Found Guilty at Five by Ann Purser Read Free Book Online Page A

your concern, Lois. But this is not an isolated incident. We have had reports of one or two cases where the theft of a violin has preceded blackmail and once a violent crime. These may be the work of a single criminal.”
    “A single nutter, you might just as well admit!” said Lois. “A nutter with a back room full of musical instruments? It just doesn’t wash, Inspector. What do you think, Jamie?”
    “It’s a very odd scenario,” Jamie said. “But then, as the inspector suggested, if there is some idiot out there with a grudge against music makers, we should be very careful. But surely not our Akiko? After all, she’s come from the other side of the world.”
    “Depends where she obtained her violin. And in what country.”
    “Do stop being so mysterious, Cowgill,” said Lois. “And what do you mean by violent crime? Are you saying they’ve been attacked?”
    “Yes, that’s right. In one case, where a ransom was refused, fatally attacked. The blackmailer panicked. It’s a clever scam. The valuable instrument is stolen, and then sold on, once a copy of it has been made by craftsmen. The fake is offered to the original owner for a reward, or more accurately, a ransom. It has worked in a number of cases, but in several the first owner has not been fooled by the fake. It’s a big operation now, and although we’ve located one or two fakers, they’ve been too frightened to talk. Of course, we are pursuing every avenue.”
    “Oh my God, I’m going to ring Akiko right now.” Jamie added that he would be outside, where he could get a good signal.
    “Well, well, Inspector Cowgill,” said Lois, rounding on him. “You’ve certainly made a good job of scaring the wits out of my Jamie. Good job you waited ’til the end of the concert! You could have ruined the whole thing.”
    “Sorry, my dear. I am afraid that scaring Jamie, and if possible, Akiko, is part of my reason for being here. You have to believe me. They need to stay alert.”
    After a few minutes, Jamie returned, looking worried. “She’s not answering. I left a message to get in touch, so I think I’ll get going now. I’ll go to her flat, unless she rings me first.” He scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to Cowgill, who slipped it into his pocket.
    “Be very careful!” said Lois. “The whole thing sounds fanciful to me. But the inspector is seldom wrong. Ring me later, please, Jamie. I might be on the train, but keep trying.”
    Cowgill and Lois walked in silence out of the stage door into a small lane at the back of the theatre, and finally Lois agreed to get a later train. “I don’t think I can eat much,” she said, in answer to his suggestion of supper in a café over the road.
    “But we need to talk,” he said. “For a start, I need to know your real reason for coming up to the concert.”
    “That’s not too difficult. My son was playing at the Wilmore Hall, a venue with a top-grade reputation. Naturally I wanted to be there.”
    “Mm. Not the whole truth, is it, Lois. Were you following up a hunch? Or is there something you should be telling me?”
    “I tell you what. Let’s have some soup and bread, and by then I’ll have thought of something convincing. More convincing than Akiko chatting up a man under the stairs. In we go.”
    *   *   *
    A KIKO’S FLAT WAS IN N ORTH L ONDON, AND J AMIE KNEW EXACTLY how to get there. He bought a ticket and boarded the train. It was only a few stops to where he would alight, and emerging into dark streets, he marched at speed to Caliban Road, one of several named after Shakespeare characters. He calculated that she would have reached home an hour at the most before he followed her.
    With a degree of confidence that he would find her, he knocked loudly at her door. Akiko had a ground-floor flat with separate entrance. He knocked again, and began to worry. The curtains were drawn across all her windows, so there was no way of looking inside. The third time he