Free Five Dead Canaries by Edward Marston Page A

don’t know why. Anyway,’ she continued, ‘I remembered reading this article once about people who have a dreadful experience being drawn back to the place where it happened. So I caught the train to Hayes and asked where the Golden Goose was. It was frightening. Well, you’ve seen the mess that the bomb made, Sergeant. It made my knees go weak. If Maureen had been caught in the blast, we’d never have been able to recognise her remains.’
    ‘That
is
posing a problem,’ admitted Keedy, ‘and I’m sorry that you had to see that pile of debris. What made you think your daughter may have come here?’
    ‘It was what she wanted to do but Eamonn, my husband, forbade it.’
    ‘I’m fairly certain that’s she’s not here,’ said Kennett, ‘because the other girls would have mentioned the fact when I talked to them. We’ll soon know the truth. My secretary will find out if she clocked in.’
    ‘She
has
to be here, sir. Where else can she be?’
    Diane continued to insist that her daughter was in the factory somewhere and the two men consoled her as best they could. When the telephone rang, Kennett moved across to pick it up. The conversation was over within seconds. After putting the receiver down, he shook his head sadly.
    ‘Maureen is definitely not on the site, Mrs Quinn,’ he said.
    She was devastated. ‘Are you quite sure?’
    ‘Yes, I am. If she
had
turned up here this morning, she wouldn’t have been allowed to carry on as if nothing had happened. For her own sake, we’d have turned her away.’ He looked at Keedy. ‘People sometimes think that we force our employees to work until they drop but we’re very humane. We always try to show compassion.’ His eyes flicked back to Diane. ‘You’ll have to look elsewhere, Mrs Quinn.’
    ‘But
where
?’ she wailed. ‘There’s nowhere else left.’
    ‘Yes, there is,’ said Keedy, ‘and it’s possible that it never occurred to you. If you were thrown into a panic, you probably just ran around in circles.’
    ‘That’s exactly what I did, Sergeant. I was like a dog with its tail on fire.’
    ‘Let’s see if we can put that fire out, shall we?’ He moved to the door and opened it. ‘Thank you for your help, Mr Kennett. I’ll be back in due course. At the moment, the search for Maureen takes priority.’ He smiled at Diane. ‘Are you ready, Mrs Quinn?’

    Harvey Marmion was pleased to hear that many bomb fragments had been found and that they were being carefully pieced together. He would eventually know if they were dealing with an amateur or with someone who had some expertise in handling explosives. Looking at the rubble, he found it difficult to imagine where the bomb had actually been placed or what sort of timing device it must have had. The scene was a graphic illustration of cause and effect. A knot of people looked on with ghoulish curiosity. Uppermost in the mind of Leighton Hubbard was revenge. Standing beside Marmion on the pavement opposite his pub, he was quivering with fury.
    ‘Catch him, Inspector,’ he urged. ‘Catch him then hand him over to me.’
    ‘Let the law take its course, sir.’
    ‘Hanging is too good for an animal like that.’
    ‘We may be talking about more than one person,’ said Marmion. ‘It’s something we can’t rule out. Planting a bomb in its hiding place would have taken some time. The bomber might have needed a lookout.’
    ‘He needs a hand grenade up his arse, if you ask me.’
    ‘How did he gain access to the outhouse, that’s what puzzles me? You claim that it was kept locked.’
    ‘It’s supposed to be,’ said Hubbard, ‘and I always make sure that it is. So does the missus, for that matter. We protect our property. Because he only works here now and again, Royston is not so careful.’
    ‘Royston?’
    ‘He helps us out, Inspector. He’s a willing lad but he’s not very bright. When he tried to join the army, they turned him down on medical grounds but it could equally have been