The Silver Locomotive Mystery by Edward Marston Read Free Book Online

it. When this theatre opened in 1826, the first play presented was Macbeth with the great William Macready in the title role. I seek to emulate him.’
    ‘I have no doubt that you will, Mr Buckmaster,’ said Colbeck, admiringly. ‘I’ve always enjoyed your performances.’
    The actor beamed. ‘Thank you, Inspector.’
    ‘As for the choice of play, I’m inclined to agree with you. I fear that Mr Kellow would have met the same fate had you been staging A Midsummer Night’s Dream .’
    ‘That’s well beyond our capabilities,’ admitted Buckmaster. ‘Even with strenuous doubling, it has far too many characters for a touring company. Actors need to be paid and our income is very restricted. That’s why we have to rely on patronage.’
    ‘Yes,’ said Colbeck, ‘I noticed from your playbill that the first night is being sponsored by the mayor.’
    ‘There are three other bespoke performances so we can rely on an audience for those. The challenge is to fill the theatre on the other nights as well as at the matinee.’
    ‘Word of mouth will surely do that for you, sir. And there is no shame in patronage. Elizabethan theatre was built on it. Shakespeare and his ilk all needed patrons. However,’ he said, noting how satanic the actor looked in the flickering gaslight, ‘let’s return to Mr Kellow. Did he tell you anything about his private life?’
    ‘He didn’t seem to have much of a private life, Inspector,’ said Buckmaster. ‘His employer, Mr Voke, made him work long hours and the poor man could not afford much in the way of entertainment. Mr Kellow rented a room near the shop. I gather that his parents had both died years ago. He spoke of a sister who lived in London but they saw very little of each other.’
    ‘What did he tell you of Mr Voke?’
    ‘Oh, he spoke very fondly of him but I’d already observed the deep affection between the two of them. Mr Voke waved him off at the station. They seemed so close that I took them for father and son. As it turned out,’ he recalled, ‘Mr Kellow has been more of son to the old man than his own flesh and blood.’
    Colbeck’s ears pricked up. ‘In what way, sir?’
    ‘Well, it transpires that the young Mr Voke, also a silversmith, expected to take over the business in time and resented the fact that his father gave some of the best commissions to Mr Kellow because he deemed him the superior craftsman. There were also constant rows between father and son about money. In the end, there was a serious rift in the lute and the son stalked off to work elsewhere.’
    ‘So he might bear a grudge against Mr Kellow.’
    ‘I think it unlikely that anyone would do that, Inspector.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘He was so shy and self-effacing. He was the sort of person who would run a mile from an argument. At least,’ said Buckmaster, ‘that’s my estimate of him. Miss Linnane’s will be the same. The only way to get at the truth, of course, is to talk to Mr Voke himself.’
    ‘Precisely,’ agreed Colbeck, getting up from the chair. ‘I expect that my colleague, Sergeant Leeming, will be doing that very soon.’
     
    It was late evening when Victor Leeming finally reached the little shop in Wood Street. His first duty on returning to London had been to call in at Scotland Yard in order to apprise Superintendent Tallis of the latest developments. Thanks to a message transmitted by telegraph, the superintendent was in possession of news that the sergeant had not heard. The South Wales Railway Company was offering a large reward for information leading to the capture of the person or persons responsible for the murder of Hugh Kellow. Notice of the reward would be carried the followingmorning in London newspapers as well as in more local periodicals. Leeming and Colbeck would not be working in the relative anonymity of Wales. The metropolitan press would now be watching them as well.
    Chastened by this intelligence, Leeming went off in a hansom cab to visit Leonard Voke. It