II
Hereford Police
Discussing the murder of Cuthbert Yates at St. Agnes in November 1927, Supt. Wallace Rees of the Hereford Police confides in King. The murder took place in the cell of an inmate, Lucius Harriwell. There was a lot of blood. Harriwell was covered in it, none of it his own. Yates body, badly stabbed and slashed, lay on the cell floor, as did two kitchen knives. The bloodied and torn uniform of another nurse was found in the laundry. The case was closed and Harriwell blamed. King sees this as a clear case of laziness on the part of the Hereford Constabulary.
Roby’s Case Notes
Piper returned once more to visit Dr. Highsmith at the asylum. He asked to see Alexander Roby’s case notes. The notes contained facts pertaining to Roby’s internment and Highsmith’s observations. Highsmith considered Roby to suffer from Scotophobia and mentions sympathetic mania (not something that Piper recognised as an official term). The file contained minor notations that Piper glossed over, but afterwards left him thinking – had he missed something? Despite Roby’s issues, Highsmith’s case notes clearly remark that he considers Roby fit for release. Not least because he poses no danger and his continued existence in an asylum cell will do nothing to improve his mental health.
Taxi for Piper
A couple of days after his return to London, a neighbour knocked on Piper’s door asking him if he, Piper, had forgotten about ordering a taxi earlier in the day. A taxi driver had enquired with the neighbour whether next door was the correct address for Dr. Piper.
Dr Lionel Trollope
On the morning of 3rd November, the investigators pay a visit to Dr. Trollope at his home, 126 Long Acre, Bloomsbury. The housekeeper, Mrs Hughes, admits you to a drawing room. Initially reticent, Trollope soon relaxes into conversation when realising it’s Alexander Roby you’re here to discuss. He is the Roby family doctor and fond of Alexander whom he has known since he was a small boy.
In principal Trollope doesn’t object to Alexander’s release, but he doesn’t know where he could be release to. His brother, Grahame Roby, still blames Alexander for the death of their father and sister and won’t contemplate his release from the asylum. On this basis, Trollope believes Alexander is perhaps already in the best place for his continued care.
Grahame Roby
The interview with Grahame is curt. He’s not prepared to discuss the matter. In order to get strangers out of his home, 17 Hill St., Belgravia, he informs the investigators he was not happy about the unsavoury company that Alexander was keeping – he even hired a private investigator, Vincent Tuck, to follow him and report on his doings. The only associate Grahame mentions without disdain was Alexander’s young lady of the time, Delia Hartson. She saw sense though and left Alexander – married another man named Morrison instead.
Grahame Roby is resolutely opposed to Alexander’s release. He’ll never be accepted back into the family and should remain where he is; in the loony bin.
Vincent Tuck
From a rundown office above a shop in Wapping, East London, Vincent Tuck operates his one-man private investigator agency. He wears a cheap dishevelled suit, smells of gin and smokes everybody else’s cigarettes. He couldn’t possibly betray the trust of a client. A crisp pound note later and he’s digging into a filing cabinet for the reports.
He was hired for three weeks, starting 12th November 1925, by Grahame Roby to report on the movements of his brother Alexander. In this time Alexander associated with three other men.
•Lawrence Bacon, mid-fifties, greying hair and beard, antiques dealer, from his shop and residence at 112 Liverpool Road, Islington.
•Malcolm Quarrie, mid-thirties, lived at 12 Moreton Street, Westminster. Worked at Royal Society, Piccadilly.
•Edwards, first name unknown, forties, had lodgings at Berriman Road, Islington.
The four men would often gather at Bacon’s residence – sometimes late into the night. Tuck noted that Roby seemed closest to Bacon and Edwards. Quarrie was a little more aloof.
The more he spoke, the more Tuck became agitated. Piper noticed he’d removed one report from the folder and pocketed it. Tuck suggested they all go down the pub – he needs a drink. Over drinks, that Tuck ordered and left Blossett to pay for, he confides in something that disturbs him to this day. He shows the report he pocketed. Tuck followed Bacon in the middle of the night. He walked along the Regent’s Canal. He flashed a torch into archways and alleys until he found a destitute man. Bacon stopped. There was a whistling noise. The tramp screamed and screamed, and then the noise stopped. Bacon walked on. Tuck investigated to find the tramp was dead, a look of horror fixed on his face, and his body a dried-out husk.
Quarrie and Edwards
Calling at their 1925 addresses reveals both characters have moved on. Quarrie has gone abroad to who knows where, and nobody knows anything about Edwards.
Keep Your Nose Out of Things That Don’t Concern You
Walking home, Blossett is followed. The stalker threatens Blossett to mind his own business if he knows what’s good for him. The menace, is tall, burly, dark haired and flashes a large knife kept in the inside pocket of his long coat.
Murder in St. James’ Park
Next day. In the morning papers there's the report of the murder of Dr. Lionel Trollope. He was stabbed through the heart in St. James’ Park at 6.0pm during his usual evening walk. A newspaper boy witnessed the attack. The description of the killer matches the man who threatened Blossett earlier that same evening. King spoke with Det. Insp. Andrew Taylor, Scotland Yard, in charge of the case. Taylor asked King what he made of the victim holding in his hand a brown leather shoe lace.
A Letter from the Deceased
A day after his murder, Piper received a letter from Dr. Trollope. Following their interview, Trollope decided to confide in his visits to see Alexander Roby at the asylum and penned the letter. Trollope visited Alexander twice. On the second visit, Trollope took with him a copy of The Wanderer by the Lake, a book authored by Roby himself. He read from it trying to illicit a response. As he recited passages, Alexander joined in. Trollope reached out to touch Alexander and immediately passed out, but he was aware of this and aware of a lucid vision. In his vision, Trollope was taking his usual evening walk through St. James’ Park. A man came up to him and stabbed him through the heart. Next, as he lay bleeding on the floor, he looked into the face of a paperboy leaning over him. And then he passed from this world. Trollope came to his senses in Roby’s cell. The orderly helped him to his feet. Roby was apologetic: “I’m sorry doctor. I cannot change what you saw.”
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