Free 11 - Ticket to Oblivion by Edward Marston

him on the station.’
    ‘You’ve met Mr Tunnadine, I take it,’ said Colbeck.
    ‘We’ve seen him a couple of times.’
    ‘And was he in company with your cousin?’
    ‘Yes,’ said Emma with a smile. ‘They made such a handsome pair. Clive Tunnadine was entranced by Imogen and she was enchanted by him. She told me that he swept her off her feet.’
    ‘She was happy with the match, then?’
    ‘Who wouldn’t be happy with a man like that? He’s very wealthy and comes from a good family. My uncle says that he has a brilliant career in politics ahead of him. Imogen was taken completely by surprise when he proposed. He gave her the most gorgeous engagement ring,’ she said, enviously. ‘Imogen couldn’t stop smiling when she showed it off to me.’
    The information made Colbeck look at Tunnadine afresh. He and Leeming had found the man both arrogant and somewhat rebarbative. Clearly, he had a different effect on young women. He encouraged Emma to say more about his relationship with her cousin then he turned his attention elsewhere.
    ‘You have a brother called George, I hear.’
    ‘George is my younger brother. The elder is Percy. They couldn’t be more unlike each other,’ she said with an affectionate smile. ‘George is an artist, living in London while Percy is a curate in Gloucestershire. Father loves poetry, you see. That’s how he came to choose their names.’
    Leeming was dumbfounded but Colbeck was quick to understand.
    ‘Could Percy be named after a certain Percy Bysshe Shelley, by any chance?’
    ‘Yes, Inspector, he was.’
    ‘Shelley was an undergraduate at this college, wasn’t he? It’s odd that a curate like your brother should bear his name. My memory is that Shelley was sent down for writing a pamphlet called
The Necessity of Atheism
.’
    ‘You’re very well informed.’
    ‘I, too, admire his poetry, Miss Vaughan.’
    ‘Father speaks very highly of it. In fact, he believes that we should have some kind of memorial dedicated to him. Unfortunately, the fellows won’t hear of it. They think that Shelley brought discredit on the college.’
    ‘Who is your other brother named after?’ asked Leeming.
    ‘It is another favourite poet of my father’s – Lord Byron.’
    ‘Even
I
have heard of him.’
    ‘It sounds as if it might have been a more appropriate christening,’ said Colbeck. ‘Lord Byron was famed for his wildness and it seems that your younger brother is not without a reckless streak in his nature.’
    She laughed. ‘George is a loveable madman.’
    ‘Mr Tunnadine believes that he is behind your cousin’sdisappearance. He claims that your younger brother kidnapped her and spirited her away.’
    ‘That’s absurd!’ she cried.
    ‘George has been the family clown, by all accounts.’
    ‘I freely admit it, Inspector, but that doesn’t mean he’d do anything to hurt Imogen – or to upset us, for that matter.’
    ‘What if he wanted to upset Mr Tunnadine?’
    ‘It doesn’t sound as if he and your brother would see eye to eye,’ said Leeming. ‘How did they get on, Miss Vaughan?’
    ‘George only met Clive once,’ she replied, ‘and there was some friction between them, I must confess.’
    ‘Then your brother had a motive to strike back at Mr Tunnadine.’
    ‘He’d never do anything to spoil Imogen’s happiness.’
    ‘What about his own happiness?’ asked Colbeck. ‘We gather that your cousin was famed for her beauty. It can’t have gone unnoticed by your brother. Perhaps he was nursing hopes on his own behalf.’
    ‘You obviously don’t know my brother. George loved Imogen as a friend and as a cousin. It never went beyond that. The sort of young women to whom he was attracted were always …’ Emma left the words unspoken. ‘Let’s just say that they were of a wholly different character to Imogen. George likes to describe himself as a free spirit. He seeks female company of a like persuasion.’
    ‘Thank you for eliminating that theory once and