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.’‘But?’ He sensed there was more.‘Money.I heard him talking to people a few times.’‘To his wife?’‘No, sir,’ Marie answered.‘Was it bad?’‘I think so.’‘Did anyone visit the councillor this evening?’‘Yes, sir.Two men.’For a moment he felt his heart beginning to beat faster.But it couldn’t have been the boxer and his friend; one of them was in the mortuary already.‘Who were they? Did they give their names?’ he asked quickly.‘No, sir.They said Mr Cromwell was expecting them.I hadn’t seen them before.I showed them through to the library.’‘What time was this?’‘About eight o’clock.’‘How long did they stay?’‘I heard the master show them out about half past.’‘Did you hear any of the conversation?’The girl shook her head.‘What did Mr Cromwell do after that?’‘He went back into the library and stayed there until …’ She didn’t want to complete the sentence.‘Did he see his wife at all?’‘No, sir.She was in the parlour until ten and then she went to bed.’‘She didn’t go in and say goodnight?’ he asked.‘No, sir.’ She paused.‘It’s not their way.’He took a deep breath.‘The men who came tonight.Can you describe them?’She thought for a long time.‘They were both normal, I suppose,’ she said, eyes half-closed as she tried to picture the man.‘One a bit smaller than you, maybe.He had dark hair.’ She touched her nose.‘That was sharp.Handsome enough, but …’ She shrugged.‘He kept looking at me.I didn’t like that.But he din’t say owt.’The boxer’s friend.That was his first thought.A poisoning in the afternoon, a visit to the councillor in the evening, after which Cromwell kills himself.The man seemed to carry death around with him.‘What about the other man?’‘He were well-dressed.A gold ring here.’ She held up her left hand and waved the little finger.‘Big side whiskers, bigger n’ yours.Going grey above the ears.’‘Anything else?’ She could have described one of thousands of men in Leeds.‘He had a little scar on his forehead down to his eye.An old one.’‘Which eye?’‘His right.’Harper knew someone who had a scar exactly like that.Tosh Walker.The man he’d been trying to prosecute for years, the one who made witnesses vanish or recant their words.‘You’ve done very well,’ he told her.‘Can you show me to the library?’The room was wrongly named, he decided as he settled down with a candle.It had polished oak bookcases that ran from floor to ceiling along one wall, but hardly any books on the shelves.Cromwell obviously hadn’t been much of a reader; the few volumes he had all dealt with business.There was a padded leather club chair and a small table next to it with a decanter of whisky and a single glass.The desk was full of papers.He started with the ones on top, scanning through them quickly, discarding most and keeping a few to examine later.Every drawer was full.He was surprised the councillor hadn’t bothered to lock them.Some documents were council business, the minutes of meetings and committees.The summons to appear before an investigation looked interesting, as did the letters from the man’s bank.From all Harper could make out, Cromwell was close to bankruptcy; only the contract for coal from the mine had been keeping his head above water, and that just barely.He was a perfect victim for Tosh Walker.And with that name, things began to fall into place.Harper could readily imagine Walker forcing himself into Henry Bell’s moneylending business, bringing in the boxer and his friend to collect the debts.It would explain why Bell had been too scared to say anything when he’d been questioned.And why he’d had to die – before he could tell what he knew.And Cromwell? That seemed simple enough.If the strikers could be discredited, the gas committee would win the strike.The investigation into the substandard coal would vanish and he’d remain afloat.So, an arrangement with Walker for one of his men to commit murder.But it had all gone wrong; it had come to an end after the devil had come to exact his price.Whatever he’d paid, it had left the councillor desperate enough to blow out his brains.The only piece that didn’t fit was Martha Parkinson.Tosh Walker was many things, but there’d never been a whisper of anything to do with children.He wanted money and power.Children didn’t fit into that.He put it to the back of his mind as he worked through everything in the desk.Two hours later he had a small stack of papers to take with him, the rest spread haphazardly across the desk.He made his way back to the kitchen.The maid had gone.Out in the garden it was light.The constable guarding the shed tried to hide a cigarette in his cupped hands, waving away the smoke as the inspector approached.‘Don’t worry,’ Harper told him.‘It’s been a long night.’The bobby had found a sheet to hide Cromwell’s body and give him some dignity in death.The inspector drew it back, checking to make sure he’d missed nothing earlier.Suicide.He had no doubt.He covered what was left of the head again and glanced at his pocket watch.Almost six.‘I’ll send the wagon for him,’ he told the constable and made his way along the drive to Roundhay Road.At least his ankle hurt less this morning.Harper sat in Kendall’s office.As soon as Reed had arrived he’d sent him across the river to answer the questions about the boxer’s death.It was no more than a formality, but Billy had still looked nervous as he left.‘I want to bring Tosh Walker in.’‘The question is how soon he’ll walk out of here again,’ the superintendent said.‘The maid will pick him out as a visitor to Cromwell’s last night.’Kendall rubbed the back of his neck.He looked refreshed in a clean grey suit, the black tie carefully knotted at the throat, moustache precisely clipped, his hair parted in the middle and pomaded down.‘There’s no law against visiting a man who commits suicide later, Tom.’He knew what the man was doing.They’d played this game often enough, one of them acting as the devil’s advocate, testing the weaknesses in an argument or a case.‘I believe the man who was with him was the boxer’s friend.I’m as certain as I can be that he went into the Infirmary and killed the boxer.’The superintendent shook his head.‘It’s all speculation.Even if you’re right, Walker will have this man hidden away.From what you’ve told me, there’s nothing you can prove.Is that right?’‘Yes
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