A Pale Horse - Charles Todd [46]
“A lesson learned. Yes. Thank you, Sergeant. Well done.”
He was about to walk on, when Gibson added, “No inquiries, that is, until this morning. From an inspector in Elthorpe, or so I was told.”
Rutledge stopped in his tracks. “Indeed.”
“Seems they have a dead man they can’t identify. And they’re coming round to thinking it could be Shoreham.”
Rutledge swore.
“Keep searching for Shoreham, then. I need to be sure he’s alive. More important, I need to know where he’s currently living.”
“That’s a tall order,” Gibson said doubtfully.
“Yes, well. If we don’t find him, someone is going to hang for his murder.”
Rutledge walked on down the passage to Chief Superintendent Bowles’s office. As he went, he made up his mind about what he was going to say.
Bowles looked up as he entered the cluttered room.
“Well?”
“The case is closed. At least as far as Mr. Deloran is concerned. I’m not so sure.”
“You don’t want to run afoul of that lot.”
“No. On the other hand, I have a feeling that they’d rather sweep a murder under their carpet than tell us the truth. There’s a man dead in Yorkshire, and they would just as soon ignore him. I’d like to clear up a few loose ends before I accept their verdict. Frankly, I wouldn’t put it past them to have got rid of this man Partridge themselves.”
“We can’t go meddling into matters that are none of our business.” There was alarm on Bowles’s face now. He’d already run afoul of his superiors this week.
“The dead man could be anyone. From anywhere in England. But if Inspector Madsen has his way, he’ll call him Henry Shoreham and take one Albert Crowell, the schoolmaster, into custody on a charge of murder. We can’t seem to lay hands on Shoreham. Before we can say with any certainty that he’s the victim, we must make certain to eliminate the choice that sent me to Yorkshire in the first place. I’d like to ask someone who knows—knew—Partridge well to tell me the man in the sketch I had made is not Partridge. It will clear the field to pursue the issue of Shoreham’s whereabouts. If it is Partridge, we can save a good many man hours searching for Shoreham.”
Bowles considered his options. In the end, it would be his duty to report to his own superiors how and why Rutledge came to be meddling in affairs that were none of his business. On the other hand, the Chief Constable of Yorkshire was not to be trifled with. He was vocal and did not suffer fools lightly. If there was any chance that one of Bowles’s men was intent on pursuing a wrong course that could lead to a public embarrassment—
He wiped a hand across his face.
“Damned if we do, and equally damned if we don’t,” he said. “All right. Look into the business. But hear me, Rutledge! I won’t have toes stepped on for naught. You’ll go about this quietly, whatever you do. Tying up loose ends is all very well, but we needn’t bruit it about. Ask your question without prejudice and come back to London with your answer. Understood?”
“Understood, sir. I’ll leave in the morning.”
He went back to his flat that evening, packed his valise with fresh clothing, ready to set out for Berkshire.
He got a late start through no fault of his own.
His sister was at his door just after breakfast, and he could tell from her face that all was not well.
She toyed with a slice of toast in the rack, buttering it and then putting it down untouched.
The purpose of her visit was—ostensibly—to ask his opinion of a new hat she’d bought the day before.
It was quite fetching, as her hats generally were. On the other hand, Rutledge thought, on her, most anything would look fetching.
“You aren’t here at this ungodly hour because you have doubts about your milliner,” he said lightly. “What’s happened?”
“It’s Simon,” she said, keeping her voice steady with an effort. “He’s been avoiding me. I know that for a fact, I have it on good authority, so don’t tell me I’m imagining things. I don’t know why he’s doing this. I thought—well, I thought we were good friends.”
“Why should he avoid you?” He threw up a hand, adding, “No, I’m not saying you’re imagining anything. I want