The Casebook of Raymond Odell by Smith Guy N

Author:Smith, Guy N. [Smith, Guy N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sinister Horror Company
Published: 2020-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

Concrete Evidence

‘I’d appreciate your help in this business, Odell,’ said Detective Inspector Richmond of the CID, seating himself in the comfortable armchair in the Dover Street detective’s consulting room. ‘One of our River Patrols fished a body out of the Thames last week, whilst dragging for a suicide. It’s taken us five days to identify the man.’

Raymond Odell, the famous detective, paused momentarily to light his battered briar pipe, signalling at the same time for his official colleague to continue with the story.

‘The man had been shot in the back of the head at close range with a .38 revolver,’ the Yard man went on. ‘His feet had been encased in a block of concrete, and the tailor’s tabs had been removed from his clothing. However, in the turn-ups of his trousers, we found gold dust, which indicated that he worked as a manufacturing jeweler. This narrowed our search down considerably, and we eventually discovered that he was William Walton, the senior partner in the Walton Jewelry Company, with his nephew, John Walton, a young man of about twenty-five years of age. William was a bachelor in his late fifties. He had been missing since Tuesday night, but it was quite usual for him to go off for days at a time on his own, without saying anything to anybody, so nobody had thought his absence strange. It is only a small business, the two Waltons, a man of about thirty-five named Rainbow who cuts and fits all the stones for them, and a middle-aged spinster, Mildred James, who looks after the small retail shop on the premises. In other words, it’s a typical small family firm. There is no apparent motive for the murder. It seems that William Walton did not have an enemy in the world!’

‘Tell,’ Odell commented, rising to his feet, ‘the obvious thing for me to do is to interview John Walton, Mildred James, and Rainbow. I’ll ask Tommy to bring the car round now, if that’s all right with you?’

‘Fine,’ Richmond replied. ‘The sooner we start, the better. I’ll just give John Walton a ring and let him know we’re coming round.’

An hour later, Raymond Odell, followed by Tommy Bourne, his young assistant, and Detective Inspector Richmond, entered the premises of the Walton Jewellery Company. The shop was empty of customers, and a woman with streaks of grey in her raven black hair, looked at them with red-rimmed eyes. This could be none other than Mildred James.

‘Mr. Walton, junior, is expecting you’ she stated, expressionlessly. ‘Please go straight through the workshop, and through the blue door at the far end.’

They did as instructed, and as they crossed the floor of the workshop, they noticed a dark-haired man with a handsome pale face, bending over a bench, so engrossed in his work that he never even noticed their presence.

John Walton rose from behind his desk as they entered his office and greeted them cordially.

‘A terrible business, this,’ he attempted to smile, and brushed his unruly red hair back from his forehead with one hand.

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