The suddenness of their departure from England had given them no time at all to plan for their future in a new country. That had troubled Irene deeply at first. She soon came to see that there was no need for alarm. Long weeks at sea gave them plenty of opportunity to discuss what they were going to do once they reached New York. Oxley was quick to realise that, if they befriended the right passengers, there was a fund of valuable information accessible to them. The voyage therefore became an exercise in collecting facts.
‘Ours is a great country,’ said Herschel Finn, expansively. ‘It rewards hard work and wise investment. If he has the right qualities, any man can succeed in America.’
‘That’s not true of England, alas,’ complained Oxley. ‘Family determines everything there. If you’re born into the aristocracy, you can lead a life of idle luxury. If you’re the child of a poor family, the chances are that you’ll remain in poverty for ever.’
‘It’s the main reason my father emigrated — not that he was exactly poor, mark you. His family ran a grocer’s shop in Leicester and, in the fullness of time, he would have inherited it. But he felt that there was more to life than serving bags of sugar and jars of pickled onions to his neighbours. So,’ said Finn, proudly, ‘he saved up his money and took ship to America.’
‘How old was he at the time?’ asked Irene.
‘He was barely twenty-one.’
‘That was very brave of him.’
‘My father was a brave man, Irene. He knew it would take time to fulfil his ambitions and he knew there’d be lean years beforehand. So he gritted his teeth and bent his back. And when the opening finally came,’ said Finn, snapping his fingers, ‘he seized it and moved into the textile business.’
‘It’s an inspiring story, Herschel,’ said Oxley.
‘It’s a typical American story.’
They’d liked Herschel Finn and his wife from the outset and it was only days before all four of them were on first-name terms. Finn was the owner of a cotton mill in Beverly, Massachusetts and of a wool carding mill in Blackstone River Valley in the same state. Wealth had given him a confidence that never even approached brashness. He was a man of medium height and average build who’d kept his hair its original colour and who carried his fifty years lightly. His wife, Libby, was a short, round, genial woman with a chubby face and dimpled cheeks. She seemed to exude benevolence. Hearing that their new friends were about to settle in America, the Finns had taken Oxley and Irene under their wing.
‘When you find your feet,’ offered Finn, beaming hospitably, ‘you must come and stay with us.’
‘Yes,’ added Libby, squeezing Irene’s arm, ‘we’d be delighted to have you folks as our guests.’
‘That’s very kind of you,’ said Irene.
‘We may well take you up on that invitation,’ warned Oxley.
Finn chuckled. ‘We’ll insist on it, Rober.’
The four of them were in the saloon, relaxing in upholstered chairs and enjoying each others’ company. The Finns had visited England so that Herschel could make contact with his surviving relatives and so that he could visit a number of textile factories to see if there were any technical improvements that he could adapt for use in his own mills. At both an emotional and business level, the visit had been highly successful but it had reminded Finn why he could not possibly live in the country that his father had left behind.
‘To begin with,’ he said, ‘we speak a different language.’
Oxley shrugged. ‘The words sound the same to me.’
‘But they don’t mean the same, Robert. In England, people seem to hide behind words. They’re too reserved and afraid to speak out. Where we come from, everything is much more open. We say exactly what we mean and mean exactly what we say.’
‘You and Libby are perfect examples of that. Here we are, chatting happily away on the strength of a very short acquaintance. You’ve both been so wonderfully open. To reach this degree of familiarity with any English passengers,’ said Oxley, glancing around the saloon, ‘would take years. Isn’t that so, Irene?’
‘I’d have said decades,’ she put in.
Their collective laughter was interrupted by the arrival of a steward. When they’d ordered refreshments, he went off with a tray under his arm. Conversation was resumed. Irene had marvelled at the way that Oxley had selected the Finns out of all the other passengers and made sure that he got to know them early on. In fact, however, it was Irene who helped to consolidate the friendship. Hearing that Finn owned textile mills, she immediately promoted her father to the board of directors of the Manchester mill from which he’d actually been sacked. Unknown to Silas Adnam, he was rescued from the abiding squalor of Deansgate to occupy an elevated position in British textile manufacture. Irene was even able to talk about visits she’d made to the mill when she was a child.
‘So,’ said Finn, becoming practical, ‘what are you folks going to do the moment you arrive in New York?’
‘From what you’ve been telling us about it,’ replied Oxley, ‘I think we’ll just stand around open-mouthed in awe. We’ll be the country cousins visiting the big city.’
‘You’ll need somewhere to stay.’
‘Can you recommend anywhere?’
‘Sure I can, Robert.’
‘Thank you — we’d be very grateful.’
‘What about that hotel where we stay, Herschel?’ said Libby.
‘That’s one possibility,’ agreed her husband, ‘but there are plenty of others. Robert and Irene can take their pick.’
‘Money is no problem,’ said Oxley, easily.
‘Then that makes the choice much easier. New York is a city of neighbourhoods. Some are safe, others are dangerous and others again are nothing but urban jungles with gangs roaming through them. For instance, you don’t want to go anywhere near Five Points. That’s completely lawless. Like London, I guess, there are places where crime just thrives.’
‘It’s the same in Manchester,’ said Irene, thinking of her father’s lodging. ‘There are some districts where a woman would never dare venture out alone.’
‘That’s shameful,’ opined Libby.
‘It’s the fault of our police,’ said Oxley, righteously. ‘There simply aren’t enough of them to keep major centres of population under control. We have far too many places where there’s no respect at all for law and order.’
‘That’s the basis of a civilised society,’ asserted Finn.
‘I couldn’t agree with you more, Herschel.’
‘Work hard, live within the law and attend church regularly. Those are the three guiding stars in my life.’
‘You always told me I was your guiding star,’ teased Libby.
Finn patted her hand. ‘You are, honey.’
‘Now find these good folks a hotel where they can stay.’
‘Yes,’ said Oxley, taking out a pad and pencil. ‘I can’t tell you how grateful Irene and I are to make such dear friends. You’ve turned this voyage into a joy. Now where would you advise us to stay?’
‘Before I tell you that,’ said Finn, responding to a nudge from his wife, ‘there’s something I must ask you. It will settle a wager I have with Libby. I hope the question won’t embarrass you.’
‘Not at all,’ said Irene.
‘Ask whatever you wish,’ added Oxley.
Finn leant forward. ‘Are you newly married?’
Oxley held Irene’s hand and she pretended to look coy. They exchanged an affectionate glance then nodded in unison.
‘There you are, Libby,’ said Finn, triumphantly. ‘I was right.’
‘I concede defeat, Herschel.’ Libby turned to the others. ‘My husband is never wrong about people. The moment he saw you, he said that you were on honeymoon. I do hope we’re not monopolising your time but we find you such delightful company.’
‘The feeling is mutual,’ said Oxley with his most charming smile. ‘We can’t tell you how much we look forward to seeing you every day.’
Herschel and Libby Finn chortled. They were hooked.
The voyage was not without its setbacks. Two days away from her destination, the Jura was caught in a violent storm that lashed her with rain, battered her with gale-force winds and turned the sea into an apparently endless switchback ride. The noise was ear-splitting. Leeming felt that Mother Nature was trying to deafen him before drowning him in the depths of the ocean. He could not believe that the vessel would ever survive such a tempest. Nor could he understand why Colbeck showed no anxiety as the ship rose high, plunged low and twisted at all manner of different angles. The ferocious rain was like a continuous firing squad aiming at the porthole in their state room. Any moment, Leeming expected it to shatter the glass and allow the sea to engulf them.
‘Why did you make me come on this voyage?’ he yelled.
‘I thought that you were enjoying it, Victor.’
‘How can anyone enjoy a storm like this?’
‘It will blow itself out before too long. Would you like a game of chess to take your mind off it?’
‘The pieces would never stay on the board.’
‘That’s nothing new,’ said Colbeck with a wicked grin. ‘Your pieces never stay long on the board when you play me. They seem to have made a suicide pact.’
As the ship listed again, Leeming clung to his chair. ‘I think that’s what we made when we agreed to sail to America. It was an act of suicide.’
‘It was a necessary response to the given situation. Wherever Oxley and Adnam go, we’ll set off in pursuit. They’re sailing on the Arethusa, remember. When they’re caught in a storm like this, they will fare even worse.’
‘Nothing could possibly be worse, sir.’
‘Yes, it could,’ said Colbeck. ‘The superintendent could be with us.’ Leeming’s laugh was a forlorn croak. ‘The Jura will not let us down, Victor. Try to ignore the discomfort.’
‘That’s like telling a drowning man to ignore the water.’
‘I find that very amusing.’
‘I find it terrifying!’ howled Leeming.
The rain eventually eased off and the wind relented. It took longer for the sea to stop slapping the vessel like a giant hand but there was noticeably less turbulence. From that point on, the voyage was blessed with good weather. Passengers were able to bask on deck again and put their fears behind them. Leeming felt as if he’d been reborn. He marked the occasion by beating Colbeck at chess for the first time. Unaware that he’d been given a certain amount of help by his opponent, he boasted about it for hours.
When they finally reached it, New York harbour was positively buzzing with activity. Crowds thronged the piers, wooden and iron vessels were safely moored and cranes were helping to unload luggage and freight. The pilot boat came out to guide the Jura to its berth. Ropes were tossed ashore and made secure. The gangplank was lowered and the passengers began to disembark. Once they’d been through customs, Colbeck and Leeming reclaimed their luggage and found a cab to take them to police headquarters. Captain Matt Riley was fascinated to learn the purpose of their visit.
‘ Both of them are killers?’ he said in surprise.
‘Both of them are killers of policemen,’ stressed Colbeck.
‘We don’t have too many female killers here, Inspector. Oh, we have our share of domestic violence, of course, and, from time to time, a wife might hit a husband a bit too hard during a fight, but that’s not what I’d call cold-blooded murder. Tell me about Miss Irene Adnam.’
Matt Riley was a mountain of a man who seemed on the point of bursting out of his uniform. His craggy face bore the marks of several brawls and his thinning hair revealed some ugly scars on his head. When he grinned, it was possible to count the number of teeth on the fingers of one hand. His first impression of Colbeck had not been a flattering one. There was the whiff of a peacock about him that Riley instinctively disliked. Five minutes of conversation with him, however, had removed all his reservations about Colbeck. The inspector was patently an efficient and dedicated man with an intelligence not often found among policemen of any nation.
They were in Riley’s office which smelt in equal parts of pipe tobacco, damp, and stale beer. It was tolerably tidy and had a series of posters pinned to the walls. Riley sat at his roll-top desk and listened to Colbeck’s account of the career of Irene Adnam. He was struck by the amount of information they’d gathered about her in such a short time. Though he was sickened by the litany of their crimes, Riley could not suppress a grin when told of the name under which they were sailing.
‘So,’ he said, exposing his surviving teeth, ‘Inspector Colbeck has come to arrest Mr and Mrs Colbeck. It’s a real family affair.’
‘The joke was their undoing,’ Colbeck pointed out. ‘Had they called themselves something else, I might never have picked them out of the passenger list on the Arethusa.’
‘I suppose it’s a kind of compliment to you, Inspector.’
‘Well, they’ll get no compliments in return,’ said Leeming, sharply. ‘They’ll travel back to England under their real names.’
‘What about you, Sergeant?’
‘I’ll go with them,’ said Leeming.
Riley grinned again. ‘Does that mean I can’t poach you to join the New York Police Department?’ he asked. ‘I can always pick out a tough man when I see one. You’d be an asset to us.’
‘He’s not for sale,’ said Colbeck, politely. ‘Victor has a wife and family back in England.’
‘That’s not unusual. When I first came here, I had a wife and family back in Ireland. Talking of which,’ Riley went on, ‘did you stop at Cork on your way?’
‘Yes, we did. We picked up several passengers.’
‘It’s my hometown. I emigrated here when I was in my twenties. It was three years before I could afford to bring Kathleen and the boys over here. We’ve never looked back since.’ He felt Leeming’s biceps. ‘You’ve got strength in those arms. We could use it.’
Leeming declined the offer with a gesture. ‘I’m needed back in London.’
‘You know where I am, if you change your mind.’
Having established how the extradition procedure worked, Colbeck asked for advice about accommodation. Riley not only suggested a hotel, he offered to provide transport to get to it. He also pressed them to ask for any more help they might need.
‘You’ll have time on your hands,’ he argued. ‘How would you like to spend it?’
‘I promised to show Victor the sights of New York,’ said Colbeck.
‘Come on patrol with my men and you’ll see some real sights. When he sees what policing is like on this side of the Atlantic, the sergeant might think twice about going back home.’
‘I don’t know about that, Captain Riley,’ said Leeming.
‘We’ve always got room for an experienced detective.’
‘So have we,’ said Colbeck, firmly.
Riley laughed and massaged Colbeck’s shoulder. He took them out into the courtyard and beckoned to a cab driver. As their luggage was loaded onto the vehicle, the visitors thanked Riley for his help and told him that they would need his assistance when the Arethusa docked. Having no jurisdiction there, they had no right to arrest and hold the fugitives on American soil. They would have to wait until the extradition had been authorised before Oxley and Irene became solely their prisoners. Riley was happy to oblige.
‘I can guarantee our full cooperation,’ he said, chirpily. ‘It’s not often we have two killers trying to sneak into this country in order to evade justice in England. If it was left to me now, I’d execute the pair of them right here and save you the cost of their passages home.’
‘There are legal reasons why that can’t happen,’ said Colbeck.
‘That’s a great pity, so it is.’
‘We’ll just get them extradited and slip quietly away.’
Riley guffawed. ‘Oh, you will, will you?’
‘What’s so funny?’ asked Leeming.
‘You’ll soon find out, my friend.’
‘I don’t understand, Captain.’
Riley slapped him on the back. ‘Welcome to America!’
The first thing that Edward Tallis did when he arrived for work early that morning was to cross another day off the calendar on his wall. He estimated that his detectives would have arrived in New York by now but that it would take much longer for the Arethusa to complete its voyage. Counting the days to their arrest helped Tallis to bring retribution ever closer in his mind. He still regretted that he’d been unable to accompany Colbeck and Leeming but accepted that his place was directing operations at Scotland Yard.
In fact, he had deserted his desk for two days when he took a train to Edinburgh for the funeral of Ian Peebles. There’d been a dignified sadness about the whole event. While suffering pangs of remorse during the actual ceremony, Tallis had found that the most trying moment was when he had to face the constable’s parents and explain to them the exact circumstances of their son’s death. On the journey back to London, he’d sat in a hurt silence and relived the horror of the shooting. It had been his blunder. Peebles’ parents had been too well mannered to say so but they knew the truth.
Back in his office, the first thing he did was to open his cigar box. Before he could take one out, however, his guilt stirred. He snapped the lid back down and vowed that he would never smoke again until the killers were caught and brought back to England. Denial of his favourite pleasure would be a form of expiation. As he counted the days he’d ticked off, he saw how long it had been since he’d last enjoyed the solace of a cigar. Temptation flickered. With an effort, Tallis resisted it. Until the appropriate time, he pledged, he would no more lift the lid of the cigar box than he would open the drawer that contained his bottle of brandy. Both were a means of escape and he was entitled to neither. He had to wait for Colbeck and Leeming to release him from his vow.
They timed it to perfection. On the last evening before their arrival in New York, they robbed the people they had carefully selected as their victims. Working independently, Oxley and Irene slipped into vacant cabins, picked unguarded pockets, stole unwitting reticules and generally helped themselves to items that were too much to resist. They returned to their own cabin to compare notes and to count their spoils. It had been a most satisfying haul.
‘The beauty of it is,’ said Oxley, holding up a gold watch, ‘that most of the people won’t realise things have gone until it’s too late.’
‘I’m glad that we spared Herschel and Libby.’
‘They’re our friends.’
‘Yes,’ said Irene, ‘but they’re also very wealthy.’
‘I never even considered them. They’ve been too helpful to us. Who knows? We might accept that invitation to visit them one day.’
‘Will we still be calling ourselves Mr and Mrs Colbeck?’
‘I’ve grown to like the name. It has a pleasing resonance.’
Having sorted out the money and the items they’d stolen, they hid them cleverly in their respective valises. It was all part of the capital that would set them up in their new country.
‘Well,’ he said, ‘it’s been a long voyage but an interesting one.’
‘Yes — apart from the storm that lasted two days.’
‘Even that had its benefits, Irene. It gave us the chance to get to know Herschel and Libby much better.’ He smirked. ‘I don’t set as high a value on Herschel’s powers of observation as his wife does. According to Libby, he was sure that we’d just got married.’
‘That just proves how good a performance we gave.’
‘It doesn’t have to be a performance.’
Her face lit up. ‘You mean that we will get married?’
‘Anything can happen in America.’
‘Oh, Jerry, what a wonderful idea!’ she exclaimed.
‘I had a feeling you might like it.’
‘Nothing could make me happier.’
‘Let’s get ourselves settled in first,’ he said, looking at the gold watch. ‘It’s time to dress for dinner.’
‘Herschel and Libby insisted that we sit with them.’
‘Then let’s not disappoint them, Irene.’
After stowing the valises away, he crossed to the cupboard, pausing in thought when he’d opened the door. She looked up.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘I’m wondering if I should do it before or after the meal.’
‘Do what, Jerry?’
‘Complain to the captain that we’ve been robbed,’ he said. ‘There’s no better way to shift suspicion than to portray ourselves as victims.’ He made a decision. ‘Let’s leave it until afterwards,’ he went on. ‘Why spoil dinner by whingeing over a lost wallet? It would only upset Herschel and Libby. Yes, my mind is made up. I’ll tackle the captain later on.’
It had not taken them long to realise why Matt Riley had burst out laughing at their expense. Colbeck’s wish to catch the fugitives and take them quietly back home was an impossible one. On the day when they booked into their hotel, the first of many reporters came to hassle them. Word had travelled fast, leaked to the press by a policeman in return for a bribe. The arrival of two killers on a British vessel was an unusual event and it aroused an immense amount of interest. The detectives were soon weary of repeating the details to a succession of reporters. When the Arethusa finally docked, it would do so in the glare of publicity. Colbeck and Leeming had been disturbed at the thought but there was nothing that they could do about the situation. Their presence in the city was helping to sell newspapers. Unsought celebrity had been foisted onto them.
They had not wasted their time in New York. There was much to see and they had toured Manhattan in a cab. Leeming was amazed at the colourful prettiness of the houses and the comparative cleanliness of the streets. Areas of London that he’d patrolled in uniform had been filthy and noxious. There were doubtless run-down neighbourhoods in New York but they never visited any of them. What they saw were the wide avenues and bright, paved streets. Broadway had been a glorious sight, a winding thoroughfare down which coaches, cabs, carts, gigs, traps, phaetons and private carriages rumbled in abundance. Leeming had never seen so many liveried black coachmen. There was wealth in America and a desire to put it on display.
Captain Riley had been as good as his word, letting them see the work of the police department at first hand. At Colbeck’s request, he also arranged for them to visit The Tombs, the city’s notorious prison. In the course of their work, they’d been inside all of London’s prisons and several in the provinces. Conditions there had been harsh but none could match the regime at The Tombs for severity. There was a pervading stink of despair on its four galleries. Leeming was glad to get out into the fresh air again but Colbeck had been intrigued.
‘I wanted to see if his description was accurate,’ he said.
‘Whose description would that be, sir?’
‘Charles Dickens came here once. He wrote about it.’
‘I could write about it in one word,’ said Leeming, ‘but it’s not a word that I’d repeat in mixed company.’
Sightseeing and time spent with the police were only preludes to the main purpose of their visit. The day eventually came when the Arethusa reached its destination and sailed up the Hudson River with its passengers crowding the deck for their first glimpse of New York. The pilot boat was rowed out to shepherd the vessel to its berth. Colbeck and Leeming were part of the massed ranks on the pier. Captain Riley was with them but so was a much larger complement of uniformed policemen than the detectives had requested. Their visible presence caused Colbeck some disquiet.
‘We won’t want to warn them in advance,’ he said.
‘I’m not giving them any chance to escape,’ asserted Riley. ‘I’ve got some of my best men on duty today.’
‘It might be better if the sergeant and I go aboard first.’
‘Why is that, Inspector?’
‘They don’t know what we look like,’ explained Colbeck. ‘We can take them by surprise. Police uniforms would give the game away.’
Riley was obstinate. ‘We’ll do it my way.’
‘They’re our prisoners,’ Leeming pointed out.
‘They’re your prisoners in our country.’
The declaration was unanswerable. They were powerless. They had control neither over the police nor over the bevies of newspaper reporters who’d arrived early to secure vantage points on the pier. Having often rehearsed the boarding of the vessel in his mind, Colbeck accepted that it would simply not happen that way. Captain Riley would take the lead. Colbeck and Leeming would have to follow in his wake. As they watched the vessel gliding ever nearer the pier, they hoped that the two fugitives were not watching from the deck.
As soon as they entered the mouth of the river, Oxley and Irene had joined the rest of the passengers on deck. Now that they were at last in the harbour, they were standing with Herschel and Libby Finn, waving to the cheering hordes below and enjoying their reception. There had been moments when Irene had wondered if they’d ever arrive but those anxieties had all vanished now. Here was the country in which she would spend the rest of her life with a man who would become her husband. She was overwhelmed with relief and wonder.
Oxley shared her euphoria but it was short-lived. He, too, had been carried away at first by the sight of the welcoming multitude below. His eyesight was much keener than Irene’s, however. When he scanned the pier, he noticed the plethora of police uniforms. They were gathered around the point to which the ship was slowly moving. As the vessel got closer, he was able to see the faces of those below more clearly. They did not all belong to friends and well-wishers. Some of those waiting were not cheering at all. They were tense and watchful. Among them was a tall, striking, exquisitely tailored figure standing beside a police captain. Letting out a yelp, Oxley reacted as if he’d just seen a ghost.
‘We must go below,’ he said, grabbing Irene.
‘What’s the matter, Jerry?’ she asked.
‘You can’t miss all the fun,’ said Finn. ‘Stay and enjoy it.’
‘There’s something we left in our cabin,’ said Oxley, dragging Irene away. ‘You’ll have to excuse us for a moment.’
Their friends were baffled by their sudden disappearance but it was Irene who’d been most surprised. As they picked a way through the people on deck, she kept asking him what had happened. He waited until they were below deck and out of earshot.
‘It’s him, Irene,’ he said.
‘Who are you talking about?’
‘It’s Inspector Colbeck. He’s down there on the pier.’
‘You must be imagining things, Jerry,’ she said with a laugh. ‘How could you recognise him when you don’t even know what he looks like? More to the point, how could he possibly be in New York when we left him behind in England?’
‘It’s him, I tell you,’ he said, irritably. ‘I just sense it, Irene, and you know how acute my senses are. If he came by means of a steamship, he could have overtaken the Arethusa with ease. It’s just the kind of thing Colbeck would do. Instead of giving up the chase, as I’d hoped, he’s come after us.’
His panic was contagious. ‘What are we going to do?’
‘Let me think for a moment,’ he said, hand to his head. ‘I could be wrong. I pray to God that I am. If that’s the case, we have nothing to worry about. You must leave the ship with Herschel and Libby.’
‘What about you?’
‘I’ll take… other measures,’ he said.
‘Why can’t we leave together?’
‘We have more chance of eluding him if we’re apart. Don’t worry,’ he said, enfolding her in his arms. ‘If anything happens to you, I’ll come to your rescue.’
‘How?’ she asked, feverishly.
‘I don’t know but I’ll find a way somehow. I swear it.’
She was perspiring now. ‘Are you sure that it’s Colbeck?’
‘Yes, I am. Go back on deck and find the others.’
‘What shall I tell Herschel and Libby?’
‘Tell them that I’m searching for something that’s gone astray. Tell them I’ll be back directly. Go on, Irene,’ he urged, pushing her away. ‘They’ll be wondering where we’ve got to.’
‘I don’t like leaving you on your own.’
‘You have to. Now find Herschel and Libby. Being with them is the best chance you have of dodging Colbeck.’
She swallowed hard. ‘If you say so, Jerry.’
With grave misgivings, she went back to the staircase that led to the upper deck. She could hear the sound of many feet shuffling across the deck. When she looked behind her, Oxley had vanished.
The Arethusa was determined not to be rushed. After ploughing her way through the waves under full canvas for three thousand miles, she was bent on a leisurely arrival. She seemed to drift in slow motion towards the pier, unsure whether to stop there or to float gently back downriver. As her hull made contact with the pier, there was a resounding thud. It was followed by the sound of ropes crashing onto the stone. They were quickly tied in place to steady the vessel. Members of the crew lowered the gangplank and it was fixed in place. Before anyone could descend it, Captain Riley led the way up the gangplank and ordered everyone to stand aside so that he could step onto the deck. Colbeck and Leeming were at his heels with four uniformed policemen in attendance. Riley first spoke to the captain who was poised at the top of the gangplank to shake the hands of the departing passengers. There was a brief discussion. After listening to Riley’s explanation of why he and the detectives were there, the captain gave him permission to come aboard.
Riley’s stentorian voice quelled the heavy murmur on deck.
‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ he shouted, ‘I’m sorry to delay you after a long voyage but there are two people with whom we need to speak as a matter of urgency.’ He stood on his toes to survey the assembled passengers. ‘We wish to speak to Mr and Mrs Colbeck. Could they please step forward?’
‘That’s you,’ said Libby, turning in amazement to Irene.
‘Keep your voice down,’ begged Irene.
‘Why?’
‘What’s going on?’ asked Finn.
‘He’s asking for Robert and Irene.’
‘What do the police want with them?’
‘It’s probably something to do with the theft from our cabin last night,’ said Irene, quivering in fear. ‘It’s nothing to worry about.’
‘How would the police onshore even know about that?’
But Finn’s question hung unheard in the air because Irene had already lost her nerve and squirmed off through the melee. Her American friends were at once shocked and bewildered. They’d never seen Irene act so impulsively and kept asking each other what had prompted her abrupt retreat. It was only when Riley barked out his request a second time that they found their voices.
‘Mrs Colbeck is over here,’ called Finn, raising a hand.
‘She’s just run away,’ added Libby.
‘We know her and her husband well.’
There was a commotion as Riley barged his way uncaringly through the passengers. Colbeck and Leeming followed him. When they reached the Finns, Riley asked them to identify themselves and they did so readily. Finn explained that he and Libby had befriended the Colbecks on the voyage and found them a charming couple.
‘You were grossly misled, sir,’ said Colbeck, stepping forward. ‘Since you know what they both look like, we’ll need your help to find this putative charming couple.’
‘Nobody is to leave the ship without producing their passports!’ bellowed Riley. ‘Every document will be checked at the gangplank by my men. Please disembark in an orderly fashion.’
Police reinforcements had now come on board to cluster around the entrance to the gangplank. The passengers were mystified but at least they could now begin to make their way off the ship. As the first trickle went down the gangplank, the search began in earnest behind them. Riley stayed close to Herschel Finn while Colbeck and Leeming kept Libby in tow. Unaware of what their shipboard friends had done, the Americans were nevertheless more than ready to help the police find them. In spite of their repeated questions, the captain and the two detectives refused to say why they were so anxious to find the missing passengers. The search was thorough. They could move about freely. Now that everyone was vacating the vessel, all the doors had been left unlocked. Apart from a few members of the crew, the areas below deck were empty. Feet clattering on the timber, the search party seemed to be walking through a hollow.
They opened cabin doors, looked under bunks and searched inside cupboards. Leeming soon wearied of the chase.
‘This is worse than hide-and-seek,’ he moaned.
‘They’re here somewhere,’ said Colbeck, looking in every corner. ‘They can’t possibly have left the vessel.’
‘Then where are they, Inspector?’
By way of an answer, a woman’s shrill scream was heard at the other end of a passageway. The detectives hurried along it with Libby waddling behind them. They discovered that Irene had been found hiding in the cupboard of what had been their cabin. Finn identified her. With a surge of energy, she tried to break away from Riley’s grasp but it was like iron.
‘Take your hands off me!’ she shouted. ‘I’ve done nothing wrong. Mr and Mrs Finn will vouch for me. My name is Irene Colbeck and I demand to be treated with respect.’
‘Oh, we’ll treat you with the greatest respect,’ said Colbeck, doffing his hat as he entered the cabin. ‘Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Inspector Robert Colbeck of Scotland Yard and I’d like to discuss the misappropriation of my name.’
Irene was transfixed. ‘ You’re Inspector Colbeck?’
‘Yes, Miss Adnam, and this is Sergeant Leeming.’ He stood back so that Leeming could step forward. ‘We were friends and colleagues of Constable Peebles. Need I say more?’ Irene began to gibber. ‘Now tell us where Oxley is and we can put an end to this whole business.’
‘I don’t know,’ she cried. ‘I don’t know where Jerry is.’
‘Then we’ll search until we find him.’
‘Is he armed?’ asked Leeming.
‘Yes,’ replied Irene. ‘He has a gun.’
‘So have I, Miss Adnam,’ said Colbeck, tapping the weapon beneath his coat, ‘but I sincerely hope that there’ll be no need to use it. We’ve had enough killing as it is.’
‘I wish someone would tell us what’s going on,’ said Finn.
‘Yes,’ said Libby, ‘it’s all so confusing.’
‘You’re helping us to find two dangerous criminals, sir,’ said Colbeck with gratitude. ‘One is now in custody. Since the other is armed, it might be safer if you and your wife stay here with Captain Riley.’
‘Will you be able to recognise the rogue on your own?’ asked Riley, slipping a pair of handcuffs onto Irene’s wrist.
‘Oh, I think so. ‘I’ve never actually seen him but I’m sure I’ll know him straight away when I clap eyes on him.’
‘Be careful, Inspector!’ warned Libby.
She was horrified to hear that the amiable man she’d known as Robert Colbeck possessed a gun. Finn, however, was driven by curiosity as much as bravado and offered to accompany Colbeck and Leeming.
‘That won’t be necessary, Mr Finn,’ said Colbeck.
‘Leave this to us, sir,’ advised Leeming. ‘We came three thousand miles for the pleasure of capturing Jeremy Oxley.’
‘Oxley?’ Finn blinked. ‘I thought his name was Robert Colbeck.’
‘Not anymore, it isn’t,’ said Colbeck with asperity.
‘What will happen to Irene?’ wondered Libby.
‘She’ll remain in police custody until her partner in crime is arrested,’ said Riley. ‘Then the pair of them will go back to England to face the death sentence.’
Irene fainted. Riley was just in time to catch her. He put her gently down on one of the bunks. Hovering uncertainly, Finn and Libby did not know whether to pity or condemn her. They were shaken by the thought that they’d been taken in so easily by Irene and her supposed husband. Libby was the first to speak.
‘I knew that there was something odd about them,’ she claimed.
‘So did I,’ said Finn.
‘That’s not true, Herschel. You thought they were such nice people. They fooled you completely.’
‘Hey, now that’s not fair, Libby.’
Colbeck and Leeming did not stop to hear the marital dispute. They were already making a systematic search of the places they’d not yet visited. It was tiring work. The Arethusa was a large and capacious three-masted vessel, though lacking the refinements of the Jura. The problem was that there were far too many hiding places and there was always the danger that Oxley was moving from one to another as they closed in on him. Leeming began to lose patience but Colbeck was convinced they’d find their man in the end. He kept one hand on the weapon holstered at his side. When they’d exhausted almost every other possibility, they went down into the very bowels of the ship to the quarters occupied by the crew.
With a low ceiling of oak beams and only rudimentary facilities, the quarters stretched across the width of the ship. Since they were below the waterline, there was no natural light. The detectives were compelled to remove their top hats before they could move forward. Colbeck grabbed a lantern that dangled from a hook and held it up. As it pierced the gloom, it revealed an array of bunks and hammocks in close proximity. Leeming was disappointed.
‘Another dead end,’ he groaned.
Colbeck raised a hand to silence him, then he lifted the lantern higher and went off to take a closer look at the quarters. As his eyes adjusted to the half-dark, he could see the privations that the crew endured while the passengers travelled in relative comfort. Colbeck stopped in his tracks. Somebody was there. He could neither see nor hear anybody but he was certain that he was not alone. Slipping a hand under his coat, he removed the pistol from its holster and held it in readiness. When he inched forward, he did so with slow, quiet, deliberate footsteps. He did not get far. His toe suddenly stubbed against something and he looked down to see the dead body of a man splayed out on the floor. The corpse was almost naked and smeared with blood.
‘Over here!’ he called.
‘What have you found, sir?’ asked Leeming, coming forward until he saw the body. ‘Is that Oxley?’
‘No,’ said Colbeck. ‘It’s a member of the crew.’
He held the lantern low so they could see that the man’s skull had been smashed to a pulp. Behind the body was a pile of discarded clothing of a kind that looked incongruous in the crew’s quarters. There was a well-cut frock coat, fashionable trousers, a silk waistcoat, a cravat and a pair of patent leather shoes. An abandoned top hat completed the outfit. Colbeck assessed the situation at once.
‘Oxley has disguised himself as a member of the crew,’ he said in exasperation. ‘He’s probably left the ship already.’