Chapter 4

“My dear Inspector,” Samuel Rothstein went on. “It is clear to me that you know very little about what it is like to be a Jew in a land that hates Jews. For what a question is it that you ask. Have I any friends among the people here. Of course I have no friends, I have an acquaintance here who is another Jew. Him I don’t know well the others I keep my distance from. They say they are here to escape the Nazis, how should I know this. It is others like them that have killed my people. One minute they are your friend, the next there is a knock in the night and you are among the missing. I have heard of camps you would not wish to even think of. I know nothing of these people here and I want to know nothing. Since my wife died the only comfort I have is the Tanakh. You take comfort in your Bible I have my Tanakh, I shrink from the evil of this world, believe me if I knew anything of this dark matter I would have already sought you out and told you.” Mr. Rothstein closed his eyes and slightly inclined his head towards the ceiling as if in prayer. “Thank you for that Mr. Rothstein, I don’t feel we need detain you any longer. Richard will you get the door for Mr. Rothstein?” Richard closed the door quietly behind their visitor, turned to his boss and said “Well sir,” “Yes Richard, well indeed. If there ever was a mixed crowd we certainly have it here. But there again my mother used to say to me Speak no wrong of a man until you walk in his shoes, and I’ve always found that to be a truism. Right who’s next in line?” “Well we’ve got Jung, Faber, Kaufman and Kaufman; brother and sister, then that’s the last of the English speakers." “Victor Jung I think Richard, then Faber and then we’ll take the Kaufmans' individually."
Musgrove had been involved with the catching of criminals for many years now and he had become accustomed to the different traits that individuals portray when under different stress situations. It was a sixth sense born of familiarity with human kind, he was unconsciously aware of the involuntary movement of the fingers, the shifting in the seat and the eye contact or lack there of. There were the signs that the face gives out that is obvious to all that something is being hidden. And as dogs can speak to each other without words, so it was that he could sense an indiscretion via this prime evil force. No he was not always right, but he was a cut above the man in the street and was well respected in his field. So it was that when confronted by Victor Jung Musgrove had an uneasy feeling, it was not something he could point to and say “It’s because of that”. It was just a slight hesitancy in the voice, even through the accent, perhaps the way the fingers were not at ease or the rapid beat of the pulse in a vein on the back of his hand. On a conscious level he could not give you the reasons, but nevertheless subconsciously they served him well. After the normal, where were you at the time, and did you know the victim. Musgrove said in a very quiet voice “Heir Jung, I know there is something you wish to tell me. I suggest that you tell me before I have to tell you, do you understand what I am saying?” “I don’t know what you’re speaking of inspector; I come to this country as a refugee not to be persecuted by the police. I thought I had left that kind of thing back in Germany.” “Heir Jung you know and I know of the matter I am speaking of, so don’t try and hide behind the poor refugee.” At this point Musgrove pulled open the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a file and laid it gently on the desk. “This heir Jung is a police report on you, it came into my possession yesterday, now give me the truth or bare the consequences.” A small bead of sweat sprang from the man's brow; Musgrove saw this and knew he had hit his mark. “Well since it seems inspector that you know; yes I admit you are right but I can’t help it. I have been cursed with this since I was a child. My mother took me to see doctors, but it was all for nothing. Of course as I got older people saw me in a different light than when I was just a child. After all don’t we forgive children a lot of things, thinking as they grow up they will learn. Unfortunately not in my case!” Although Musgrove sat and listened in silence, having not the slightest idea as to what he was going on about. And then it was revealed. “Yes I took them, they are still there I can give them back. The knife, the comb, the ear ring, the note book. I’m afraid I ate the sweets; but there was only two, if you want I will pay for them! I left Germany because there were two warrants out for my arrest for theft. The Nazis don’t see kleptomania as a disease, I thought perhaps a new start and this time I could control it. No, I can’t control it, it only brings to me guilt and shame. Am I now under arrest?” Musgrove sat for a moment or two tapping the file with the stem of his pipe. “No heir Jung, you are not under arrest. With one proviso, you leave here and return all that you have taken, apologise to all that have been affected, and go to Mr. Wright and explain your problem. Failure to comply will have serious consequences. Do we understand each other?” Jung stood up half bowing “Ja ja Prüfer, verstehe ich, ich bin das meiste gratefull. Danke, danke. Thank you thank you”. And with this he left the room. Richard closed the door behind him and turned towards Musgrove. “When did you get that file on Jung?” “What file?” “That file on the desk, when did you receive that?” “Come on Richard, wake up there is no file. This is only an empty folder; I saw a chink in a doorway and used this as a crowbar to force it open. Unfortunately what was behind the door is not what I was expecting.”
“Your name is Dietrich Faber, is that correct?” “Ja that is my name.” the interview started as did all the other interviews before. Once it had been established that Heir Faber could contribute nothing more to the investigation, Musgrove leaned forward and in a conspiratorial manner said. “From what I have read of your file, and the fight you have put up against the Nazi regime via your printed papers, pamphlets and leaflets, you are a man of intellect and integrity. Give me your honest impression of the others in this place, I am willing to listen to any comment that you may make about anyone here and it will go no farther than this room. I only ask this because I trust your opinion; so much so that I am prepared to give you some information about one of your fellow countrymen that is not common knowledge.” Heir Faber looked a little reluctant and Musgrove could see this. “I see that you don’t believe me, very well I will give you the information anyway to show good faith, so only if you want to you can speak or not. I leave the choice to you; I will not think the less of you if you don’t wish to talk to me. But I would ask you not to mention anyone the information that I will give you.” It seemed that Faber relaxed a little as Musgrove went on. “There have been a number of things that have been mislaid in this building over a period of time or so the owners have believed.” Faber was taken aback by this statement. “Ja this is true, I mislaid a small gold pen, it was not worth much but I have had it for ten years now and would not like to have lost it." “It is in the possession of Victor Jung,” Musgrove went on. “He has a compulsion to take things, the medical term is cleptomania.” “Ja, Ja I have heard of this.” “I wish you to say nothing of this for I know he will shortly speak to you about it.” Heir Faber seemed to appreciate the information and then spoke of his fellow inmates of the East wing. Faber spoke at length of those he lived with, he gave a personality profile on each and everyone of his fellow country men, very few new facts came to light until, until he spoke of the Kaufmans. “Ja I know this to be true because I was told in Germany Otto Bergmann and the Kaufmans were friends but they pretend not to know one another. And when they get here, then they say they are making friends, I think this strange. I tell you something else and this I know from people in my country they tell me to be careful of them. In Germany they are high up. Kaufman he says he is engineer, Bergmann he says he is something technical, but they both work in secret rocket place. The same people who helped them out helped me out. I don’t think they have told your people of this yet.” "At last." Musgrove thought. "Someone who is not what they seem." Musgrove had sent Richard off to check that the police guard was in order for that night and to ensure that no one goes in and no one comes out, this done it was decided to leave the Kaufmans till the following morning.
Once more the tyres hummed as the car made its way beneath those September skies. Inside the car Musgrove was deep in thought, Richard wasn’t sure as to whether or not to break the silence. “So sir where do you think that leaves us?” “Oh sorry Richard, that was rude of me, I’m afraid that there are times when I close off the whole world. I’ve had my knuckles wrapped by my wife for that kind of thing. Yes! Where does that leave us? Where indeed?” Musgrove took out his old pipe and began to slowly rub the bowl as if it were Aladdin’s lamp. “Well I think we have made significant progress. What do you think?” “Well we’ve caught one thief even if it is medically induced. And we know that the Kaufman pair are not what they appear, we also know that the dead man may also have some kind of past. Above that I can’t see how that helps us.” Musgrove put the stem of his pipe to his lips and puffed on the empty bowl a couple of times. “Ahh Richard you have a lot to learn, but one day you will make a good detective. Believe me I have an instinct for these things. Now let me tell you what I see in today’s events.” At this Musgrove began to expound his theories of what may be taking place, and as a student before a tutor Richard just sat and listened.
The following morning Musgrove sat alone at the table for breakfast. It would seem that his student had overslept or was ill. He had finished his meal and was now getting a little concerned and annoyed. Since Richard had sent no message to say that he was ill he must therefore have overslept and that just would not do. Just as he was about to get up Richard appeared holding a folder. “Sorry about that sir I’ve just been out”. “Out?” “Yes sir, I’ve been to the local station to pick up this, I told them to call me as soon as it arrived no matter what the time, so they did. I got the driver out at six fifteen to run me to the station to pick it up. It’s the finger print report; I thought you might want to see it as soon as possible.” Now that’s initiative Musgrove thought. “Good man, go on then order your breakfast.” “No need sir, I ordered sandwiches for me and the driver before I got dressed, I ate mine on the way there and the driver had his at the station while he waited for me. Oh and by the way you really must try their crab sandwiches they really are good, they remind me of my mother’s sandwiches in Brighton.” Yes! Musgrove thought, I was right, Richard had the intellect, energy and enthusiasm to be a credit to the force, even if he did only have one leg, the rest of him made up for that loss.
The car set off for the Priest Lodge at a stately pace, once more the golden September sun shone on their progress filling the car with a wonderful light. It cared not that it may highlight the name of a murderer, for it shone on the good and evil alike. Musgrove opened the folder and began to read. “Have you read this Richard?” “No sir, I thought it prudent to leave it for you first, but I have to admit I am curious.” “Well If I was to say that there were two fingerprints found in the bathroom, and they belong to someone in the Lodge would that peak your curiosity more?” A childlike smile crossed the lips of Richard as he rubbed his hands. “In that case let me tell you. There was an index fingerprint on the hot tap, that’s the one nearest to the wall, there was a fingerprint of a small finger found on the back of the inside door knob. There were no other fingerprints on either tap, inside door knob or even outside doorknob.” Richard smiled. “Now that’s very telling isn’t it sir.” “Go on Richard, explain.” “Well considering that the bathroom has not been in service for some time, one may expect the fingerprints of the last people to use it to still to be there. Not only that but because it had been taken out of service, no one would have gone in there to clean it and so any fingerprints would not have been cleaned off. So if there is a fingerprint in there and there is no others then the person that left their mark wiped these things clean but did not do a very good job. Since they have not done a good job that means it was done by an amature, most likely because they were in a panic. How did I do sir?” Musgrove smiled and put his hands together as if in applause. “Magnificent. Bloody magnificent. If we were in a classroom I would give you a gold star, no two gold stars. Now tell me who the fingerprints belong to?” The smile drained slowly from his face. “As you say the person who left those prints was also the person who wiped, or tried to wipe them clean. So of all the people in that place who do you put your money on?” Richard thought for a second. “I can’t say that I would tag any of those we have interviewed as a murderer; from what I have seen none of them has a motive. There is of course the members of staff that we haven’t got to yet, even though they sleep in other quarters they still have access to these rooms. Without any other evidence I would say they belong to Axel Kaufman the engineer.” Musgrove gave him a sideways look. “Right name Richard but wrong gender. It was those of Erika Kaufman.” “Really sir?” “Really Richard, now what does that tell you?” Richard pondered the question a moment and said, “No I don’t see it. We have a woman who invites, entices a man into her room then forcibly puts a chloroformed cloth over his mouth until he becomes unconscious. She then covers his face with something until he is dead, carries him to the bathroom and puts him in the bath, then tries to wipe away her fingerprints. This doesn’t make sense.” “Oh but it does Richard, if you add in one other factor. Someone else helped her, or she helped someone else.” “I see,” said Richard. “And who is close enough to her to want to help her, but her brother. Or she to want to help her brother!” “Exactly.” Musgrove said with a smile. “So they are to be interviewed this morning, so we need to set our trap before they come in. So listen carefully this is what we will do.”
They sat and waited for the Kaufmans to be brought in by Mr. Wright. He of course would not be required as they both spoke English. “Please come in and take a seat.” There was a definite resemblance in the facial features of the two, though his hair was much lighter than hers, but there was no doubt that they had the same parents. “I understand that you Axel are an engineer?” “Yes that is correct; I was well respected in my home land.” “So you believe in logic and the progression of a logical path do you not, otherwise how else would you prove a theory and move forward in your work?” “Well yes; I suppose so, but I fail to see.” Axel Kaufman’s voice trailed off as if he perceived that he was being led to a conclusion that he would not want to make. Musgrove continued. “So if you have an engineering problem and all the evidence points to you doing something to achieve success in that problem then as a man of logic, this you would do?” “Well yes I suppose so.” Musgrove now took out his pipe and began to tap the stem on his bottom lip. “You see Axel this is where I have a problem. All the evidence points in a certain direction, and yet I feel it may not be the right one. But as you say if one travels the path of logic then one can only follow where it leads. Would you not agree?” Axel looked a little nervous now and there was a definite bead of sweat on his brow. He did not know what game this inspector was playing but he knew it was not to his benefit. “I am at a loss to know what you are talking about, but whatever it is it has nothing to do with me.” At this point Musgrove nodded to Richard who immediately got up and walked to the door and opened it. Two rather imposing police officers came in and stood with arms behind their backs. Richard once more returned to his chair and sat down. “You are quite right Axel, this has nothing to do with you and you may leave.” There was a hard edge to his voice now, a harshness that inwardly shocked Richard. He knew all this was coming; after all they had planned it this way, but even so! “I have evidence that places your sister at the murder scene and as soon as you leave, my officer here will charge her with the murder of Otto Bergmann. I would appreciate it if you left now.”
Erika Kaufman brought her hands to her face and wept; Axel stood up and put his arms around her to comfort her. Axel cried out, “No please you have it all wrong!” “No Mr. Kaufman I don’t have it wrong that is what the evidence says. Officers remove this man from the office.” The two officers took a step forward as if to forcibly restrain Axel but stayed their ground as Axel said. “Stop I tell it all. I tell you all the truth. Please please stop.” Axel slumped back in his chair this time to be comforted by his sister. Musgrove gave a wave to the two constables and they turned and left with the door closing behind them with an imperceptible click. Erika looked at Axel and placed her hands together as if in prayer. “Bitte Axel müssen Sie ihnen die Wahrheit sagen. Wir können jede mögliche Schande zusammen tragen, aber Sie müssen erklären ihnen. Wir sind keine Mörder, wir sind keine Mörder, wir verschoben ihn nur. Sie wünschen den Mörder, den sie Sie nicht wünschen. As she was speaking Richard was writing down what she said word for word as Musgrove stepped in. “Please we have no German so English only.” Richard pushed the piece of paper in front of Musgrove who quickly read it. “Please Axel you must tell them the truth. We can bear any shame together but you must tell them. We are no murderers, we are no killers, we only moved him. They want the killer they don’t want you" “Now Axel you were about to tell me the truth.” This gave Musgrove an advantage as he now had an idea as to what had happened but no idea as to the why of it. “Very well.” Axel braced himself for the scorn of the men who he knew would sit in judgment on him and the force of the law that may be brought against him. “You have spoken of logic, but there are things that no logic can overcome, I speak of emotion. I speak of love, Otto and I were lovers and had been for a number of years. The love for one man for another is illegal in this country as it is in mine, for it to be known that we had an intimate relationship would be to court a prison sentence. I could not let Otto endure that so we had the pretence from the start that we had met on the boat coming here, even in here we let it be known that we had only met”. Musgrove knew just exactly where this was leading but there were still blanks that needed to be filled in. “So on that night, what happened”. Musgrove spoke now in a quiet and confiding manner, a manner that was intended to engender a rapport between the two. “We were together, you understand? And I had need to use the bathroom, as you know the bathroom that is in use is some doors away, and so I left Otto asleep naked on the bed. When I came back!” Axel seemed to choke with emotion. “When I came back I found him dead. At first I thought him only asleep; but after a while there was only one conclusion that could be drawn. I thought he had died of heart failure or some other sudden illness. I could not leave him there; in my bed. If I reported it and a naked man was found dead in my bed the implications were obvious and of course the right conclusions would be drawn. Apart from the shame there would always be the possibility of a prison sentence and I couldn’t leave my dear sister to fend for herself.” Axel’s sister was now in floods of tears, Musgrove felt a little sorry for her as she had been dragged into this wrong doing by her brother and was to all intents and purposes a mere bystander in all of this. “Richard, go and get this young lady a glass of water and a clean hanky to dry her eyes. We will take a small rest in order that you may both compose yourselves”. Within moments Richard was back and Musgrove restarted the interview. “Axel you were saying?” “ Yes, we just grabbed him you see, there was no one in the corridor so we carried him out intending to put him back in his bedroom, but he had locked his door and we didn’t know were his key was. We heard a noise and in panic we took him into the disused bathroom. I lifted his torso into the bath while my sister braced her hand on the tap and lifted his feet in. I will never forget that sickening thud as his head banged on the back of the bath. No, I did not kill him, I loved him!” “So why did the authorities have no trouble in gaining access to Otto’s room, since it was locked?” “Oh yes, I found his key on my floor and so went to his room, opened the door and placed the key on the inside, I then went to the bathroom and tried to wipe away any fingerprints that we may have left behind.” Musgrove sat with his head bowed for a moment or two. “Very well, you and your sister are free to go about your business. On the proviso that neither of you leave the building otherwise you will be taken into custody, anyway where would you go. I also want a written statement as to what you did and why. As I see it, it is unlikely that you will be charged. The only real charge I can think of is moving a body and tampering with evidence, and I for one do not wish to waste tax payers money on that?” There was a pause as he formulated a question that had been troubling him. “Before you go, and here I really want the truth so don’t lie to me. Why have you not mentioned your true role in engineering?” It was obvious that Axel was struggling with himself, but his face showed a sense of relief that a burden had been taken away from him. “Very well, I am not just an engineer; there is a group of us that have been working on rockets. For some time now we have been making steady progress. The propulsion we have almost beaten but the guidance systems are a little more difficult. I left Germany because there were some attempts to take us over by the Nazi’s and if they get their hands on this technology the world will be a darker place. Nor do I want to give it to the English; for I have no doubt that since they are now at war with my country they would use it against them. I am under no illusion about how powerful this technology is. But we worked on this as a peaceful project; others would corrupt it and turn it into a means of mass destruction. This is why I tried to hide it from the authorities. I give you fare warning Mr. Policeman I will not give your government this knowledge”. “Axel”. Musgrove spoke in something of an irritated voice. “Let me make something perfectly clear. My job is to catch a killer. My job is not to argue with your conscience, to coerce and cajole you into giving my or any other government whatever secrets you may think you possess. What you do with your knowledge is up to you, all I want from you is to answer my questions truthfully. Now do we understand each other”? Axel looked rather shamefaced as he turned to leave.

Chapter 5


Richard closed the door quietly behind them, as he turned he saw Musgrove standing to the left of the room looking at a painting hanging on the wall. As Richard approached Musgrove said. “What do you think of this?” Raising a hand in the direction of the painting. “Don’t know sir, seems a bit wooden to me, I have no leanings towards the arts.” “Really Richard, part of your education is lacking. The painting is called Christ In The House Of His Parents, considered to be blasphemous by many reviewers, notably Charles Dickens, a Pre Raphaelite work of around eighteen fifty. Obviously not the original, but an excellent copy nevertheless. To put their philosophy in a nutshell, do your best and be true to yourself; anyway that’s how I read it. Just like our friend Axel he must be true to himself and if that means him keeping his secrets, then so be it. Now get your thinking cap on and tell me where this leaves us?" Richard sat down put his head back and closed his eyes, after a second or two he looked at Musgrove and said. “We have a murderer who has deliberately planned to kill, this we have established because of the chloroform etc. So he goes into Axel’s room and kills Otto. So he either got Otto by mistake and the real target was Axel. Or they knew Otto was in Axel’s room and waited for him to leave.” Musgrove smiled and once more took out his pipe. “You know, your file said that you were sharp, but I think that’s an underestimation.” Richard smiled in appreciation. “Now don't let that go to your head. Go on then you’ve got half of it, what next?” “You mean there’s more?” another short pause. “Ok; so, let me see”. “Come on your playing for time now.” “Right then how about this, the chances of them waiting for Axel to leave is a long shot, because that presupposes that they were hiding in wait for Axel to leave to then nip in and kill Otto. It is more likely that they came straight in thinking it was Axel asleep in bed and they killed the wrong man”. “Good man Richard. How long did it take for you to put that together?” Musgrove was more than happy now with his right hand man; he had more than proved he was up to the job. “Ok Richard now the last thing. What would be the motive to kill Axel?” Well my first thought is perhaps a jealous lover, he said he was in love with Otto but how many other lovers has he had? And how do we know he hasn’t picked some up while he was on the boat or even here. Other than that I’m really not sure.” Musgrove sucked on the empty pipe a couple of times. “Then what do you think about this? We know that he has some principles regarding his work and he wants neither side to benefit from what he knows. Suppose someone wants to make sure that he can’t tell what he knows.” Richard’s lip curled. “What, you mean like assassinations, spies and the like? All respect sir but this is the edge of Dartmoor, not a back room in London, Paris or Vienna with Mata Hari Dancing the dance of the seven whatsits out front.” Musgrove smiled. “Ok, let’s forget the spies for the moment and see what the morning brings. We start interviewing the staff in the morning. But before that, you go and get the written statements off the Kaufman’s.”
The day dawned bringing with it a stiff breeze making the white and grey clouds dance to an unheard tune. Constable himself must have sat with paint and brush and placed these very clouds on canvass. The beauty of the sight may have been lost to many, but Musgrove could see this vista for what it was. As the car passed along the lanes the two policemen were in a world of silence with only the hum of the tyres to break into their thoughts. “Ok Richard who should we see today?" Richard reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “Well in my opinion sir, I think we can place to the back of the pack the gardener as he does not live in the establishment, he also has an alibi. He was down the local pub celebrating his wife’s birthday and that also goes for his son. We can also defer an interview with Steven Wright, though he may still be suspect. That leaves us with the cook Mrs. Elizabeth Boardman, the maid Sandra Trubshaw and handyman James Reynolds. According to their statements they were all in their quarters, in the attic room’s two floors up. After that it’s the owners and the odd couple of staff that they have, who as it turns out are almost as old as they are and have been with them since the Stone Age.” “Richard that is ungracious of you. Age may not bring you wealth, it may not bring you happiness, but there is one thing that it brings to all without exception. That is an increasing sense of ones own mortality, and I have no doubt that they have a sense of theirs, just as you one day will sense yours.” The interview began in the same manner as all the others. “Your name is Elizabeth Boardman aged 49?” “Yes”. Musgrove looked at this woman and a vague feeling of recognition began to creep into his mind. He looked steadily at this woman without saying a word; she became uneasy under his stare. “Do I know you, have we met somewhere before?” The woman fidgeted and looked away and avoided his gaze. “No I’m sure we’ve met or ---- wait just give me a moment I’m pretty good at faces.” She sat upright and looked him in the face “Joan Spencer, Old Bailey six years ago.” “That’s right,” said Musgrove, “sent down for four years for handling stolen goods from the Evens gang. They got seven years a piece. Well, well, who’d have believed it? Richard remember this day, you’re in the presence of one of the most notorious fences in London. For a time our Joan here had links with most of the London gangs.” He leaned back in his chair. “Yes I remember you Inspector, when I heard it was you on this case I knew it was only a matter of time before you found me, you always were a clever copper. But that was then, I did two and a half years and got out on good behaviour, and not put a foot wrong since. I’m too old for that kind of life, what you see now is what you get, I am what I am, a cook.” Musgrove leaned forward with a smile. “You’re not into murder these days by any chance?” “Come off it, I was never into that kind of thing you know that. All them kind of people are wrong in the head. I do my work and curl up with a bottle of Gin at night and don’t bother nobody.” Musgrove smiled. “You know something Joan, I believe you. Right you can go, but make sure you keep your nose clean”. The door closed quietly behind her. “That’s something you should bear in mind Richard. When to turn over a rock you never know what will crawl out, who’s next?” In front of Musgrove now sat Sandra Trubshaw, a pleasant looking woman with prominent front teeth. “Your Name is Sandra Trubshaw?” “Yes that’s right" she said with a large grin. Once she stopped speaking the grin remained. “Sandra forgive me,” Musgrove said. “But do you find these proceedings amusing?” Little did he know but he had just opened the flood gates. “Oh no but it really is exciting, nothing like this has ever happened to me or any of my friends. Although Brenda, she lives two doors from my mum saw an accident once. A runaway horse and cart ran straight through a shop window, it killed the poor horse of course. But that’s about the only exciting thing. Mind you my other friend, well she’s not my friend now because she moved with her family to Wales, well she got a gramophone needle stuck in her eye. Billy Jones from the next street threw it at her and it stuck in her eye. My mum says that I was vaccinated with a gramophone needle, but she was joking really. It’s because I talk a lot, not that some people notice of course. But you can ask me anything, I really don’t mind. Fancy me assisting the police who would have thought it. My dad helped the police once, but that was a long time ago, he was in a police line up. He never told me much about that; he said it was secret what with it being to do with the police and all.” It ended there, suddenly, and without warning, a silence now seemed to fill the room. Musgrove dare not look at Richard, but carried on as though he had not asked the question. “It says in your statement that you were in your room all that night!” She broke in at that point. “Oh yes, I do a lot of reading you see, books and papers. I love books but they are expensive and on my money I cant really buy a lot, I ask people if they have some old ones that they don’t want, but as I say they are expensive and people like to keep hold of them. I remember I was reading the papers that night; they are the old ones that the owners throw out. But I don’t mind reading the old news, I was reading about the sport as I remember, there was a piece about Beatrix Potter as well, I was born the year she published her first book, my mother bought me all her books you know. I’m not really into politics and that kind of stuff, but I do like reading those little advertisements that you sometimes see in the papers.” A sudden silence descended on the room once more. “Well thank you Sandra we may want to speak to you again.” Musgrove sat back in his chair. “But for the time being you can go, my colleague will see you out.” There was a quiet click as Richard closed the door and turned to his boss. “Well what do you make of that sir”? Musgrove looked up from contemplating his hands. “There’s something wrong, I don’t know what but there’s something wrong.” “How, what with sir?” “All that books and papers stuff. I know there’s something wrong. Never mind it will come to me sooner or later, I only hope it’s not important.”
The same question rang out. “Your name is James Reynolds?” “Yes that is right.” “In your statement you say that you were in your room all the night in question.” “That’s right sir. I had finished helping with the washing up about eight o clock, then me and Sandra made our way upstairs to our rooms for the night. I was looking forward to it for the peace and quiet. Sandra tends to get to you after a while, if you know what I mean?” “So you can add no more to what you have already said. How well did you know Otto?” “I suppose as well as I knew any of the others. I think I knew Viktor Jung the best even though he seemed a little strange at times. As for Otto he seemed a nice enough man, it was a shame about that and I am really sorry. Still you know the old saying; the darker the night, the nicer the day. To come all this way and for that to happen.” “When you went back to your room that night did you leave for any reason?” “Only to use the bathroom at about ten fifteen." Musgrove leant back in his chair; it seemed that there was nothing to be gained in prolonging this interview. “Thank you James, you can go, my colleague will see you out.” Once more there was a quiet click as Richard closed the door. “Richard I don’t know why but I’m not getting very far with this.” Richard looked at Musgrove with what can only be described as a concerned look. “Sir, I really don’t know if there’s anything to this. I may be entirely wrong.” “Come on Richard, spit it out.” Musgrove was unhappy with the situation and it was beginning to show. “Well that saying sir. I know we are very cosmopolitan these days, but I wouldn’t have thought to that extent.” Musgrove was now becoming irritated. “And?” “Well I’m sure that’s a German saying sir, in German its Je dunkler die Nacht, je schöner der Tag. And of course translated it comes out as The darker the night, the nicer the day. I’ve heard it many times in German but he is the first Englishman I have heard say it.”
Musgrove looked as though he had seen the light as did Saul on the way to Damascus. “My God Richard I know. I think I know. No wait lets not overreact let me just think a moment.” Musgrove sat back and closed his eyes, as he did so there was an urgent knock on the door. Richard opened the door to find a police officer standing there. He handed Richard a file as he signed for it. Richard was somewhat reluctant to disturb his boss but nevertheless. “Sir I asked for this to be delivered as soon as it arrived.” In an eager voice. “Yes, don’t tell me it’s the report on the two bodies, they have made an identification, am I right?” Richard looked slightly puzzled. “Yes, but how did you know?” “Because it all fits, read it and tell me that the two bodies are that of James Reynolds and Sandra Trubshaw?” Richard opened the folder and his eyes ran down the page and came to rest on James Reynolds and Sandra Trubshaw. “My God your right sir. But how?". “Richard the woman, remember I said there was something wrong with her. Now I know what it was, she said she was born in the year that Beatrix Potter published her first book. That was in 1902 that would make her 37. But her file states that Sandra Trubshaw is 35. Now no matter how docile you may be you don’t make a mistake about the year you were born. This is how I see it. They boarded the same train as Trubshaw and Reynolds, when almost here and at the spot that they had picked, they killed the real two and took their place. They made themselves at home and planned the death of Axel Kaufman because they were under orders to make sure he could not pass on his secrets. No matter what Axel’s intentions were the Germans were not going to allow the slightest possibility that we could get his knowledge, so they sent two professional assassins. But what they didn’t know was that Axel was a homosexual and that Otto was his lover. So they waited for the right moment, as they saw it, and went in to kill him. I imagine that Reynolds held him down while she chloroformed him. Once he was unconscious then it was easy to suffocate him. Just picture their faces the next day when they found out that Otto was found dead in the bathroom and Axel was still walking about. The only reason they are still here is because they are waiting for an opportunity to carry out their mission. It was Horovitz that disturbed them again that night he saw an prowler.” A frown crossed the face of Musgrove. “You know Richard we may never know the real names of these killers. Come on get the men.” Musgrove, Richard and three other officers went to the kitchen to find their quarry, but they were nowhere to be seen. So it was decided to go to their rooms on the top floor. They found his door open and the room vacant, but from her room next door they heard voices. It was she who was berating him; even from outside the room it was obvious that it was she who was the leader of this gang. Musgrove and Richard were one side of the door and three officers the other. The voice could be plainly heard in the corridor.
"Sie sind ein blutiger Dummkopf, wenn ich meine Wahl hatte, die Sie noch in Deutschland sein würden. Mein Gott haben Sie für die Paare von uns Sie Schwein getan. Wir müssen hier versuchen und verlassen jetzt, bevor wir gegen eine Wand und einen Schuß aufgestellt werden."
As the conversation went on Richard was whispering the translation into Musgrove’s ear. “You are a bloody fool, if I had my choice you would still be in Germany. My god you have done for the pair of us you pig. We must try and get out of here now before we are put up against a wall and shot.”
"Sie und Ihre gesponnenen HauptSprechen, mindestens Sie hatten die Richtung, Ihren Fehler zu sehen und zu kommen und zu erklären mir. Wir müssen um jeden Preis gehen und zum sicheren Haus kommen."
"You and your home spun sayings, at least you had the sense to see your mistake and come and tell me. We must leave at all costs and get to the safe house."
"Gehen Sie und erhalten Sie nur, was Sie, wenn Sie allem lebenswichtig es sind nicht Englisch lassen, dem Sie Angst haben müssen vor, sein ich benötigen. Geben Sie mir die Gewehr und die Oberteile jetzt."
"Go and get only what you need, if you leave anything vital it won’t be the English that you will need to be afraid of, it’s me. Now give me the gun and the shells."
It was on the mention of the gun that Musgrove gave the signal to the officers to break in. In an instant two large police boots made contact with the door adjacent to the door knob, the door then exploded inwards, came off its hinges and flew across the room. Though startled the woman kept on loading a large revolver with rounds. The two officers made a dive for the man and brought him to the floor, Richard and the other officer made a grab for the woman just as she slammed the cylinder shut in the gun. The weapon was now fully functional and all it would take would be a squeeze on the trigger to release a lead bullet into anyone that stood in the way. It was Musgrove that stood in its way as she pulled the trigger. It could be seen in her face that she would have no compunction in driving a bullet into the hearts of any of these men, for she was determined not to be taken without a fight. The façade of the dotty female that talked too much had now fallen by the way side to reveal a highly trained and dangerous woman
Musgrove could see it all as if in slow motion, his brain was going through all the permutations of what was to come next. It was as if he was standing across the room and watching his own death in slow motion and yet could do nothing about it. An officer grabbed her around the waist with his left arm and her left wrist with his right hand. Although this made her immobile it did not remove the danger of the weapon in her right hand. Richard grabbed the barrel of the gun but this action did not stop her pulling the trigger. Click, that’s all that came from the revolver. She had loaded only five of the six rounds and when she fired the hammer made contact with the only empty chamber. Richard’s left hand was around the barrel of the gun and he knew the next chamber would be live, so with both hands he forced her arm up and skywards. There was a deafening bang as she pulled the trigger once more, the projectile left the barrel of the gun and crashed into the ceiling causing a shower of debris. Richard felt the heat of the barrel against his unprotected hand as bang, a second shot ploughed its way into the ceiling above. Without thinking Richard drew back his right arm to his shoulder and released it sending a balled fist squarely into the face of the woman. This was an extremely powerful blow as he had great upper body strength from all his swimming. The blow came in contact with the woman’s face at the top of the nose and between the eyes; due to its power the delicate bone structure of her nose exploded within her face. There was an instantaneous spurt of blood that shot straight down over her lips and onto her chest. The gun was then wrenched from her hand breaking a finger in the process as she fell in an unconscious heap on to the floor. Musgrove took the gun from Richard and flicked open the cylinder dropping the hot cartridge cases and live shells into his left hand. The man was now kneeling on the ground; two somewhat large officers were either side of him forcing his arms up between his shoulder blades and with their other hands grasping his shoulders. As Musgrove stood there, he saw one of the officers do a strange thing; he knelt down beside the man and the officer whisper in his ear. It was at that point that he went limp and ceased to struggle. There was no gentleness in the handling of these prisoners; one may have been forgiven for thinking that they were being deliberately rough in the handling of those in their charge. But these were country coppers and perhaps just not as well trained as those in the big city.


Chapter 6

Richard and Musgrove sat down in their makeshift office, with hearts pounding and beads of sweat on their foreheads; they sat and looked at each other. A slow smile began to creep across their faces until in the end laughter broke out. “My god Richard I thought I was a gonner there.” “To be honest sir, I thought you were too.” This brought on more laughter. “There is one thing sir I don’t understand, how did they get to the room without being seen?” “That’s easy Richard, I think if you check you will find a set of stairs leading from the servants' quarters down to the West wing, and from there they can open the door to the East wing. It also gives them somewhere to hide as its only yards away from where they want to be”.
There was a light wrap on the door and Richard made to answer it. It was one of the officers that stood there. “Just to let you know sir that the lady has come round, but isn’t at all happy, and they are both secure until the transport arrives.” Musgrove leaned forward in his chair. “Tell me constable, when you had that man on the floor, you colleague kneeled down beside him and whispered something to him. What was it.?” The officer looked a little uncomfortable. “Well sir, he asked the gentleman to desist from his physical exertions as he may inadvertently hurt himself, sir.” Musgrove burst out laughing. “Come on constable you know and I know he didn’t say that.” “Well sir that was his intention, he may not have used those exact words, but that was his intention.” "Go on, just between you me and my colleague what words did he use?” “Very well sir if you insist. He said – Please keep struggling and give me an excuse to rip your bloody arms off and stuff them down your throat – sir.” At this point the officer left and Richard closed the door.
There was the sound of vehicles drawing up outside, Richard said, “There’s their transport sir do you want me to go with them?” There was a heavy knock on the door; it was the kind of knock that would not be denied. Richard looked at Musgrove a little astonished at the severity of it, Musgrove nodded his assent to go and open it. The door opened and a man stood there. Musgrove was the one to be astonished now. “My god Bill!” His old colleague Bill Evans once more stood before him. “Come in Bill, you are the last person I expected to see. I know it’s only been days but it’s still nice to see you.” “Well that may be short lived Dave; once you know why I’m here, and believe me I’m really sorry about this.” “Why what’s the problem? Bill there’s nothing you could do that would upset me.” “Ok then let me try to explain to start with I have for the time being been seconded to homeland security, it turns out that they haven’t really decided just how they want to use me or where. So for the time being I have my own section; I can see you wondering why I’m saying this in front of Richard?” Richard looked a little startled, how did this total stranger know his first name, come to that how did he know him at all. Bill continued. “It's ok Richard, It’s my business to know these things.” Richard was put a little off balance by this, one thing was for sure, he was definitely the lowest in the pecking order in this room. Richard got Bill a chair and he sat down. Bill spoke in a quiet yet firm voice. “Now for the bad news Dave. I've come for your prisoners. Even as we speak my men are taking them to our cars to be taken to another destination. You see I have been following your progress since you came down here, we have a man on the inside to keep us informed.” Musgrove sat back and looked at Richard with a frown. Richard knew what he was thinking so he shook his head in denial. Bill went on, “No Dave its not Richard. You know him as Wright; of course that’s not his real name. Musgrove sat up with start. “What you mean he’s an agent, like undercover?” Bill smiled. “Yes, good isn’t he? You didn’t think we were going to let German refugees do as they pleased here without us having someone to keep an eye on them?” Musgrove was not easily shocked but he certainly was by this. Bill continued, “There is a message on its way to you now from the Commissioner telling you that everything in this case is to be turned over to me.” A dark frown crossed Musgrove’s forehead. “You’re not telling me that you’re going to let these two go?” “No not at all, they will be taken to a facility, interrogated and we will get whatever information we can from them; after that they will most likely be put up against a wall and shot.” “What no form of legal representation or trial?” “Short answer, no”. Musgrove felt as though all his morals were being undermined and yet? “This is not good Bill”. “I know, it is only because it is you that I am telling you the way it is. Had it been anyone else I would be issuing instructions with no explanation. Which is why I am telling you that we are also taking Erika Kaufman, and if her brother wishes to see her again he will have to co-operate and give us the information we want. At least that’s what he’ll be told, we have no intentions of hurting her, don’t worry she’ll be well looked after.” At that moment the sound of two cars pulling away in the distance could be heard. “Yes Dave that’s right, that’s your prisoners leaving now.” Musgrove was more than a little annoyed; he had solved his case but could not bring the murders to justice. “What kind of war are we fighting here Bill?” Bill looked Musgrove squarely in the face and said. “A dirty war; and it’ll get worse.”

Musgrove and Richard arrived back at the hotel in a somewhat somber mood, it was still quite early and the breeze was dying. Before getting out of the car Musgrove looked at Richard. “Go in and pack and tell the driver to pack, order some of those crab sandwiches you were telling me about to take with us. We are leaving in forty five minutes. I just don’t want to be here anymore.”





The End