary.’

  ‘It is the true motive. I’m certain of it.’

  ‘I think you’re right, Mr Andrews,’ said Leeming.

  ‘Yes,’ said Colbeck, ‘and you’ve put invaluable information into our hands. Preventing a crime is far better than solving one after it’s been committed and we’re now in a position to prevent one of the most unspeakable crimes of all.’

  ‘Are we, sir?’

  ‘Yes, Victor.’

  ‘But we’re tied up in Scotland,’ said Leeming, ‘investigating another crime. We’ll have to pass on what we’ve been told to Superintendent Tallis.’

  Colbeck smiled. ‘Have you forgotten what we discussed earlier?’

  ‘No – we discussed what to have on the menu.’

  ‘I’m talking about gunpowder.’

  ‘Oh, that. Yes, of course. I see what you’re getting at now.’

  ‘I’m afraid that I don’t,’ said Madeleine.

  ‘Nor me,’ added Andrews.

  ‘How could you?’ said Colbeck. ‘The explosion that brought us to Scotland in the first place was caused by gunpowder stolen from an army barracks. I’m informed that an appreciable amount was taken, far more than was necessary for the scheme in hand. Why did the thieves take more than they needed?’

  ‘They made a mistake.’

  ‘No, Mr Andrews, they didn’t. People who know how to handle gunpowder don’t make mistakes because they have a tendency to be fatal. They know exactly how much to use for a specific purpose.’

  ‘I don’t follow you, Robert,’ said Madeleine.

  ‘They retained enough to commit a secondary outrage.�
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  She was a horror-struck. ‘Do you mean what I think you do?’

  ‘I’m afraid so.’

  ‘I’ve just remembered that phrase you used earlier,’ said Leeming. ‘You said that the train crash wasn’t an isolated crime.’

  ‘In the light of what we’ve heard,’ said Colbeck, ‘that’s palpably true. It was a rehearsal for a bigger and more daring crime. The same people are behind both. What they are planning is an attack on the royal family during their journey to Balmoral.’

  ‘Then there’s a simple way to foil it,’ said Madeleine.

  ‘Yes,’ said Andrews. ‘Pass on the warning and they can cancel the trip. The royal family would be perfectly safe then.’

  ‘But they wouldn’t,’ Colbeck pointed out. ‘These people are determined to achieve their aim. If they’re baulked this time, they’ll plan another assassination. As long as they’re at liberty, the threat over the royal family will remain.’

  ‘I agree with the inspector,’ said Leeming. ‘The arrangements must stay in place. They must take the train to Balmoral on the day already decided.’

  ‘But that would expose the royal family to an attack,’ protested Madeleine. ‘You’d never want to do that, surely?’

  ‘It may be the only way to catch these villains,’ reasoned Colbeck. ‘They’re unaware that their plot has been uncovered and that gives us a huge advantage. We must find out when the royal train is due to leave and ensure that it does so without any danger to its illustrious passengers.’

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Edward Tallis had his faults but nobody could question his devotion to duty. He always arrived early at Scotland Yard and departed late, sustaining himself throughout the day with frugal meals and an occasional cigar. His stamina was legendary. As younger men began to flag, he carried on with unabated gusto. It was just as well because crime was never-ending in the capital. A string of cases passed ceaselessly across his desk and, with so few detectives to deploy, he had to decide which of the crimes merited intervention from Scotland Yard. Once he’d initiated an investigation, he liked to keep abreast of it and his desk always had a pile of progress reports on it. One of them had come from Robert Colbeck and, when Tallis reached the end of another day, he picked it up and read it once more through jaundiced eyes.

  Taken on its own terms, it was a shining example of how a report should be written. It was concise, highly literate and blessed with legible calligraphy. As a rule, Tallis enjoyed reading anything sent to him by the inspector. This time, however, there was a problem. A letter had arrived that morning from the general manager of the Caledonian Railway and its tone was markedly different. Putting the letter beside the report, Tallis picked out the discrepancies. Where Colbeck was optimistic, Craig voiced his serious disappointment. The report talked of valuable evidence yet the letter claimed there was a dearth of clues. And so it went on. Studying them side by side, it was difficult to believe that they referred to the same case.

  Reaching for a cigar, Tallis bit off the end and spat it into the wastepaper basket. He lit the cigar and puffed hard, intensifying the glow until the flame got a purchase. He was soon wreathed in comforting smoke.

  After reading the report one last time, he used the cigar to set light to it.

  ‘What are you up to, Colbeck?’ he growled.

  The shock of seeing his wife appear out of nowhere had given way instantly to a sense of overwhelming pleasure. Colbeck was ecstatic. Madeleine had not only banished his feeling of being hopelessly cut off from her, she and her father had provided evidence that moved the investigation on to a different level. As so often in the past, chance had contrived what hard work and an acute analytical brain had failed to supply. Colbeck was duly chastened. He had toyed with the notion that the crash was only one part of a much bigger criminal enterprise but it had never entered his mind that what he was actually investigating was a plot to kill Her Majesty, the Queen and her family en route to Balmoral. What seemed incredible at first glance took on more and more certainty as he weighed the evidence.

  For the time being, however, even so monstrous a crime as assassination could be held in abeyance until he was in a position to take active steps to prevent it. The reunion with Madeleine took precedence. As they lay together in bed, entwined in each other’s arms, they were in Elysium. It was Colbeck who eventually broke the silence.

  ‘You came a day too late.’

  ‘We only found out about the burglary yesterday evening.’

  ‘I know that, Madeleine,’ he said, squeezing her gently, ‘and it’s not a criticism. Twenty-four hours ago, Victor and I were staying at The Angel Hotel which is the nearest thing to a palace in which I’ll ever sleep. Had you been there, you’d have had a bed fit for a queen.’

  ‘This bed is comfortable enough for me,’ she said, snuggling up to him.

  ‘When we’re together, any bed is perfect.’

  She kissed him. ‘What a sweet thing to say!’

  ‘It happens to be true.’

  ‘Why did you leave the other hotel?’

  ‘It made Victor feel that he had to walk on eggshells.’

  Madeleine smiled. ‘He’s always uneasy in the presence of wealth.’

  ‘It’s not envy with him. It’s a deference I’ve tried to talk him out of many times. Victor is much happier here. Well,’ he added, ‘as happy as he could be when he’s away from his wife and family.’

  ‘Has he been moping?’

  ‘He has, Madeleine.’

  ‘And I hope that you’ve been moping as well,’ she said.

  Colbeck was tactful. ‘I did brood from time to time.’

  ‘I did nothing else from the moment you left home. Father kept saying that I should have gone with you.’

  ‘That would have been wonderful had it not been so impractical.’

  ‘Don’t you want me here?’ she asked, poking him in the ribs.

  ‘I thought that I’d already answered that question.’

  They shared a marital laugh and pulled each other even closer.

  ‘I’m so glad that our journey was not in vain. On the way here, I must confess, I began to lose confidence. I thought you might regard the evidence we brought as far-fetched and irrelevant.’

  ‘It’s neither of those things, Madeleine. It’s a revelation.’

  ‘That made the rigours of the long ride somehow more bearable.’

  ‘You’ll have to endure that long ride again, I fear.’

  ‘Yes – but this time my dear husband will be with me.’

  ‘Is it going to become a habit?’ he asked. ‘Following me whenever I leave London, that is. When we were in Exeter last year, you made a surprise appearance and you’ve done it again in Glasgow. If this pattern is repeated, Superintendent Tallis will be very angry. You know his opinion of the institution of marriage. He’d never countenance the idea of a female detective.’

  ‘We had to tell you what we found out at that dinner.’

  ‘You were right to do so. I can’t thank you enough.’

  ‘Don’t let that stop you doing it,’ she said with a smile. ‘What happens next? You’ll have to alert the royal family, obviously, but what then?’

  He kissed her tenderly. ‘Ask me in the morning.’

  It was getting more difficult. Alarmed at the spread of vandalism, the Caledonian Railway increased the number of its policemen on night duty and there was a corresponding increase in nightwatchmen. With so many more eyes and ears to contend with, the sabbatarians had to exercise greater care. When Ian Dalton set out with his paintbrush on another nocturnal excursion into crime, he came very close to being caught. His new-found boldness worked against him. Trying to paint some letters across the stationmaster’s office, he made too much noise and aroused a passing railway policeman. Had it not been for Tam Howie’s quick thinking, they might both have been arrested. Dalton had to abandon his paint pot and run. Howie grabbed him by the arm and rushed him to a hiding place behind the ticket office. The
y stayed in their place of refuge for half an hour before it was safe to leave.

  On the cab ride back home, they were able to compare notes.

  ‘I failed,’ said Dalton, dejectedly.

  ‘We’re bound to have a setback now and then, Ian.’

  ‘I shouldn’t have been so cavalier.’

  ‘It was moving that bench out of the way that caused the trouble,’ said Howie. ‘It scraped along the floor and gave the game away.’

  ‘I lost the paint pot.’

  ‘That’s easily replaced.’

  ‘I blame myself, Tam. I’m very sorry.’

  ‘We escaped. That’s what matters.’

  Dalton was grateful to him. Expecting a rebuke, he was only getting support.

  ‘Thank you for being so tolerant with me,’ he said.

  ‘You’ve been a godsend to us, Ian, but I think we learnt a lesson tonight. We have to hunt outside the city where the patrols are not so regular. And we must preach our gospel in a more deafening way. In fact,’ Howie went on, ‘that’s something I meant to broach with you.’

  Dalton was eager. ‘Go on. I know you and Flora have bigger ambitions.’

  ‘You may not agree with what we propose.’

  ‘I’ve followed in your footsteps so far.’

  ‘Yes, but we’re about to take giant strides. Let me say at the outset that if you disagree with our project – or if you feel unable to take part – we’ll quite understand. It’s a lot to ask of anybody. All that we’ve done so far,’ said Howie, ‘is to gain attention. It’s made no difference to the Caledonian. Trains continue to be run on the Sabbath. We need to do something that will change their minds.’

  ‘And what’s that, Tam?’

  ‘It’s a plan that involves a lot of reconnaissance.’

  Leaning closer to his companion, Howie outlined the scheme that he and his wife had dreamt up. It had already been touched on at the meeting they held with members of their congregation but nobody – Dalton included – believed that they would carry out such an audacious plan. Yet that was precisely what Tam and Flora Howie intended to do and Dalton had the opportunity to join them. He slapped a thigh in celebration.