The Case of the Deadly Diamonds by Christopher Bush

Author:Christopher Bush
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dean Street Press
Published: 2022-02-26T00:00:00+00:00

Part II: The Release

8. OVERTURE

One morning towards the end of that September Norris referred me to an entry in the diary, special for that year. It was a reminder about the release of David Wayner.

That afternoon I managed to get hold of Jewle. He said he’d get the exact date for me and give me a ring.

“Any method of finding out who his visitors were—if he had any?”

“Why?”

“Just trying to get in touch with things again,” I said. “That business of a confederate happened to come into my mind.”

“It’s possible,” he said. “But he hasn’t been in the same little cell all the time.”

He said he might be round my way in the morning and that’s how we left it. I postponed my usual coffee time, but not for long. He turned up shortly before eleven. I hadn’t seen him since his holiday and I told him he was looking extraordinarily fit. I don’t have a set holiday. What I like is a week here and another there, depending on the pressure of work. It means you’ve always something to look forward to, and it breaks up the year.

When we got round to David Wayner, he hadn’t much for me, except that the date of release was the 2nd of October at around ten o’clock. As for visitors, he’d consistently refused to see any.

“I think you were oversimplifying things,” Jewle told me. “Considering the circumstances, a confederate would never risk a visit. If any information had to be got through to Wayner, it could be done in a letter. Letters are censored, as you know, but it isn’t the job of prison authorities to hunt for clues to the whereabouts of stolen property. If it comes to that, it isn’t our job either—not in this case. Everything was too hypothetical. The existence of a confederate was never actually proved. You were at Wayner’s trial, so you know it wasn’t even mentioned.”

That was about all he could tell me, except that Wayner had been a model prisoner. For the last twelve months he’d actually been working in the prison library. As for the definite time of release, Jewle said he’d give me a confirmatory ring the day before.

The next day John Hill rang me. His attention had just been called to the fact that Wayner was about to be released. I asked if he wished the case to be reopened.

“That’s what I’d like your opinion about,” he said. “As I see it, there’d surely be no harm in keeping him under observation for a few days. After all, there was a possibility of a confederate.”

“We’ll do just that,” I said. “Nothing elaborate. Just try to find out where he goes and what his contacts are. No use throwing a lot of good money after bad.”

That’s how we left it. That’s one of the good things about John Hill—he doesn’t keep a dog and bark himself. He may give a little whimper from time to time, but that’s hardly the same thing.

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