A Bespoke Murder by Edward Marston Read Free Book Online

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    They heard the sound of car tyres scrunching on the gravel in the drive. An engine was turned off. Ruth felt her mother’s grip tighten in trepidation for a few seconds, then the two of them got up and went into the hall. When Miriam opened the front door, her brother-in-law was getting out of the car. The expression on his face told them what had happened. Ruth burst into tears, her mother enfolded her in her arms and Stone ushered the two of them gently back into the house.
     
    Harvey Marmion hated having to visit the morgue. It brought back unhappy memories of the time when he’d been called upon to identify the corpse of his father. It had been a harrowing experience. As he looked at the body of Jacob Stein, he was relieved that his father had not been reduced to such a hideous condition. Fire had burnt off the clothes of the dead man, singeing his hair and eyebrows, then eatinghungrily into his flesh. Marmion could hardly bear to look at the blackened figure but Joe Keedy was studying it with interest, noting the ugly gash in the chest. When they had been able to reach the body, the detectives had it removed under cover so that it escaped the prying eyes of the press. Marmion would have to make a statement in due course but only after the body had been formally identified by a close family member. There was the commissioner to consider as well. He would need to be told that his tailor had been murdered.
    ‘Shall I ring Mr Stone?’ asked Keedy.
    ‘No,’ said Marmion. ‘I’ll do that, Joe.’
    ‘Are you going to tell him about the murder weapon?’
    ‘Not until he gets here.’
    ‘You’ll need this.’ Keedy handed over Stone’s business card. ‘He said that we could ring, no matter how late it is.’
    Marmion glanced at the clock on the wall. ‘Look at the time,’ he said. ‘Ellen will think I’ve run off with another woman.’
    ‘Your wife knows you too well to think that.’
    ‘Police work plays havoc with family life.’
    ‘That’s why I never married,’ said Keedy, smiling. ‘Well, that’s one of the reasons, anyway.’
    ‘We all know the main one, Joe, but I don’t think this is the place to discuss your lively private life. Let’s get out of here, shall we?’ They left the morgue and stepped into the corridor outside. Marmion inhaled deeply. ‘That’s better – we can breathe properly now.’
    ‘I used to see dead bodies every day in the family business.’
    ‘ I could never work in a place like this, I know that. But I’m grateful that someone can. A post-mortem always yields some useful clues. Well,’ he added, ‘you might as well sign off for the night.’
    ‘Don’t you want me to hang on until Mr Stone arrives?’ 
    ‘No, thanks – I can cope with him. You get your beauty sleep.’
    Keedy grinned. ‘Who says I’m going to sleep?’
    ‘I do,’ warned Marmion. ‘I want you wide awake and turning up on time. We’ve got a busy day ahead of us tomorrow – and the same goes for the days ahead. This will be a very complex investigation.’
    ‘The killer was one of dozens of people who got into that shop. Talk about safety in numbers. Do you think we have any chance at all of catching him, Inspector?’
    ‘Oh, we’ll catch him, Joe,’ said Marmion, eyes glinting. ‘I can guarantee it.’
     
    Alice Marmion crept downstairs in the dark so that she would not wake her mother. Wearing a dressing gown and a pair of fur-lined slippers, she was a relatively tall, lean, lithe young woman in her twenties with an attractive face and dimpled cheeks. When she got to the hall, she was surprised to see a light under the kitchen door. She opened the door gently and saw her mother, dozing in a chair with her knitting resting on her lap. Ellen Marmion was an older and plumper version of her daughter. Her hair was grey and her face lined. Alice smiled affectionately. She was uncertain whether to rouse her mother or to slip gently away. In the event, the decision