Chapter Fifty-Nine

When our party of adults and children arrived at Thorpefield Hall in two taxis, the staff assembled by the front door to meet us. Benjie Brockman had donned his old military uniform. He saluted as Mr. and Mrs. Arkwright led four boys into the house. Milly followed with two girls. A couple of young ones had fallen asleep in the taxi. Raynor carried one, and Sykes the other.

“Where will you put them all?” I asked Raynor.

“Two rooms are spruced up. They’ll be in there together, and there’s the old nursery.”

Milly holding the two little girls by the hand, said, “I feel happy and sad at the same time. Happy for the children, but no one is saying anything about Stephen.”

“Don’t give up.”

“I never will. And the housekeeper says I can look after children.”

I congratulated Benjie on giving the orphans a home. “Only for now, you know. There have been misunderstandings. Gertrude will be making arrangements.”

He was a little out of date. We had just rescued the children from Gertrude’s arrangements. I wondered if Benjie fully understood what was going on, or whether his mind played tricks in order to protect him.

“And we’ve had offers of help from the village. People are very good. Valerie—Miss Pennington—brought rugs for their rooms. The chap who looks after the pit ponies brought a box of toys that he found.”

Now that he had done ceremonial duty by welcoming his visitors, Benjie was anxious to return to his study. He asked me to come with him. His stamp collection was on the desk.

“If the children are good, I may let them see my collection.”

“And what about your coins, Benjie? Did you find the two that you missed?”

“I never did you know, but they’ll turn up I’m sure. Gertrude seemed to think that Alec stole them, but she’s wrong. He’s gone, you know, gone to be a proper mechanic as he calls it.”

“The man he works with is a friend of mine, Philip Goodchild. They’ll get on very well. And I’m sure Alec will come and visit you.”

“Do you think so?”

“Yes.”

I would see to it that he did, just as Benjie had suggested Alec visit Valerie Pennington. “Benjie, what were those coins, the missing ones?”

“George III guineas, dubbed the spade guinea because of the shape of the shield.”

“Two the same?”

“Yes. I was going to do a swap. Fellow collector I correspond with, he wanted one in exchange for a military guinea.”

“Well perhaps yours will turn up, or perhaps Gertrude might have another thought about where they are?”

He gave me an odd, slightly quizzical look. “I wondered that too. Funny you should have the same thought.”

“Where is she today?”

“She and Eliot are doing a grand job, raising investments. She telephoned just before you arrived. They are arranging a meeting with important investors in London.” He closed the lid on his stamp collection. “She thought you might invest, you know.”

“I’m advised by a very cautious bank manager, Benjie, and I follow his judgement. But to be honest, I forgot to mention it to him.”

He laughed. “You always were a bit of a card, you know. If you change your mind, just say. Fully subscribed or not, there’ll always be a slot for Gertie’s oldest friend.”

That was kind of him, even though untrue on both counts.

I had heard someone come in, and thought Sykes had grown tired of waiting. Raynor appeared at the door. For once he looked slightly flustered, which at first I put down to his having the sudden additional duty of shepherding a couple of four-year-olds.

“Sir, there’s Chief Inspector Emsley here to see you. I told him you have someone with you and when he heard who, he says perhaps you will both be interested in what he has to say.”

Since Mr. Emsley had, if reluctantly, accepted Gertrude and Eliot’s version of events at the Dell house, I felt a sudden animosity towards him. Whatever he wanted to say now would not bode well.

“Show him in,” Benjie said. “While you’re about it, see if Mrs. Shackleton’s chap would like to come in. I’ve spotted him walking past the window. I’m sure our grounds aren’t so very fascinating.”

Raynor had already thought of this. “Mr. Sykes has declined. He is enjoying the fresh air.”

Benjie often surprised me. He had never met Sykes, but made the connection. Just as I had Benjie marked as a man with his head in the clouds of his collections, he would be suddenly astute. I wished I could remember whether he had always been like that, or whether he was feeling his age.

Moments later, Chief Inspector Emsley entered. He took the chair offered by Benjie, while giving the impression that he would have preferred to stand.

“It’s good news and it’s bad news, sir. The good news for him and his friends is that we will be releasing Stephen Walmsley.”

I blinked. I listened, waiting for him to say it again, just to be sure.

“There has been a lot of interest in his case, from various quarters, leading to the conclusion that a trial may not be in the public interest. The charges against him have been withdrawn, after new information has come to light.”

What I most wanted to know was what new information, and where it came from, and was this really justice for Stephen, or might some dark cloud cast a shadow across his future?

“What new information?” Benjie asked. “And is the lad innocent?”

Being a man who preferred as few words as possible, Emsley answered only part of the question. “In my view, only babies are innocent, sir, but new evidence casts doubt on the advisability of prosecuting Stephen Walmsley.”

This man would get on very well with Sykes. “How soon will he be released?” I asked.

“He has been released. He was met at the prison gates by representatives of the Miners’ Union.” He sighed.

I guessed there had been some fanfare, perhaps including the Temperance Band.

Benjie picked up a pencil. He tapped his blotter. “I suppose he’ll want his job back.”

“That I couldn’t say, sir.”

The relief swept through me with such power that it was unnerving. Until that moment, I hadn’t realised how much I dreaded Stephen going to trial and being unable to hold his own against a hostile prosecution barrister. It took a moment for me to catch my breath.

“Inspector, you said you have good and bad news.”

“At present we have no other viable suspects for the murder of Helen Farrar and Harry Aspinall.”

So the local CID had finally admitted that the crimes were linked, and the two murders were committed by the same perpetrator or perpetrators. That was a start.