Free The Reckoning by Rennie Airth Page A

shall be home by the weekend, but at present that seems a long way off. A day away is just what I need, and I’m sure Bridget would agree. It’s been a long three weeks for us both.’
    He chuckled again.
    â€˜Don’t misunderstand me, John. I love my sister dearly, but we seem to bring out the worst in each other: her prolixity, my lack of patience. She’ll be glad to see the back of me, if only for a few hours.’

7
    L ATE ON FRIDAY , HAVING received no word from the chief inspector, Madden rang Billy Styles at the Yard to discover that the investigation was temporarily at a standstill.
    â€˜It’s a question of how we go about it,’ Billy explained. ‘Is this a Scottish inquiry, or should we take charge of it? Where is this man based? Is he from down here or north of the border? That’s still not known.’
    He said he had been in touch with Edward Gibson, who had told him he was slowly working his way through his brother’s diaries to see if they contained any hint of past trouble: with no result as yet.
    â€˜I had Vic on the phone, too, from Lewes. He’s extended his investigation to farms and villages in the area, some of them miles away, hoping this man might have stayed at one of them, or at least been spotted. But it’s the same story: there’s no trace of him anywhere.’
    Madden told Billy about the approach he had made to the chief inspector.
    â€˜I hope we’re not stepping on anyone’s toes,’ he said. ‘But I want to get this settled. Either Gibson had something important to tell me, or that letter is a red herring. As it happens, Mr Sinclair is up there at present, staying in Aberdeen. I spoke to himyesterday and asked him if he could find out anything about the doctor that might be useful. He seems to think he can talk to the police there without upsetting anyone.’
    Billy received the news with a dry chuckle.
    â€˜I’d better let the chief super know that,’ he said. ‘He gets back next week: he’s been in hospital.’ He was referring to his superior at the Yard, the man who had stepped into Angus Sinclair’s shoes, Detective Chief Superintendent Chubb – someone Madden himself had known well in the past when they were both young detectives learning their trade the hard way, under Sinclair’s unforgiving eye.
    Madden promised to pass on to Billy whatever he learned, but when Saturday passed without a phone call from Aberdeen, he resigned himself to the fact that he would have to wait until his friend’s return to discover what, if anything, he had discovered.
    In the circumstances, the lunch to which he and Helen had been invited on Sunday was a welcome distraction, as was the sight of Violet Tremayne standing beneath the portrait of one of her ancestors in the drawing room at Stratton Hall wearing a fur hat perched on her dark curls and waving a red flag emblazoned with the hammer and sickle.
    â€˜A gift from one of the comrades,’ she announced as she greeted them with a kiss. ‘Some of them are dears when you get to know them. Mind you, they say the same thing of Uncle Joe, and I’m not so sure about him.’
    A slip of a girl in the photographs Helen had of their youth, Violet had become more matronly with the years, but her dark eyes retained a mischievous glint.
    â€˜We used to fight like cats when we were little girls,’ Helen had told her husband on the way over. ‘I lost count of the number of times I was sent home from the Hall in disgrace. It’s a wonder we ended up friends.’
    Over a glass of sherry in the drawing room Violet told themshe was there on behalf of her elder brother, the new earl, who was in Delhi serving on the staff of Lord Mountbatten in his capacity as the first Governor-General of an independent India.
    â€˜I have to make an inspection. Everything’s gone to rack and ruin since Daddy died. Peter wants to hang on to the