Churchyard and Hawke by E.V. Thompson

Author:E.V. Thompson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Robert Hale
Published: 2009-03-24T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 23

Before returning to Bodmin with Tom, Amos visited the spot below the woods where Jimmy had been found. A police search party was already scouring the area in a bid to ascertain where - and if possible why - he had gone into the river.

As they arrived the smashed Laneglos wagonette was discovered and only a few minutes later a constable stumbled across the cache where the items burgled from Laneglos had been hidden. .

There was some damage to a couple of the pictures but as far as Amos could remember from the list he had compiled with Lady Hogg, the only item of stolen property still missing was the Laneglos pony, and he and Tom were in agreement that Alfie must have ridden off on the animal, leaving an injured Jimmy behind to fend for himself. It seemed the most likely explanation.

As they were travelling back to the police headquarters, Tom said, ‘I’m not surprised Alfie deserted Jimmy. He’s ruthless enough to sacrifice his own mother if he ever thought it necessary, but it’s not like him to abandon so much valuable loot. I would have thought he’d have moved heaven and earth to make money on it. There is some very valuable stuff back there - probably more than he’s ever had in his hands before.’

‘Perhaps he somehow got word that Enid’s body had been found and realized we would be looking for him and Jimmy. He’s shrewd enough to realize that no matter how valuable the stolen property might be it would be no good to him if it led to a meeting with the hangman.’

‘He certainly seems to have made good his escape.’ Tom said, regretfully, ‘I was hoping he might have managed to get back to the Mermaid, perhaps when it was coaling at Plymouth, then he’d have been picked up when the boat reached London.’

Amos had discussed the question of conspiracy charges with the Cornwall chief constable and it had been decided to bring no charges against the Mermaid’s passengers, Amos pointing out it would be difficult to prove exactly what crimes the more sophisticated of the criminals on board had planned to carry out at the Laneglos ball. Besides, those who had committed crimes, the Hoxton gang and Conrad Shannon, had been caught and charged with either burglary, or attempted burglary - and in Shannon’s case, forgery. Now, with the death of Jimmy, only Alfie remained to be apprehended.

The Chief Constable had agreed that the Laneglos burglary should be regarded as a separate crime but when the body of Enid was discovered, Amos had telegraphed to Scotland Yard with the result that the London river police boarded the Mermaid when it sailed into their jurisdiction, searching for the prime murder suspects. But their search for the missing members of the Banks family had proved fruitless.

‘Alfie was aware we knew of his association with the Mermaid,’ Amos pointed out, ‘He would have kept well clear of it. I doubt whether he’ll return to Hoxton for a while, either.

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