Classic Bestsellers from Josephine Cox: Bumper Collection

The inspector nodded. ‘I know exactly what you mean,’ he answered thoughtfully. ‘It was a bad thing that happened. I’m only sorry we still haven’t got that bastard behind bars.’

Just then there was a tap on the door. ‘Yes?’ the inspector called.

The door opened and in came the young officer, carrying a tray. ‘Here’s your tea, sir.’ Pointing to the desk, the inspector instructed him to ‘Put it down here.’ Again he shifted the two piles of paper aside to make room for the tray.

When the officer had gone, with the door closed behind him, the inspector picked up the teapot and began to pour, first one cup, then the other. He dropped two spoonfuls of sugar in one, enquiring of Tom, ‘How do you like yours?’

‘One sugar, and milk to colour,’ Tom answered. He could contain his impatience no longer. ‘What are the developments that you mentioned then?’ he asked Inspector Lawson.

The inspector passed him his cup of tea. ‘Well, this business of the flowers being destroyed for a start: seems a strange business, don’t you think? Quite sinister.’

Tom nodded. ‘It’s weird.’

‘From what you told me on the phone, it’s happened at least three times?’

‘So the florist mentioned in her letter.’

‘And have you been to see her yet?’

Tom shook his head. ‘It was late last night when I got to London. I intend going straight there when I leave here.’

‘I’d best come along.’ The inspector was hopeful that at last they might have a breakthrough. ‘I was keen to see you because this could be very important. Have you any idea who would want to destroy the flowers you send?’

‘I can’t imagine.’ Tom had turned it over and over in his mind, and had come up with no answers. ‘It’s presumably somebody who hates me, or why would they do it?’

‘Hmh.’ The inspector took a gulp of his coffee. ‘Hates you … or hates your family.’

Tom’s eyes flashed with anger. ‘Whoever it is, they’ve got a lot to answer for!’

‘There are some evil devils out there. We none of us know how their minds work.’

Tom had a question of his own. In fact he had a hundred of them. ‘So, are you any nearer to catching whoever it was?’

‘I’m afraid not. I can assure you, it’s not for want of trying. But there is something one of my men is checking out. I’ll tell you about it later.’

Tom’s heart sank. ‘What about the car?’

The inspector slowly shook his head. ‘Nothing yet, though we’re still working on it. As you know, we tracked the make and colour of the car through the paint smears we found on your bumper. That particular shade of blue is only used by Hillman. We’ve made exhaustive searches, but still haven’t been able to trace it.’

‘And there were no witnesses.’ Tom despaired. ‘Surely to God somebody must know something!’

‘I’m not sure. You said yourself there was nobody else on the road that day.’

‘Will you tell me something, Inspector?’

‘If I can.’

‘Do you think whoever did it was just after me?’

The inspector sighed. ‘We’ve had this conversation before as I recall, and, no, if the killer had wanted you dead, for whatever reason, he could have chosen his moment. No, Tom. Whoever came at you that day meant to kill every one of you.’

Tom knew as much in his heart of hearts. He passed his hand over his face.

The inspector got out of his chair. ‘Let’s go,’ he said briskly. Grabbing his trilby and coat, he made for the door. ‘It’s time we talked to that florist of yours. She may hold a vital key!’

With the inspector leading the way, the two of them went quickly out of the station. They climbed into his Wolsey, and away down the main street, hopping in and out of traffic, with the inspector continuing the conversation.

‘At first I thought it might have been an accident … that his car went out of control or some such thing; or that it was deliberate, but that he was a crazy man out on the road looking for weird thrills. Who knows?’

Caught up in traffic now, he glanced across at Tom. ‘But now there’s no doubt in my mind that it was premeditated.’

Tom was shocked. For a long time he had tried to make himself believe that maybe it had been some kind of lunatic who came at them that day … maybe to frighten them, but not to kill. Now, though, the inspector was confirming his own worst fear that it really was a cold, calculated act. But who could have done such a terrible thing? Who could have wanted all of his family dead?

For the umpteenth time he relived it now. The car seemed to come out of nowhere. It didn’t give him time to react in the way he might otherwise have done. Taken completely unawares, he had instinctively accelerated, desperate to get out of the way, trying to turn. But there was no time. The car was on him every second, pushing, bumping him along, driving him ever closer to the cliff-edge. It was all too fast. Too late! Oh, dear God, did he react in blind panic? Was it his fault that his entire family was killed? What could he have done? Dear God, what could he have done? All the old doubts and the guilt came back to haunt him.

‘Tom!’ The inspector’s voice cut through his agony. ‘I haven’t closed the case. I mean to get him, however long it takes.’

‘But how could he just disappear like that?’

‘Who knows? There could be any number of answers. He may have hidden the car where we haven’t yet been able to find it. He could have been miles away by the time you were found at the bottom of that cliff.’

Time and again, like Tom, he had gone through all the possibilities. ‘Maybe he had the car destroyed somehow, or ran it into some deep water miles away from the scene of the crime.’

‘What’s the next move?’ Tom wanted to know.

‘Well, it’s not easy, I won’t deny it. We’ve already followed up all the obvious possibilities. We don’t know yet who we’re dealing with … we can’t be certain whether he’s local, or if he was just passing through. The only thing I’m certain of is that it was a deliberate act of murder. And that’s how we’re treating it.’

The florist told them everything she knew. ‘Mr Arnold placed a regular order for flowers, and we delivered them as arranged. The first few times there was no trouble, but then it started. Every time we took flowers there, they were destroyed. Fresh flowers were always put in their place.’

The inspector pre-empted Tom’s question. ‘Did you ever see anyone hanging around?’

‘No. My assistant always kept a look out, but never saw anyone. Until last time.’

‘Where is your assistant now?’

‘She’s out the back loading up the van. I’ll get her for you.’ With that she hurried away, returning a moment or two later with Gloria.

‘Tell the inspector what you saw.’ The manageress pushed her forward.

Seeing how nervous she was, Tom addressed her gently. ‘There’s no need to worry,’ he assured her. ‘We just need to ask you about the person you saw at the churchyard the last time you went there.’

‘What do you want to know?’ She looked from Tom to the inspector.

‘Well,’ the inspector said, ‘for a start, what did he look like?’

Gloria’s eyes opened wide with astonishment. ‘Oh, no! It wasn’t a man! It was a woman I saw.’ She glanced at her boss, as if she suddenly imagined she was being accused of lying. ‘It was a woman … she spoke to me … asked me questions, she did!’

Both men were taken aback, but it was the inspector who voiced what was in both their minds. ‘What did she look like … this woman?’