Free Inspector West Takes Charge by John Creasey Page A

breath.
    ‘Your spiel’s good,’ he admitted slowly. ‘You make it sound as if it can work.’
    ‘Of course it can work. If the police try to prove Harrington’s identity now, any papers they may find at his flat will be faked. I’ve made sure of that. Harrington will look like a phoney from the beginning it will be an advantage rather than a disadvantage that the police have found him before we arrange his suicide. The police will dig more deeply, and find that you are the real Harrington, not Conroy, guilty of two murders in Rhodesia, and –’ Potter stopped, and showed his teeth. ‘Supporting evidence is always valuable, Duke. I hope that in future you will not be foolish enough to doubt whether I can or cannot make the necessary arrangements. Our concern is not Harrington, but the stolen documents. I shall know who has them by tomorrow.’
    ‘Or do you just mean hope?’
    ‘We will call the two words synonymous.’
    They stopped talking; Potter switched on a small table lamp and began reading through the papers on the desk. Duke picked up a magazine, and turned the pages idly. After half-an-hour he looked up and said: ‘Clay’s a long time.’
    ‘He is being thorough,’ Potter said, and went on reading. But Clay did not arrive in the next hour.

 
8:   Not Nice for Mark
    Roger was with Lampard and Dr Tenby for over an hour after returning to Delaware. The telephone wires to London and to Guildford were kept busy. A nurse arrived from Guildford, and Dr Tenby spent a lot of time with her in Claude’s room. Claude was not dead, but his condition was serious. Tenby would commit himself no further than that he was suffering from a form of hypnotic poisoning and that he might be able to pull through. Meanwhile, his wife should be summoned.
    Maisie was not at the Braddon Square house. The servants there gave a list of places where she might be, but did not seem optimistic.
    Policemen from Guildford were reinforced by members of the local Home Guard platoon in a search for Mark Lessing; after an hour Roger refused to believe that Mark had disappeared voluntarily.
    ‘He won’t like the hunt for him if he’s gone off on his own,’ Roger said.
    ‘Never mind about that,’ Janet retorted. They were with Harrington in the lounge. ‘If he’s gone away on some wild goose chase without letting us know, it’s his fault if he’s caused a sensation.’
    Harrington looked from her to Roger.
    ‘Between you and me, I’m finding that a bit beyond me. Do things often happen this way?’
    ‘About once in a thousand times. Don’t imagine this is typical of a policeman’s life. Normality it is boring in every phase, ours not excepted. Whatever you call this, it isn’t boring.’ He lit a cigarette and asked: ‘Can’t you remember anything that Maisie Prendergast or Potter said which might give an idea why they contacted you?’
    ‘They were vague all the way,’ Harrington said. ‘The only time they asked more than indirect questions was when they wanted to know what I’d been doing since I left England. I left when I was a boy,’ he added off-handedly. ‘My parents died early, and I learned that my mother had had the thick end of the stick from her family. In spite of all the Dreem millions, she died of influenza through lack of expert attention. It was only by an accident after she was dead that it was found she had a couple of thousand pounds worth of Dreem shares. They went in trust to an aunt who brought me up and she spent it all.’ Harrington’s grey eyes grew thoughtful. ‘I’ve travelled a lot since then, but I’ve never forgotten those days.’
    ‘You’ve been on your own a lot?’
    ‘That hasn’t anything to do with the past,’ said Harrington. He thrust his hands into his pockets and stared into the fire. ‘Is there any point in my staying any longer?’
    ‘It’s up to you,’ said Roger. ‘I’d be glad if you stayed, but I can’t make you.’
    Harrington thrust his hands deeper