Belle - Lesley Pearse [224]
‘Thank you for your valuable assistance, Miss Cooper,’ he said brusquely. ‘We shall have both men in custody by this afternoon. We’ve had them under surveillance since Mr Bayliss sent us word you had been found.’
Belle’s mouth gaped in shocked surprise. The two men had been questioning her for over an hour, but as if she was a criminal, not a victim of crime. She didn’t understand why they hadn’t told her this at the start of the interview.
Todd had made her explain every last detail of what occurred up in Millie’s room at Annie’s, and kept stopping her with more questions as if trying to trap her in a lie. At one point he even implied she’d hidden under the bed for some reason other than being scared of getting caught upstairs. He clearly didn’t believe she hadn’t really understood what went on there.
When he got her to tell him about her abduction he wore a cynical expression as if he thought she’d climbed into that carriage with two strangers for an adventure. It was only when she finally got to the part about what happened to her at Madame Sondheim’s, and she started to cry, that he softened a little.
He had shown her a long list of other girls’ names and asked if she had met any of them or had heard anything about them. Some of the names were ones Noah had mentioned, but Belle knew nothing about any of them. That was something else he hadn’t appeared to believe.
She was sorely tempted to tell Inspector Todd what she thought of him, but she bit back an angry retort. ‘How clever of you,’ she said, and masked her sarcasm with a brilliant smile.
‘We will need you to make a formal identification of the two men once we have them in custody,’ Todd said, clearly immune to sarcasm. ‘And once your statement has been written up we will ask you to read it through and sign it. Meanwhile, may I say I am very glad you were found in Paris and brought back to your family and friends.’
Belle went back inside, once the policemen had gone, and found Jimmy waiting in the kitchen, an anxious expression on his face.
‘Did it go all right?’ he asked.
‘I can understand why the majority of people around here don’t want to help the police or even ask for their assistance. They sit on their hands for two years, then when I finally get back, after no help from them, they treat me as if I’m a liar,’ she ranted. ‘That man Todd has about as much sensitivity as a cockroach. But he did finally say they are going to arrest both Kent and Sly today. Let’s hope they actually manage it.’
Jimmy looked sympathetic. ‘The word around here is that no one will shield Kent now, not even if he tries to bribe them,’ he said. ‘Not just because of Millie or taking you, but for the terrible conditions he forces his tenants to live under, the other missing girls and the violence he metes out to anyone who stands in his way. He’s had his day – even the men who were once his most staunch allies have abandoned him. He’ll hang, I’m sure of that, and if Sly lives up to his nickname he’ll talk to save his own neck.’
‘I just hope those other girls can be found and brought home,’ Belle said. ‘But I expect most of them are beyond saving now.’ She slumped down on a chair feeling completely dejected.
‘Uncle Garth said I could have the rest of the day off. He thought you’d be a bit down and suggested I took you out somewhere to cheer you up,’ Jimmy said. ‘Would you like that?’
‘It would be lovely,’ she replied gratefully. She didn’t want to spend the rest of the day indoors mulling over how unfairly the police had treated her, or dwelling on the fate of the other girls.
‘It’s such a nice sunny day we could take a boat to Greenwich, or go to Hampstead Heath or even Kew Gardens.’
‘I’d like to go to Greenwich,’ she said.
His face lit up and he said he’d go upstairs and change his clothes as he’d been working in the cellar earlier.
Belle stayed in the kitchen and washed up the tea cups. Mog had gone to the market to buy some vegetables, and she could see Garth through the window stacking up barrels