The Spirit Murder Mystery by Robin Forsythe

Author:Robin Forsythe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dean Street Press
Published: 2016-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

As he was entering the inn, Vereker was overtaken by Inspector Heather, who seemed considerably more cheerful than he had appeared of late.

“What has happened about the inquest?” asked Vereker.

“The inquest has been adjourned indefinitely. That gives us time to get on with our job, which is going to be a tough one,” replied the inspector.

“There’s a sanguine note in your voice, Heather. You’ve struck a hopeful trail?”

“I’ve struck a trail and that’s something to go on with,” replied Heather.

“And suspicion points to?” suggested Vereker.

“Several people, but Mr. Ephraim Noy is first on the list.”

“You’ve been digging into his past?” asked Vereker.

“We have and we’ve managed to trace his activities back to Chicago. He was for some time an active member of a Chicago booze racket.”

“Well I’m damned!” exclaimed Vereker with such vehemence that the inspector looked up sharply at him. “You’re on his track, too, Mr. Vereker?” he asked

“No, Heather, no. I was merely astonished, that’s all. Go on with your yarn.”

“After a period of being mixed up with a gang of hoodlums, as they call them across the water, Ephraim turned police informer or ‘stool-pigeon.’ Then things became too hot for him and he skipped it back to England.”

“How does John Thurlow or Clarry Martin come into the story, Heather?” asked Vereker.

“On his arrival in England, Noy made it his duty to hunt up Mr. Thurlow. Many years ago, in India, they had business relations together, but the exact nature of those transactions we can’t find out. We’ve an idea that Thurlow helped him with money on his return to England from America, but of this we’re not certain.”

“His settling down at Yarham, close to John Thurlow, seems a bit mysterious,” suggested Vereker.

“Yes, and we’re busy on that line. There was probably blackmail or something like it hiding behind the scenes. I’m going to give Mr. Ephraim Noy a bad half-hour when I see him.”

“I don’t like the look of the man, Heather, but that’s neither here nor there. Anything more of Runnacles?”

“Nothing much. He told us that on the Tuesday night, that is the night after Thurlow’s disappearance, he was at home all evening with his wife. This was a lie. He didn’t get home till early in the morning. The same happened on Monday night, the night of Thurlow’s disappearance.”

“A Mr. Barney Deeks told you so, Heather,” said Vereker with a smile.

“How do you know Mr. Barney Deeks?” asked the inspector with a start of surprise.

“Met him casually in the tap-room of this inn. He told me that he knew Runnacles was out past Cobbler’s Corner on Tuesday night. He had passed him on the road between ten and eleven o’clock, which to my mind implicates Deeks as much as Runnacles.”

“You suspect Deeks’s honesty?” asked the inspector.

“No. I think he was telling the truth, but the man’s stupid and a bit of a braggart. He’s an old-time poacher and proud of it. Likes publicity in his old age and hopes to be paid in beer for a good news story.

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