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chapter twenty-three

James stared at the plaque in the church to commemorate the life of Valerie Jones, and then stepped back.

“I’m still in touch with the family, if you need an address,” the vicar said.

“That would be very helpful,” James said. “Do they live locally?”

“One borough away. They attend their usual church most of the time, but on Valerie’s birthday and at Christmas, they take part in the service here, in memory.”

“Can you recall who came to help when you found the body? Which nick they came from and so on?” James asked.

The vicar frowned. “I wouldn’t know exactly which nick. It was during the war, so it was mainly the day and night crews, clearing up. All the bobbies I knew were off fighting, and I didn’t know the ambulance crew. It was a chaotic time.”

“Even an exact date would be helpful,” Hartridge said.

“That I can give you.” The vicar moved through to the tiny office at the back, and pulled out a book. He flipped through it. “There you go.” He pointed a gnarled finger at an entry, and Hartridge bent over the tome and copied the information.

As they left, James felt the vicar’s eyes on them, and he turned and gave a final wave farewell.

“He wonders why we’re asking for this information,” Hartridge said. “He’s putting it together.”

“As long as he doesn’t tell anyone else, there’s not much I can do about that.” James agreed, though. The vicar came across as mild and welcoming, but he was nobody’s fool.

“What now?” Hartridge asked.

“We need to go back to headquarters and start looking through records, phoning people up, and generally looking back twenty years for like crimes.” James knew it wasn’t going to be easy. The war had strained resources, and he didn’t know how well the records had been maintained. “But first, we look for Mr. Teddy Roe.”

* * *

James hadn’t been round to Ruby Everett’s house for a while. He knew Gabriella visited her often, and that the widow had given Teddy Roe a place to stay at the back of her garden.

He knocked on the front door, but there was no response, so he gestured for Hartridge to follow him around the side.

Teddy Roe and another man were at the back shed, trying to maneuver a large armchair through the door. Ruby Everett was watching their efforts, her expression bemused, offering advice as they moved this way and that.

“Can we give you a hand there, lads?” Hartridge asked as they walked toward the trio.

The man helping Teddy Roe dropped his side of the chair and looked around wildly, as if for an exit.

“Ow! Jerry, you idiot. That landed on my foot.” Teddy Roe’s face was red with anger.

“It’s all right, we’re just here to ask for Mr. Roe’s help about something he saw during the war.” James could see Jerry was still in panic mode.

“He thinks you’re here to collar him for hitting that bloke’s black Mercedes with a poker,” Teddy Roe said. “But he doesn’t know you’re sweet on Miss Farnsworth, and you’d be fine with us doing a little damage to the paintwork to get him away from her. He was hurting her, he was.”

James blinked. This had taken the strangest turn. “Sorry, someone attacked Miss Farnsworth today, and you got him away from her by . . .?”

“There was a pile of stuff being tossed. Like this lovely armchair.” Teddy Roe patted the mustard velvet with affection. “Miss Farnsworth was coming by, doing her job. She said hello to us, went on her way, and this bloke grabs her. He hurt her arm. So Jerry grabbed a poker from the pile and I got a wooden dining chair. I went for him, Jerry started hitting the nice shiny paint on his fancy car.” Teddy Roe grinned, showing a few missing teeth. “Stopped him right quick.”

Jerry looked like he was about to faint at the confession Teddy Roe had just given.

“Thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate your helping Miss Farnsworth. Did you get a good look at the man in question?” James eyed Ruby Everett’s house, and wondered if she’d mind him using her phone. He needed to call the Traffic Warden HQ.

“Sure, and his car, too. We chased him off.” Teddy Roe patted the armchair again. “Miss Farnsworth was all right, though, not to worry.”

“You never told me this, Teddy.” Ruby Everett had been observing from the sidelines, but now she stepped forward. “Do you know why he attacked her?”

“She was giving him a fine.” Teddy Roe shrugged.

It could be as simple as that, or it could be to do with the story she’d told him the night before. About the green Jaguar.

“Well, thanks again. Actually, I’m here to ask you to remember the details of an incident you told Miss Farnsworth about. The bombing of the Billick Building during the war.” James saw Jerry shuffle back and slowly begin breathing again. He looked like he couldn’t believe his luck.

“That woman I found.” Teddy Roe nodded slowly. “Something very wrong there. She was under some ceiling panels, but there were no injuries on her anywhere except her head, and only on the back. It looked to me like someone had picked some ceiling board up and set it on top of her, not that the ceiling board had landed on her, if you know what I mean?”

“Do you know if there was an autopsy?” James asked.

Teddy Roe shook his head. “I was night crew. I didn’t have anything to do with the bodies after the ambulance took them away. I did tell the coppers about it, but no one took me seriously.” He shrugged. “I thought I found another woman in similar circumstances a few weeks later, and that put the nail in my coffin. They were sure after that that I was making it up.”

“What other woman?” James asked, keeping his voice steady.

“Down near Holland Park,” Teddy Roe said, and gave a street name. “Can’t remember the exact number, but there was a big mansion of a house third down from the corner that had its back garden bombed, and I found a woman under the shed. Piss poor job of hiding her, like whoever left her there didn’t have the time he needed.”

“Did you see her injuries?” James asked.

Teddy Roe nodded. “Head wound, back of the skull, like the other one.”

There was silence in the garden for a moment.

“Well, thank you, Mr. Roe. Why don’t DC Hartridge and myself move this in for you, and then, Mrs. Everett, if you don’t mind my using your phone?”

They lifted the chair easily and got it in, much to Teddy Roe’s delight, then left him putting the kettle on for him and Jerry.

“You’ll phone to see if Gabriella is all right?” Ruby asked as she led them inside.

The house was warm after the cool of outside, and James slipped off his coat as he walked to the telephone. Ruby took it from him and hung it on the coat rack, and did the same for Hartridge.

He heard her murmur something about tea as he dialed the Traffic Warden Center. He was put through to Mr. Greenberg immediately.

“Gabriella’s arm is badly bruised where the brute grabbed her, but she seems to be more angry than shaken,” Mr. Greenberg said. “I’ve photographed her injuries and we’ll go in tomorrow to formally report it, but I’ve already called a few people about it.”

“And what was it about?” James asked. He was gripping the receiver so hard he heard it squeak, and forced himself to relax his hold.

“It seems to be related to a fine she issued back in the summer. The man who accosted her today works for the wife of the driver.” Mr. Greenberg paused. “He intimated that someone in this office had given out her details, as well as her route. Her signature is on the fine, so if this man is a private detective, which she thinks is possible, then he may have been able to get some information about her from her name, but I don’t know how he could know her route without someone in this office telling him.”

“Could he have followed her?” James asked, then realized he couldn’t possibly have known who to follow unless he had been given the information by someone. “Sorry, that still means he knew who to follow.”

“Precisely.”

“Unless the man she fined told the wife’s private detective,” James said. He didn’t want someone in her office to have put her in danger.

There was a short pause. “I hadn’t thought of that possibility. It’s a comforting one,” Mr. Greenberg said. “But why would he?”

“This man is obviously not shy to physically intimidate someone,” James said. “He could have done the same to the husband. I was there when Miss Farnsworth fined the husband, and he seemed like a typical bully to me. All bluster when he was trying to intimidate her, but when I arrived, he couldn’t run away fast enough.”

“I hope you’re right,” Mr. Greenberg said. “It would ease my mind to know no one here did something like share personal and route details to someone who did one of my wardens harm.”

“If you need any assistance in your search for answers, just let me know,” James said.

There was another pause. “That probably won’t be strictly within the rules, DS Archer, but if I think of anything, I’ll let you know. Miss Farnsworth has gone home, if you want to go round and see she is well for yourself.”

James replaced the receiver and followed the sound of conversation to the kitchen. Hartridge was sitting at the table, a cup of tea and a piece of cake in front of him.

“Any word?” Ruby asked.

He nodded. “She’s gone home. Mr. Greenberg says her arm is bruised but she’s otherwise fine.”

“Why was she attacked?” Hartridge twisted in his chair to look up at him.

“It’s a long story.” He shook his head as Ruby lifted the teapot to him in the offer of a cuppa. “I’m going to go see if she’s all right, and then I’ll meet you back at New Scotland Yard,” he said to Hartridge. “You all right to get yourself back to the office?”

Hartridge gave a nod, and Ruby let him out the front door.

As he drove toward Notting Hill, he tried to remember where he would have put the information about Mr. Jaguar, given he hadn’t pursued charges, and what he would do with it if he could lay his hands on it.

Nothing Mr. Jaguar would like, that was for sure.