himself, said, ‘Books are hard to burn, actually. He managed to destroy the camera and most of the rope well enough. But this type of man may like souvenirs. May have been reluctant to get rid of them.’ He looked at Sir Francis. ‘Seen it twice before.’
‘Plus he’s reckless,’ Denton said. ‘Very reckless.’
Sir Francis put his long nose down towards the box as if to smell it. After some seconds, he said, ‘So you believe that you have evidence that links the man Satterlee to the man Mulcahy and to the murdered girl, is that right?’
‘We think so, yes.’
Sir Francis put a hand through the deputy superintendent’s arm. ‘May we talk?’ he said, and they went out. A moment later, the East Ham man had closed the box and taken it to the door, cradled in his arms like a baby. Munro said, ‘Mind that doesn’t leave your sight! We’ll want an affidavit—!’
The detective turned in the doorway, the door hooked into his right foot so he could pull it closed. He gave Munro a look that meant What do you take me for? With the slow delivery that mocks patience and suggests the speaker is talking to a fool, he said, ‘It’s going back with you and the super in the CID van.’
‘We’ll still want your affidavit!’
‘Yeah, yeah, yeah—’ He went out and pulled the door to with his toe.
Munro smiled at Denton. ‘Hurry up and wait some more, eh?’
‘I want to see Mrs Striker.’
‘She, uh—Is she a, umm, your—?’
Denton was grim. ‘She risked her life so that bastard wouldn’t get away.’
Munro nodded his head. ‘Right. Right.’
Five minutes later, Sir Francis came back in. He put his hand on Denton’s shoulder. ‘No charges will be laid. You’re free to go on my recognizance until they’re certain of the evidence.’ He gave Munro a small smile, turned back to Denton. ‘I have my motor car; may I give you a ride to town?’
‘I’m going to Bart’s.’
‘I can drop you, then.’ He nodded at Munro. ‘I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again, Sergeant.’ He turned back to Denton. ‘I’ll just have a word with my chauffeur.’
When he was gone, Denton said, ‘“Seeing you again”?’
Munro looked sheepish. ‘They want to talk about me going back to CID.’ He leaned back against the table. ‘Metropolitan Police were about to do something that would have been wrong and stupid - close the Mulcahy case. They were doing it because it was easy and because, let’s face it, people had persuaded themselves they were right. Powers that be were, so they say, beside themselves when this broke this morning. Even though I was in too little and too late, they think I fell down the privy seat and came up with a diamond, so maybe I can go back to CID despite the leg.’ He grinned. ‘I owe you one.’
‘Not at all.’ He put out his hand. ‘All’s well that ends well.’
‘I do have a question, though.’
Denton waited.
‘What would you have done if your shot had hit the woman instead of Satterlee?’
He had Denton’s hand; Denton returned his pressure, withdrew his hand. His voice was gruff. ‘I’d have got him with the second shot.’
Denton had to wait in the upstairs corridor until the solicitor’s motor car came. He was told to stay away from the windows ‘because of the vultures from the press’. He peered out with his face against a window frame and was astonished to see more than twenty men clustered where he supposed the station’s entrance was. He saw mostly the tops of bowler hats, the occasional soft hat on somebody more daring; voices reached him, words unclear but the tone sometimes sharp, sometimes mocking.
‘They’re all there for you,’ a voice said behind him.
‘Harris!’ It was as if the man had materialized out of the stale air in the corridor. ‘What the hell?’
Frank Harris, less red-eyed than usual, smiling his shark’s smile, rubbed a thumb and three fingertips together. ‘Lucre changed hands, copper showed me up the back stairs. Corruption in the bastion of law.’ He grinned. ‘Always think the worst of your fellow man - you’ll get farther.’
‘What are you doing here?’
‘Little bird told me a notorious murderer had been shot by a well-known author. I bustled. Rather early in the day for me to bustle - I do my best work in the dark - but I made an exception, and here I am with an offer that’s going to make your heart twitter with delight! You may want to