The Loss of the Jane Vosper Read online

  ‘What was Mr Rice like in appearance?’ French asked.

  From Hardy’s description there could be no doubt that his client was the same elusive individual who had been behind all these manifestations.

  ‘We got out two or three designs,’ Hardy continued, ‘and in three days Mr Rice turned up again. He approved one of the designs, that which you have there. He said his firm was not yet actually manufacturing, but the premises were complete and they would soon start. He would take, he said, five hundred labels to begin with, and if they were generally approved he would come back for a larger supply. We printed off the labels, and after a couple more days he came back. He paid for them, and took them away. That was the last we heard of him.’

  ‘He never came back for the larger quantity?’

  ‘No, never.’

  All these details, French thought, were suspicious. So far there had been no indication of any member of the Rice firm other than this one individual. The whole affair might be a one-man show. Rice might have no brothers, and the Corona Engineering Company might be simply James Rice – if it existed at all.

  On the other hand, everything might still be in order. So far there was no actual proof that anything was wrong. It would be necessary to wait for the Claygate sergeant’s report before a conclusion could be reached.

  In accordance with French’s practice of keeping in touch with the Yard, he rang up when the interview with Hardy was over. On this occasion his care was rewarded. Two pieces of information had come in.

  First there was a further report from the sergeant at Claygate. There were not many house agents in the place, and he had got in touch with all of them. The result was a complete confirmation of his earlier statement. There was no ‘Corona Engineering Company’ at Claygate, and no land had been let to such a firm. He had accounted for all the vacant ground in the neighbourhood, and none of the owners or agents concerned had ever heard of the company. Nor was there any firm called Rice Bros in the district.

  Here at last, French thought, was something final. It seemed impossible to believe that he was not on to some fraud, some crime upon which Sutton had blundered, with the result that he lost his life. French wondered intensely what could have drawn the man’s attention to the affair. The suggestion was that it was something he had heard or discovered at Waterloo, but so far no connection between Waterloo and Rice had appeared. Unless it was that the factory site at Claygate was really projected: because Waterloo was the station for Claygate. Perhaps Sutton had been to Claygate. Perhaps the factory was a reality, and for some unknown reason it was being run under another name.

  French decided that it might be worthwhile running down himself to Claygate and having a word with the sergeant. However, for the moment that could wait. A second piece of news had come in.

  It appeared that the firm who supplied Rice with the runway had been discovered. It was a well-known engineering firm, Messrs Turner & Entwhistle of Huddersfield, whose London office and showrooms were in Victoria Street.

  ‘Victoria Street,’ said French, emerging from the booth. ‘They’ve found the runway people.’

  Carter thought that was pretty good, considering how short a time there had been for enquiries, but French said nonsense, that Turner & Entwhistle were about the first people you would ring up. ‘I hope we’ll get there before they close,’ he went on, looking at his watch. ‘We spent more time in that blessed shed than I realized.’

  On this occasion, however, their luck held. The representative who had dealt with the Rice affair was still on duty. It proved to have been carried out in much the same way as the rest of Rice’s activities.

  Some three months earlier a man who gave his name as James Rice, and his address as the Kelvin Hotel, Commercial Road, called and said that he wished to purchase an electric hoist or pair of blocks travelling on a runway. The runway was to be hung from the tie-beams of a shed roof, and was to be a complete ring, consisting of two semicircles of 15 feet in diameter, joined by two straight sections 15 feet long. The blocks were to be operated by a motor, and were to lift one ton. It was important that they should work quickly, that was, in the lifting and lowering. No motor was required to pull the blocks along the runway, as this, Rice said, could be done by hand. The apparatus was required for moving reinforced concrete beams and slabs about his builder’s yard.

  The representative had suggested that he should visit the shed so as to inspect the roof trusses to enable him to supply suitable suspension arrangements. But Rice said this was unnecessary. He gave a drawing of the principals, and said the suspension clips must be made to attach to the runway at any point. He explained that he had mechanics in his employment who would do the erection.

  The representative was doubtful that a good job could be made in this way. However Rice was insistent, and his orders were of course carried out. The runway was got out in sections to bolt up together, and they then asked where they should send it. Rice surprised them by saying he would call for it. He paid the price in notes, the runway was duly sent from Huddersfield, and Rice called for it at the railway. His signature for it at the goods depot closed the transaction so far as they were concerned.

  One other point the representative mentioned. Rice had stated that he only required the runway temporarily, and asked if they would take it back later at a valuation. The firm had not agreed to this – it did not deal in second-hand stuff – but they had given Rice the name of Cleaver Hooper, Ltd, who did that sort of business, and he had said he would get in touch with them.

  Asked for the address of Cleaver Hooper, Ltd, the young man said, ‘Waterloo Road, just beyond the station.’

  Waterloo! Could this be at last the connection French had so long been seeking? Sutton had left Hislop to go to Waterloo. Was it to call on Cleaver Hooper?

  On reaching the street French rang up Cleaver Hooper from the first booth he came to. But there was no reply. The establishment had evidently closed for the night.

  As he thought over the situation that evening, French grew less optimistic about what he was likely to learn from Cleaver Hooper. If Sutton had visited them on the day of his disappearance, he could surely at most have only learnt about the second-hand runway. What could this have conveyed to him, which would have made him dangerous to those concerned in the fraud?

  On the other hand, here was a likely suggestion of where Sutton might have been going on that fatal afternoon. Even if the dangerous secret were not learnt through Cleaver Hooper, Sutton, had he visited them, might have dropped a hint of where he was going next.

  It was therefore with some eagerness that French set off with Carter next morning to pay the call. On sending in his card he was received by the senior partner, Mr Cleaver. He explained shortly what he wanted.

  ‘Yes,’ replied Cleaver, ‘you’re quite correct. We did that piece of business with Mr Rice. He called here first, and I saw him. He asked me if we would be disposed to buy a set of electric blocks and runway which he had had in his shop for a couple of months, and which were new and in perfect order. He showed me the invoice and specifications from Messrs Turner & Entwhistle, and explained that the runway had been for use in a temporary shed which he had occupied while his own premises were being completed. I agreed to take the stuff, subject to its being in the good order he described. I then asked where we could inspect it, but he said he had taken it down and that it was now loaded in his van, and that he would run it to us here, where we could inspect it at our leisure. I agreed. He went away and returned shortly, driving a 30-cwt Ford van, containing the runway. It proved to be in perfect order as he had said, and we therefore paid for it. He left, and the transaction ended.’

  ‘You’ve not heard from him since?’

  ‘No, he simply took the money and went off.’

  ‘Did you pay by cheque?’

  ‘No, he made a special point about that. He said his banking account was in the country, and he’d rather have cash.’

  ‘Did he give you any
hint as to what the runway had been used for?’

  ‘Yes, he said he was a builder, and it was for lifting ferroconcrete slabs and beams from where they were cast to where they were stored, and out of store when they were required for use.’

  French nodded. ‘One other question and I’ve finished. Did a Mr Sutton, a private detective acting for certain insurance companies, call on you within the last fortnight? I should explain that this Sutton has disappeared, and I am trying to trace him.’

  About this Cleaver was sure. Sutton had not called. Before leaving, however, French made it his business to interview the rest of the staff, and made quite certain that Sutton had not applied to anyone connected with the firm.

  With the exception of what it really had been used for, the history of the runway had now been established. French wondered could Rice’s statement as to its purpose have been true? In the shed were traces of cement, sand, stones, and marks of where these had been mixed to make concrete. For reinforced concrete work forms are required, and forms are made with timber by carpenters. In the shed was a carpenters’ bench and traces of sawdust and shavings. Was Rice really making concrete castings? The contents of the shed certainly tended to confirm his statement, and it was definitely a builder’s job.

  In fact, there was still nothing suspicious about the shed except the two points: the fact that Sutton had expressed doubts about it, and the matter of the name of the firm. Sutton’s ideas were weighty because of his disappearance, but, of course, there was nothing to show that the Rice shed had anything to do with his fate. Nor was the matter of the name of serious significance. Rice Bros might be working under another name, and, if so, this would probably account for French’s failure to find them. No, while the affair was admittedly suspicious, there was no actual proof that anything was wrong.

  Of course, this line of reasoning did not help French. Sutton had disappeared, and he had to find out where he had gone to. The Rice shed, so far, had been his only line of enquiry. It was still his only line of enquiry. He could only assume that the solution of his problem lay along it, and act accordingly.

  What remained to be done? Only, so far as he could see, the completion of the detailed search of the shed. He had broken that off on discovering the Claygate label. He supposed there was nothing for it but to go back and finish it.

  As he retuned with Carter to the Yard it occurred to him that one routine avenue of enquiry had so far been overlooked. Had Rice ever obtained a passport? If so, and if it could be traced, information about him should be forthcoming.

  While not hopeful of a result, he sent a man to the passport office to make enquiries. Then, having instructed Carter to bring the apparatus for testing paper ashes, the two men set off again for Redliff Lane.

  -11-

  SCRAPS OF PAPER

  On arrival at the shed Carter produced a somewhat unusual collection of objects. There was first a small saucepan, a flat sieve which fitted across its top, a domed lid to go above the sieve, and a spirit lamp with a frame on which the saucepan could be heated. There were some small flat bits of wood, a small drawing board with pins, a roll of very transparent tracing paper, a bottle of colourless gum arabic, and a couple of spoons.

  While French began to examine the ashes in the fireplace, Carter drew the carpenters’ bench over and laid out his apparatus. The saucepan he partially filled with water and lit the lamp beneath it. He put on the lid, but left the sieve out. Then he cut a piece of tracing paper and fastened it down with the pins on to the board. He cut some other scraps of tracing paper of various sizes.

  French, meantime, had begun very carefully to remove the burnt fragments of wood from the top of the ashes. He could see that beneath these was paper. It was completely burnt, but he thought that some small flakes might remain, which might bear a word or words.

  Slowly he worked, removing what he could with his fingers and as gently as possible picking up with the spoons what was already in dust. Under the dust the paper was in powder, but where the sheets had been protected by bits of charred wood a few tiny flakes remained. These French could see, bore writing. To get them out unbroken was the difficulty.

  Taking one of the scraps of paper cut by Carter, he pushed it gently under one of the larger fragments. Then, raising it as one would a spade, he was able to lift the fragment out. He tried again with another scrap of tracing paper, continuing till he had removed all the fragments he could find.

  It was not a large bag. Seven tiny pieces of charred paper lay on seven bits of tracing paper on the bench. Most of the pieces he had seen had crumbled into dust on the touch of the tracing paper spades, and of the seven bits he had secured, not one was more than an inch across.

  French now paused for a moment to take photographs of his treasure trove, so that if in his further operations he destroyed any of it, a record should remain.

  The next step was to mount the pieces, so that they could be handled and, if necessary, used as evidence. Where such scraps are fairly flat this is not a difficult job, but these bits were badly twisted and warped, and it was therefore necessary to flatten them out before mounting could be attempted.

  Taking the sieve, he laid the seven bits of tracing paper on it, each bearing its bit of distorted ash. Then he placed the sieve on the saucepan, which by this time had grown fairly hot, covering it with the lid. As most charred paper is hydroscopic, the scraps were likely to take up sufficient moisture from the steam to become soft, and so flatten by their own weight.

  This expedient worked on the whole fairly well. When French considered his mixture was sufficiently cooked and removed the sieve, most of the pieces had flattened down well enough. Then he came to the most difficult part of the work. Pinning a piece of tracing paper down on a tiny scrap of wood, he brushed it over with the gum. Then he laid the gummed paper down on the top of the first charred fragment, and left it to dry. This he repeated in the case of the other six bits.

  As the drying would take some time, French now left this part of the work, and resumed his general inspection of the shed. He was meticulously painstaking and careful, but he did not learn a great deal that he hadn’t known before.

  In fact, he learned three things only. The first was that the timber worked was white deal or spruce, and that at least some of it was 11⁄8 inches thick. This was shown by the width of some of the shavings left by the planes. The second was that wire nails, 2 inches and 2½ inches long had been used, as well as 5⁄8-inch tacks and flat-headed 1-inch nails. The third point was that the clay had been deposited recently and for a short time only. It had covered a few bits of grass and weeds growing between the cobbles, and these remained as green as the adjoining untouched roots.

  While he could think of no explanation of the presence of the clay, French had to admit to himself that the nails and timber worked in well with Rice’s statement that he had been making reinforced concrete forms. Spruce of the thickness in question would just work in for the purpose, as would also the 2-inch and 2½-inch nails. The stones and sand, which he had observed on his first visit, were also such as would have been used for concrete.

  Having exhausted all the possibilities of the shed, French began with Carter to work on a fresh line: an interrogation of all those who lived close by.

  This was a tedious and unpleasant enquiry, and very unprofitable it proved also. Persons had been seen entering and leaving, but no one who had seen them could describe them or seemed to have noticed anything whatever about them. The same applied to the vehicles. One woman who lived opposite had observed a Ford truck going in and out, but she hadn’t remarked the driver, and of course had not noted its registration number. She had seen other trucks and lorries going in and out, some of them quite large, but she didn’t know to whom they belonged, or anything individual about them.

  Of course, in a way, there was no reason why anyone should have taken the necessary interest in the shed to cause him to observe and remember its visitors. Working men. Ford trucks, and vans an
d lorries are not so uncommon in East London as to arouse curiosity. Still, to a man like French, trained to continuous observation, it seemed strange that not one of all the people who must have seen arrivals and departures could tell him anything about them.

  Tired and disappointed, French returned to the shed for the mounted fragments, which by this time were hard and dry. They had struck satisfactorily on the whole, and either side could be read, either directly or through the tracing paper. Packing them carefully, he returned to the Yard and began a preliminary examination of them before passing them over to the technical department which dealt with such matters.

  French knew he wasn’t an expert, at the same time he tried to learn all he could from the blackened scraps. And first it seemed fairly obvious that he was dealing with three different documents or kinds of documents. Four of the scraps were of a very thin and poor-class paper, two others, though still of poor paper, were of a better type, while one was of a superior quality still. Again, on the first four, all the writing consisted of figures and x’s, with ‘s and “s, the signs for feet and inches. These four bits seemed parts of invoices or bills for timber.

  French sat thinking. He wondered if the timber had been bought in sufficiently large quantities to enable him to trace the sale. If he could do so, the amount and scantling might give some clue to its purpose. Further, the timber salesmen might have noticed something about Rice, or whoever bought the stuff, which would enable him to be traced.

  He decided that it might be worthwhile advertising in journals read by those in the timber trade. Having noted the point, he turned back to the papers.