Murder in Regent's Park by Christina Koning

Author:Christina Koning
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Published: 2023-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

As he ascended once more to street level, an icy blast caught him full in the face. His eyes began to stream. Strange that they could still weep, though near useless to him in other respects, he thought. He fumbled in the pocket of his overcoat for a handkerchief. At that moment, a car drew up alongside him. A window was rolled down. A voice said, ‘Get in.’ Accustomed as he now was to such unscheduled appearances by the Chief Inspector, he made no reply, but did as he was ordered. ‘You were a long time,’ said Douglas when he had given an instruction to the driver, as a result of which the vehicle made a U-turn, and headed back towards the Bayswater Road. ‘Another five minutes, and I’d have come in to haul you out.’

‘Which would rather have defeated the object of the exercise,’ said Rowlands.

‘What? Oh, I see what you mean,’ grunted the policeman. It seemed to Rowlands that the Chief Inspector had something on his mind; well, he would learn what it was soon enough, he thought. Although it wasn’t until some minutes later, with the car now moving at quite a pace along the broad highway that ran beside Hyde Park, that Douglas broke the silence. ‘You were right,’ he said. ‘He was playing by the rules – it’s just that we didn’t know it.’

‘Oh?’

‘His next murder was “South”, after all,’ said Douglas. ‘We’ve just been informed by the local police.’

‘When did you hear?’

‘The call from the Lewisham station came through an hour ago. A group of lads had stumbled across a body, in Telegraph Hill Park. That’s New Cross.’

‘I know.’

‘They thought it was a snowman, at first. Covered, you see,’ said the Chief Inspector, in a voice that sounded strangely unlike him. ‘It seems,’ he went on, in the same choked voice, ‘as if it had been there for several days. What with the snow, you see …’ The Chief Inspector broke off.

After a moment, he said: ‘Same method as before. Strangulation.’

‘And the playing card?’ asked Rowlands. ‘In her handbag,’ said Douglas. ‘No, don’t go down Oxford Street. It’ll be murder at this time of day,’ he added in a louder voice to the driver. ‘Cut along Park Lane, then Grosvenor Place, and Vauxhall Bridge Road.’

‘Sir.’

‘I’ve told the Inspector who’s dealing with the case – Graves; a good man – to leave the body where it was found,’ said Douglas. ‘I just hope his chaps haven’t destroyed too much of the evidence, trampling over the scene,’ he added glumly. ‘Of course, it’ll be dark by the time we get there. Not that it’ll make much difference to you, I fancy?’

‘None at all,’ said Rowlands.

‘So tell me,’ went on his companion idly as they rounded Hyde Park Corner and entered the stream of traffic that flowed past Marble Arch. ‘How did you get on with our friend, Mr Loveless, today?’ He listened in silence as Rowlands gave him the upshot of his meeting with the artist.

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