A Lesson in Secrets_ A Maisie Dobbs Novel - Jacqueline Winspear [101]
With Rosemary Linden’s personal file in her briefcase, Maisie dropped Alfie at the crossroads. She noticed a telephone kiosk on the corner, so she took the opportunity to place a call to Billy. She gazed out across fields of golden barley swaying in the breeze as she listened to his account of his work since they last spoke.
“I think I’m getting a bit closer, Miss. Reg Martin wasn’t there, but there was a new mechanic, taken on to replace Eric Tapley. I asked him when Reg would be back, but he said he’d gone off with a customer, that William Walling. I tried to get friendly with him, but he was being a bit careful, because he’d not long had the job. Mind you, he did say that he’d known Reg for a while, and that he wasn’t as easygoing as he used to be. He put it down to the shock of Eric’s accident, but Reg keeps telling him to check everything he works on: the tools, the block and tackle—everything.”
“Have you found out anything about this man, Walling?”
“He’s in the shipping business, and he’s apparently buying motor cars to send somewhere else. Mind you, if you asked five different people what he did, you’d get a different answer every time. I don’t know, it all sounds fishy to me. He could be getting them cars checked so that they can be used on jobs where they don’t want anything going wrong. Nothing like trying to get away from a jeweler you’ve just robbed and the motor won’t start.”
Maisie didn’t say anything for a moment. She had wanted Billy to take this case on his own, to build his confidence in his work. “Billy, do you have a sense about it? If you had to guess, what do you think is happening?”
Billy wasted no time. “Someone is leaning on Reg, and it’s this man, Walling, the same one whose office young Sandra broke into. I reckon she put two and two together somewhere, and though she might’ve come up with the wrong number, I don’t think she was entirely out of order. I reckon Reg is being squeezed, and there’s a lot of it going on—remember, the villains over in the East End were quite happy about it when Alfie Mantle was put away; it opened up a lot of opportunities if you were running a racket. If I had to guess, I reckon that Reg was threatened, told that something would happen to his premises if he didn’t toe the line in a certain way, and the accident with Eric was a warning that they meant business. Now, I don’t know that he was meant to die—probably they did something to the block and tackle so that someone was hurt, but it didn’t come off like that.”
“I think you’re right. And about Sandra, have you found out any more about where she might be?”
“I’ve gone to all sorts of places, Miss. She mentioned that she used the lending library down Charing Cross Road, so I went there, and I dropped in at a couple of places she’d mentioned—that caff down on Oxford Street, the one you sometimes go to. No one’d seen her at all.”
“Right, we can’t take any more chances. Here’s what I want you to do—telephone Scotland Yard and speak to Detective Inspector Caldwell, and—”
“Aw, gawd, not him.”
“He’s improved, Billy. If you remember, he was quite accommodating last time we had to work with him. As I said, now he’s out from under Stratton’s shadow, he’s much better to work with. Tell him everything—and tell him I believe Sandra was on to something, and that there was a murder committed. But tell him he must find Sandra first. Be careful about how you tell him of our suspicions about Walling—the last thing we need is him throwing his weight around; I think he’s had a quiet few months, so he’ll probably jump on the opportunity to go after someone important.”
“Right you are, I’ll do it now.”
“Good. And if you haven’t done so already, telephone Mr. Carter at Chelstone Manor—tell him you’re calling for