Free The Shepherd File by Conrad Voss Bark Page A

said Lamb, ‘you do not rely on the disciplines of the civil service. They’re all handpicked, Holmes, every one of them. I pick them myself. I rely on them and they rely on me. I’ve never been let down.’
    ‘Space for trumpet call,’ said Holmes. He was not often unkind. Lamb had sterling qualities. His character was admirable. He was staunchly devoted to his men.
    ‘Trumpet call?’ said Lamb. ‘You mean he wasn’t patriotic? Perhaps not. Something must have cracked. Something went wrong. But who knows how much he suffered out there in the desert? Who knows how much a stiff and unimaginative attitude on the part of the Foreign Office was to blame?’
    Holmes changed the subject. ‘How did you get on,’ he asked, ‘with Mrs Shepherd?’
    Lamb looked aggrieved. ‘I met her when she came,’ he said. ‘I was very cordial. Naturally.’
    ‘Why shouldn’t you be?’
    ‘Naturally,’ said Lamb. ‘We’ve nothing against her, you know, Holmes. Not a thing. One must be fair. But, the fact is, and the fact must be faced, that Shepherd was perfectly all right before his marriage to her. Of course, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong — ’
    ‘She is not aware of your views?’
    ‘Bless me, no!’ exclaimed Lamb. ‘Good heavens. Dash it. That would be unkind, wouldn’t it?’
    ‘It would,’ said Holmes, gently. ‘It would be very unkind. I hope she wasn’t able to guess what you thought about her?’
    ‘Certainly not,’ said Lamb, firmly.
    ‘And where is Mrs Shepherd now?’
    ‘One of the staff is dealing with her,’ said Lamb. ‘Quite frankly, I don’t like the woman.’
    ‘You surprise me.’
    ‘I don’t like Belgians,’ said Lamb. ‘Not that I’m holding that against her.’
    ‘I’m glad.’
    ‘Of course not. She’ll be looked after. They’re discussing the pension now. It won’t be lavish but it’ll be enough. We shall also offer her a job. A small thing, but useful. Translation work. Part-time, so she can look after her boy.’
    ‘Who is looking after him while she’s here this morning?’
    ‘Her sister,’ said Lamb. ‘He’s being taken to see the Tower of London, or something.’
    ‘It’s arranged I can drive her home?’
    Lamb nodded. ‘Yes. There’s a car outside for you. What exactly are you after?’
    ‘I want to chat about this and that,’ murmured Holmes vaguely.
    ‘I can tell you everything you want to know about her.’
    ‘I’m sure.’
    ‘You got something on her?’
    ‘I don’t think there is anything on her,’ said Holmes solemnly, ‘ but somebody might be seeing her who would give us a line. I don’t want to take chances.’
    ‘Very right and proper,’ said Lamb. ‘You’re quite right. Take no chances. I agree. I thought for a moment you had something on her.’
    ‘Not a thing,’ said Holmes and as he spoke the new suspicion rose in him like a dark cloud. ‘She was a dancer, wasn’t she?’
    ‘Brussels nightlife,’ said Lamb, ‘is worse than Paris.’ He was unhappy. ‘We checked on her. It’s all in the file. She was never active politically. She was the youngest of a family of seven. The father suffered from ill-health. She left school at fifteen and went into an office in Liege. From an early age she seems to have been attractive to men and had a number of affairs. At seventeen she became involved with a married man in her office and ran away to avoid the scandal.’
    ‘That’s when she went to Brussels?’
    ‘She seems to have been respectable,’ said Lamb, doubtfully. ‘More or less,’ he added. ‘She did a strip turn at first but they found she was intelligent and could talk well so they made her a hostess. The hostesses at the Au Poids de l’Or stand by the bar or go round the tables and sell drinks on commission. Sometimes they will go to bed with the customers and sometimes they won’t. It depends. She seems to have been among those who didn’t. One of the girls with her said she disliked men, she didn’t trust