The Pimlico Murder by Mike Hollow

Author:Mike Hollow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Published: 2021-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Jago had not slept well. It wasn’t just trying to get a good sleep in a strange bed, it was trying to get any sleep at all on a bunk in the basement of a police station while anti-aircraft guns fired barrage after barrage at enemy bombers hidden in the dark sky above. But as the noise provoked memories of nights under bombardment in a cold, wet trench in France, he’d reminded himself he’d seen far worse. At least his temporary billet here was dry.

He grabbed a quick breakfast in the station canteen, where he was interrupted by a constable.

‘Excuse me, sir, but we’ve had a phone call for you. The lady left a message.’

Jago’s instant but unspoken response was that the lady in question might be Dorothy calling about her job. He was still wondering at the alarm in his reaction when the constable continued.

‘It was a Mrs Edgworth, sir. She said you knew her, and she asked if you could call on her today. She said she’d be at home all day.’

‘Did she say what it was about?’

‘No, sir, but she sounded upset. Shall I call her back, sir? She left a number.’

‘Er, yes, that would be helpful. Tell her DC Cradock and I will try to drop by later this morning.’

‘Very good, sir.’

As the constable departed, Jago’s sense of relief that it wasn’t a distressing message from Dorothy was followed swiftly by a kind of detached curiosity about why he’d included Cradock’s name in his answer to Sally Edgworth. It was as if he’d felt some instinctive need for a chaperone.

He dismissed this distraction from his mind and drove from Rochester Row to Ambrosden Avenue to pick up Cradock.

‘Good morning, Peter,’ he said when his colleague had got into the car. ‘I trust you slept well and had a hearty breakfast?’

‘Yes, thanks, guv’nor. Well, not the sleep – it was a bit noisy last night, wasn’t it? But breakfast was nice – fried egg, two rashers of bacon and four slices of toast. That should keep the wolf from the door.’

‘Yes, for an hour or two at least, I should think.’

Jago started up the engine and headed west down Francis Street towards Vauxhall Bridge Road.

‘So what’s on the menu for today, sir?’ said Cradock.

‘Well, I want to see if we can catch Mrs Trubshaw at home this morning while her husband’s at work in his shop. I’d like to talk to her a bit more about him when he’s not there to shut her up. But first I thought we might take a quick look at that place Dolly Cook mentioned in Effingham Street.’

‘Yes, that was odd. She was tipping us off, wasn’t she?’

‘I got that impression, yes. But tipping us off to what, that’s the question. I think I’d like to keep a low profile this time, just observe, then decide whether we want to go back and talk to him.’

‘I was thinking last night that it’s a bit strange – Terry Watson gets roughed

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