Death of a Scoundrel Page 13

  ‘We shall see what he has to say for himself. Come along, Jack. He’s just a man, albeit one who likes to throw his weight about. Don’t let him intimidate you.’

  Salter responded with a growl. ‘He won’t do that, sir, no more than Woodrow did earlier. That much I can assure you.’

  ‘Glad to hear it,’ Riley replied with a grim smile, as further loud profanities echoed from the room in which Durand had been confined. ‘Ready?’

  Salter nodded, rubbing his hands together and grinning with anticipation.

  Riley thrust the door to the interview room open and strode through it with confidence. Salter followed him and adopted his customary slouch against the wall. The uniformed constable who had drawn the short straw and been obliged to remain inside with Durand, thereby becoming the focus for his ire, scampered away with a sigh of unmitigated relief and an expressive eye-roll.

  ‘At last!’ Durand had been standing at the back of the room, presumably the better to intimidate the hapless constable. Now he strode forward. ‘What the hell is the meaning of this outrage, Rochester?’

  ‘Sit down, Lord Durand,’ Riley said with enough authority in his voice to make the irate earl comply.

  ‘Well?’ Durand modified his tone only slightly as he sat across from Riley and glowered at him. He prodded the desk between them with a finger to emphasise his point, tapping a well-manicured nail against the scarred wood. ‘I do not take kindly to being hauled from my house in full sight of my neighbours by your uniformed constables. I have a reputation to consider. If you had a need to speak with me again you should have had the courtesy to call upon me yourself and discuss your concerns with me in a gentlemanly fashion. Rest assured, Rochester, you have gone too far this time and there will be repercussions.’

  Riley leaned back in his chair, fixing his eyes on the wall behind Durand’s head. A couple of seconds’ silence ticked by like a small eternity. ‘Are you done?’ Riley asked, unsurprised and unaffected by the earl’s bluster.

  Durand crossed his arms, his expression still belligerent. ‘Ask your damned questions, then I will accept your apology.’

  ‘I dislike being lied to,’ Riley said calmly. ‘And dislike being taken for a fool even more. That is why I had you brought here.’

  ‘Your damned uniformed ruffians gave me no choice in the matter.’ Durand’s face turned a worrying shade of puce as his anger returned in full force. ‘And what do you mean, lied to? I am not in the habit of lying.’

  Salter snorted but at a gesture from Riley he remained silent, leaning insolently against the wall.

  ‘Then I will ask you again, Lord Durand. Did you leave your house after arriving from York two nights ago?’ He held up a hand. ‘And before you trot out the standard denial, I think it only fair to warn you that we have made enquiries since we last spoke and are now in possession of facts unavailable to us previously.’

  ‘You didn’t take my word as a gentleman?’ Durand’s eyes bulged with indignation and, Riley thought, a modicum of unease.

  ‘I am a policeman. I don’t take anybody’s word for anything. We are paid to be suspicious and our instincts barely fail us, do they, Sergeant?’

  ‘Almost never, sir.’

  ‘Well?’ Riley leaned back in his chair, taking his turn to gently tap his fingers on the table top. ‘Your movements on the night in question.’

  ‘Oh, very well, I went out.’

  Riley inclined his head. ‘Where did you go and why?’

  ‘That is my affair and has nothing to do with Woodrow’s murder.’

  ‘I’ll decide what’s relevant to the death of Mr Woodrow. So why did you lie about where you were? And more to the point, why did you not go in your carriage?’

  ‘I don’t want my servants to know all my business,’ he said, looking away from Riley and closely examining the fingernails of one hand.

  ‘We know you went to Half Moon Street,’ Salter said, shrugging himself from the wall and walking forward until he stood under the interview room’s one weak light at Riley’s shoulder. ‘And you lied about it. Far as I’m concerned, that means we’ve found our murderer.’

  ‘What? No!’ Durand looked towards Riley, who merely shrugged. ‘How dare you let your sergeant speak to me in such an insolent manner.’

  ‘My sergeant makes a fair point,’ Riley said mildly. ‘Your daughter—your only child who you have such high hopes for—was infatuated with Woodrow and was about to throw her life away by agreeing to marry him. She is almost of age and has independent means, so there would have been nothing you could have done to stop her. Unless, of course, Woodrow abruptly ceased to exist.’

  ‘And then we find out you’ve lied to us. What’s more you were in his street on the night he died at exactly the right time, even though you told the inspector you didn’t know where he lived,’ Salter added. ‘Open and shut as far as I’m concerned. God knows why, but the inspector seems willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. He thinks you might have had a good reason for skulking about in the street. And of course your precious position puts you above suspicion, don’t it, your lordship? Salter sniffed. ‘The inspector wants you to be innocent, being a toff himself. Your lot tend to stick together. Me, I’ll take more convincing, and I’d be happy enough to see you swing.’

  The dim light shadowed Salter’s eyes, but his mouth turned down at the corners in a sneer. Durand sent Salter a venomous look, then glanced at Riley for some form of escape. When he gauged that no help was likely to be forthcoming from that quarter, he let out a protracted sigh. ‘Very well, I did take a hansom and have it drop me at the Half Moon.’

  ‘We know that already,’ Riley replied. ‘What we do not know is why.’

  ‘We can guess though,’ Salter growled.

  ‘That I very much doubt, Sergeant.’ Durand glowered at Salter and then returned his attention to Riley, pointedly excluding Salter from his explanation. ‘I was furious because I discovered just before I left Bentham that Woodrow had been writing to Laura secretly, addressing his letters to her maid to prevent me from intercepting them. And she had been answering them, too. I know because I asked her and she calmly admitted it.’ He shook his head. ‘I could scarce believe it. She promised me that she had broken off all contact, yet she continued to collude with him, such was the power that he wielded over the poor impressionable girl. I don’t blame her, of course. For someone who had been as well protected as Laura, Woodrow would have seemed glamorous and exciting, I suppose. Anyway, I wanted to have it out with him once and for all.’

  ‘Which is the real reason why you returned to London,’ Riley said, eliciting a nod from the earl. ‘It had nothing to do with the debate in the House.’

  ‘No, although I had been considering attending it anyway. Learning about Woodrow’s correspondence with Laura made up my mind for me.’

  ‘So you went to Half Moon Street and waited for Woodrow,’ Riley prompted when Durand’s words trailed off.

  ‘Yes. I waited outside his lodgings, trying to decide how best to make him leave her alone. He’d already declined my offer of five thousand guineas, so I thought of increasing it. But the longer I waited, the clearer things became. He knew of course that he would gain access to a great deal more than that if, as you say, he were to propose the moment she came of age. If he did that, I knew there wasn’t the smallest possibility of her refusing him. So it suddenly occurred to me that I should speak, not to Woodrow but to my solicitor, to see if there was any way that I could ensure her inheritance did not pass into the hands of her husband, whomever she chose to marry. That way, if she insisted upon defying me then at least she would have the opportunity to see him in his true colours and realise what it was that he really wanted from her.’ He lowered his head and sighed somewhat dramatically. ‘It was a futile hope, but it was the only one that I had.’

  ‘You did not see Woodrow that night?’ Riley asked, fixing him with a probing look.

  ‘No, Lord Riley. You have my word as a gentleman
that I did not. I waited for the best part of an hour in freezing conditions, then I left. He had not returned home by that point. I understand he spent the evening at Lady Aston’s abode. I am sure she can tell you what time he left there. I dare say you already know, so you will also know that I couldn’t possibly have seen him.’

  ‘You might not have done,’ Salter said, ‘but only if you’re telling us the truth about the time you left. We’ve only your word for it, see? And you’ve already lied to us, so you can understand why we might not believe you. And don’t expect me to take all that “word of a gentleman” nonsense. I didn’t come down in the last shower.’

  ‘I take exception to your tone, Sergeant. Tell him, Rochester. Kindly inform him that gentlemen do not give their word lightly.’

  Riley shrugged, looked up at Salter and said precisely nothing. He turned back to Durand. ‘If my sergeant is to believe you, you will have to find someone who can validate your movements.’

  ‘No,’ Durand said a little too quickly. ‘I went directly home.’

  Riley sighed. ‘This is your last opportunity to tell us the truth, Lord Durand. If you do not then I will have no choice but to charge you with Woodrow’s murder.’

  ‘You cannot!’ Durand jumped to his feet, knocking his chair to the floor. ‘I didn’t do it. I won’t deny that I’m glad he’s gone, but…’

  He got no further. Salter moved quickly around the desk, righted the chair, grabbed Durand by the lapels of his frock coat and sat him forcibly back into it. He walked behind the chair and forced his hands down onto Durand’s shoulders, his knuckles white from the effort. The small tableau remained unchanged for a few seconds, then Riley gestured with his right hand and Salter took a step backwards and lifted his hands from Durand’s shoulders. Durand shrugged away the pain of Salter’s grip as Riley leaned towards him.

  ‘Lord Durant, this is your last chance to tell me the entire truth. Tell us where you went. Otherwise, the matter will be out of my hands, as will the resulting publicity be.’

  Lord Durand’s chest puffed out and his face turned beetroot red. ‘You would not!’

  ‘Personally? Of course not. As you say, I am a gentleman. The press, however, are vultures. Help me to help you. I don’t believe you when you say you went straight home again. How did you get there? Who let you into your house? Presumably a servant would be able to vouch for your movements.’

  ‘That ain’t gonna satisfy me,’ Salter grunted. ‘His servants’ll say whatever he tells them to say if they value their positions. And they’ll stay quiet if he gives them a few quid, no doubt.’

  Durand dropped his head into his splayed hands and shook it from side to side. In a voice that was barely more than a whisper he said: ‘I called upon my mistress.’

  ‘At that time of night? Pull the other one,’ Salter said.

  ‘I reward her handsomely for her exclusive services and call whenever I need to avail myself of them. I was in a terrible state and needed calming.’

  ‘I shall need her name,’ Riley said.

  Durand’s head shot up again. ‘Is that really necessary?’

  Riley simply fixed him with a look. Durand scowled but rattled off the name and address of his mistress.

  ‘What d’you reckon, guvnor?’ Salter asked.

  ‘What do I reckon, sergeant? I reckon we got there in the end. See Lord Durant out, would you?’

  Lord Durant didn’t wait for Salter to do so. Instead, he picked up his hat and cane and left with a glance of sheer hatred at Riley and a contemptuous sneer for his sergeant. Salter followed him from the room, then returned

  ‘Do you believe him, sir?’ Salter asked after he’d left.

  ‘I’m not sure. Let’s go and have a word with the lady in question, Martha Long, and see what she has to say for herself. That’ll give us a better idea.’

  Salter sniffed. ‘If Durand keeps her then she’ll say anything he tells her to.’ He grinned. ‘Which is why I just asked Carter and Soames to follow him. If he goes directly to see her now, we can be pretty sure that he’ll be warning her to expect a visit from us and telling her what to say.’

  ‘Good work, Jack.’ They returned to Riley’s office. ‘I still have no clear idea who killed Rod. Durand, William Woodrow and Kempton are still top of my list of suspects. I think that tomorrow we’d best have a word with Kempton.’

  ‘I thought you might say that, sir.’

  Riley leaned back in his chair, his expression pensive. ‘If Woodrow really intended to marry Alice Fanshaw, why was he still dallying with Laura Durand?’

  ‘Like we surmised before, perhaps he intended to do to her what he’d already done to Mrs Kempton. Take her innocence and then extract a lump sum from her inheritance in order to buy his silence.’

  ‘Why not simply negotiate with Lord Durand. He’d already offered him a small fortune and just admitted to us that he would have been willing to increase his offer. Maybe young Rod was playing a very dangerous game of brinkmanship, holding out for the ultimate payday.’

  ‘And perhaps he somehow made sure that Durand knew he’d been writing to his daughter. Durand never said how he found out,’ Salter mused. ‘Perhaps if Durand was telling us the truth and if Woodrow had returned home earlier, he would have succeeded in securing his daughter’s future and Woodrow would still be alive. Seven or eight thousand guineas added to what Woodrow already had salted away would have been more than enough for him to marry Alice and set her up in business.’ Salter rubbed his chin. ‘Of course, he could have continued with his lucrative sideline, extracting money from willing victims, if he wanted to be greedy, but they were all small fry compared to what he’d make from Durand—or his daughter.’

  ‘Very likely, Jack. Anyway, time’s getting on. Let’s have a bit of luncheon, and after that we should know where Durand went after leaving here.’

  Riley was subsequently gratified to learn that Durand had gone straight to the House of Lords after leaving the Yard. Arresting a man of Durand’s stature would have caused uproar and Riley wasn’t sure he had the energy to deal with the fall out.

  ‘He probably wanted to put on a brave face,’ Riley told Salter. ‘Word of his being hauled in here would have spread like wildfire. By now half the aristocracy will be claiming to have seen him dragged off in chains and they’ll be milking it for all it’s worth. There’s nothing the gossips like more than the prospect of one of their own falling from grace. Naturally, they will pretend to be shocked, and insist they don’t believe a word of it, all the time hoping it’s true. Durand has a reputation to maintain and political enemies who wouldn’t scruple to trade upon his personal misfortunes.’

  ‘I can’t say I liked him a lot myself, guvnor.’

  ‘You’re not alone, Jack.’ Riley gathered up his possessions. ‘Right, come along, we’re for Mrs Long in Covent Garden.’

  The elegant woman who received them looked to be in her late thirties. She was cultured, as Riley had imagined would be the case. Men of Durand’s ilk would pay for the best and expect to receive it. She confirmed without hesitation that Durand had called upon her in the early hours of the day in question.

  ‘Does he always come at such odd hours?’ Salter asked.

  ‘He does as he pleases, Sergeant. Often he calls after long debates in the House of Lords, so visits at unusual times are not that uncommon.’

  ‘Was there anything different about him on this occasion?’ Riley asked.

  ‘Other than the fact that I had thought him in Yorkshire and had not expected to see him? Yes, Inspector, he seemed agitated and very upset. He didn’t say why, but I got the impression that it was something to do with his daughter. He idolises the girl and, if you want my opinion, keeps her on too tight a leash. But it’s not my place to say so. He is very sensitive when it comes to Laura.’

  ‘Did he seem dishevelled?’

  ‘Heavens, no! Lord Durand is never anything less than impeccably attired.’

  ‘Have you seen or heard from
him since that night?’ Salter asked.

  ‘No, I have not.’ She paused, curiosity clearly getting the better of her. ‘May I ask why you are…well, asking about him?’

  ‘His name came up in connection with an investigation,’ Riley replied. ‘I regret that I cannot discuss the particulars with you. We simply needed to establish Lord Durand’s whereabouts at the time we have just discussed with you. You have satisfied us in that regard.’

  ‘Happy to oblige,’ she said, ringing the bell for her maid, who showed the detectives out into the windy street, where at least the showers were holding off for the moment.

  ‘Well, unless Lord Durand primed her in advance, I guess his guilt is now not so clear cut,’ Salter said sullenly.

  ‘Cheer up, Jack. He’s not in the clear yet either. More digging is called for. Anyway, I am going back to the Yard to update Thompson. There’s nothing more we can do today so you might as well get off home. We’ll come at this fresh tomorrow.’

  ‘Thank you very much, sir. If you’re sure.’

  ‘Quite sure,’ Riley replied, hailing a cab. ‘Good night, Jack.’

  ‘Good night, sir.’

  Riley’s superintendent was relieved to hear that Durand was not necessarily the guilty party.

  ‘Always tricky, trying to prosecute a man with so much authority,’ he said. ‘I hope he doesn’t plan to make an official complaint about being brought in.’

  ‘I very much doubt if he will. He knows that his innocence has yet to be established beyond doubt. And he lied to us; a situation he wouldn’t want made public knowledge.’

  Riley chatted to Thompson for ten minutes, then went home, ready for a bath and a decent single malt. Amelia had other plans for the evening and Riley looked forward to a quiet night beside his own fire and the opportunity to reflect upon the various aspects of this most perplexing of cases. But it wasn’t to be. He arrived home to be informed by Stout that his brother was in Riley’s drawing room.

  ‘Henry.’ Riley held out his hand as he entered the room. ‘I thought you were staying in Chichester until after Christmas. What brings you up to town?’