Blood on the Line by Edward Marston

Author:Edward Marston [Edward Marston]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
ISBN: 9780749010508
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Published: 2011-03-24T16:00:00+00:00

Tallis had read the letter so often that he knew it by heart. It was a temptation he was finding hard to resist. Although it was directed at Colbeck, he felt that it should more properly have been sent to him as the senior investigating officer. Oxley wanted to make contact. The letter was quite specific about that. It was so important for him that he was even prepared to break cover and disclose his whereabouts. It was a chance too good to miss. Instead of trailing the man all over the country, Tallis was being offered the opportunity to catch him here in London. Some kind of trap would be involved. He knew that. But he was relying on his experience to be able to anticipate and thereby avoid the trap. In pursuit of glory, he was ready to accept all the hazards. Colbeck would have taken up the challenge implicit in the letter and that is what Tallis resolved to do. For once in his life, he would overshadow his illustrious colleague.

There was a tap on the door. When it opened, Peebles came in.

‘You sent for me, sir?’ he enquired.

‘I need you to accompany me, Constable.’

‘Where are we going?’

‘We are going to arrest Jeremy Oxley,’ said Tallis, grandly. He handed the letter to Peebles. ‘You had better read this.’

The constable did so, his brow furrowing with surprise.

‘Is this genuine, Superintendent?’

‘I believe so.’

‘By rights, Inspector Colbeck should respond to it.’

‘I’d be happy for him to do so if it were not for the fact that he is gallivanting around the country on trains. An exact time has been set for the meeting. As Colbeck is not here, someone else has to go.’

‘What about Sergeant Leeming?’

‘I have decided to take the responsibility on myself, Constable, and I am ordering you to come with me. There will be danger, of course, but that is ever present when one wears an army uniform. As a result, I’m impervious to fear and so, I hope, are you.’

‘Lead on, sir. I’ll follow wherever you go.’

Peebles was thrilled to be given such a task. There were many other detectives on whom Tallis might have called. Instead, he had picked out the newest of them. It was an exciting assignment and he was already relishing the pleasure of telling his beloved about it when he and Catherine were together again. She would be so proud of him. It never crossed his mind that Tallis was deliberately ignoring Leeming and the other detectives because they would object to doing something that was exclusively the right of Robert Colbeck.

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