Death at the Terminus by Edward Marston

Author:Edward Marston [Marston, Edward]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Miriam Brightwell was delighted with her visit to the small exhibition. As she travelled home in the cab, she thought of the immense pleasure she had experienced from seeing – and being allowed to handle – the accumulated finds from the excavation. The room in Ewart’s house was a wonderful private museum. If she had dug up any of the relics herself, she mused, she would have been unable to part with any of them. They would have been treasured.

When the cab reached her house, it drew to a halt. After paying the driver, she turned to her front door, which had been opened by one of her servants. She walked past him into the hall.

‘Did you enjoy your visit, Mrs Brightwell?’ he asked, closing the door.

‘It was thrilling.’

‘That’s good to hear.’

‘Mr Ewart showed me the skull of a Viking,’ she said, excitedly. ‘Just think of that. It’s been hidden under the ground for hundreds and hundreds of years. I held it in my hands. It was such a treat for me. I can’t thank Mr Ewart enough.’

At the superintendent’s insistence, Colbeck dined alone with Tallis that evening. Leeming and Hinton were relegated to a table in the corner. After studying the menu, Tallis glanced at his companion.

‘What would you recommend?’ he asked.

‘Everything we’ve eaten has been excellent, sir. Scawin’s Hotel is noted for its food. It was one of the first things that Mrs Scawin told me.’

‘Yes, I met her briefly when I first arrived. It’s very enterprising of a woman to run a place like this. I congratulate her.’

‘I’ll pass that compliment on.’

‘I’m glad that you chose this hotel over the much larger one.’

‘I remember what happened in Great Malvern,’ said Colbeck, referring to an earlier case. ‘You stayed in the Imperial Hotel while the sergeant and I went to a very much smaller hotel.’

‘Yes,’ said Tallis, ‘and your choice was much wiser. That dear lady who ran the place gave us the kind of personal service that the Imperial could never match. Be that as it may,’ he went on, becoming serious, ‘I didn’t come to York to discuss accommodation.’

‘No, sir, you brought a vital document from the Home Office. It’s put the investigation on an even keel at last. Superintendent Nash was holding us back.’

‘I’m glad that I was able to restrain that oaf,’ said Tallis. ‘He struck me as being one of those self-regarding, mindless bullies who give the police a bad name. I was glad to cut him down to size. Right,’ he added, slapping the table with his palm, ‘let’s get down to brass tacks. What exactly is going on?’

‘I thought that the sergeant had already given you the basic details, sir.’

‘I want a more comprehensive account.’

‘Yes, of course.’

‘And please don’t give me any of your theories,’ warned the other. ‘Stick to the facts. I find them more reassuring.’

‘I understand.’

Colbeck gave him a long, detailed, unvarnished account of what they had done so far and what they intended to do on the following day.

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