Twelve Red Herrings by Jeffrey Archer Read Free Book Online

needed more time to make it appear as if
they were not. “How much time?” I asked.
    “My hunch is
that they’ll let you out on licence within a few months. They were obviously
influenced by the police’s failure to produce a body, unimpressed by the trial
judge’s summing up, and impressed by the strength of your case.” I thanked
Matthew, who, for once, left the room with a smile on his face.
    You may be
wondering what Chief Superintendent Hackett – or rather ex-Chief Superintendent
Hackett – had been up to while all this was going on.
    He had not been
idle. Inspector Williams and Constable Kenwright had left the force on the same
day as he had. Within a week they had opened up a small office above the
Constitutional Club in Bradford and begun their investigations. The Don
reported to me at four o’clock every Sunday afternoon.
    Within a month
he had compiled a thick file on the case, with detailed dossiers on Rosemary,
Jeremy, the company and me. I spent hours reading through the information he
had gathered, and was even able to help by filling in a few gaps. I quickly
came to appreciate why the Don was so respected by my fellow inmates.
    He followed up
every clue, and went down every side road, however much it looked like a
cul-de-sac, because once in a while it turned out to be a highway.
    On the first
Sunday in October, after Hackett had been working for four months, he told me
that he thought he might have located Rosemary.
    A woman of her
description was living on a small estate in the south of France called Villa
Fleur.
    “How did you
manage to track her down?” I asked.
    “Letter posted
by her mother at her local pillarbox. The postman kindly allowed me to have a
look at the address on the envelope before it proceeded on its way,” Hackett
said. “Can’t tell you how many hours we had to hang around, how many letters
we’ve had to sift through, and how many doors we’ve
knocked on in the past four months, just to get this one lead. Mrs. Kershaw
seems to be a compulsive letter writer, but this was the first time she’s sent
one to her daughter. By the way,’ he added, ‘your wife has reverted to her
maiden name. Calls herself Ms Kershaw now.” I nodded,
not wishing to interrupt him.
    “Williams flew
out to Cannes on Wednesday, and he’s holed up in the nearest village, posing as
a tourist. He’s already been able to tell us that Ms Kershaw’s house is
surrounded by a ten-foot stone wall, and she has more guard dogs than trees. It
seems the locals know even less about her than we do. But at least it’s a
start.” I felt for the first time that Jeremy Alexander might at last have met
his match, but it was to be another five Sundays, and five more interim
reports, before a thin smile appeared on Hackett’s usually tight-lipped face.
    “Ms Kershaw has
placed an advertisement in the local paper,” he informed me. “It seems she’s in
need of a new butler. At first I thought we should question the old butler at
length as soon as he’d left, but as I couldn’t risk anything getting back to
her, I decided Inspector Williams would have to apply for his job instead.”
    “But surely
she’ll realise within moments that he’s totally unqualified to do the job.”
    “Not
necessarily,” said Hackett, his smile broadening.
    “You see,
Williams won’t be able to leave his present employment with the Countess of
Rutland until he’s served a full month’s notice, and in the meantime we’ve
signed him up for a special six-week course at Ivor Spencer’s School for
Butlers. Williams has always been a quick learner.”
    “But
what about references?”
    “By the time
Rosemary Kershaw interviews him, he’ll have a set of references that would
impress a duchess.”
    “I was told you
never did anything underhand.”
    “That is the
case when I’m dealing with honest people, Mr. Cooper. Not when I’m up against a
couple of crooks like this.
    I’m going to get
those two behind bars, if