If Anything Happens to Hester Read online

  The doctor stood in front of him.

  “Barry, what’s the matter?”

  Horton looked at him, and then with a single sweeping movement, pushed him to one side. He staggered against he wall. Lorna caught the tension which was in the others. For the first time since he had gone, she forgot John. There was Largent by her side, staring at Horton as if in fear. Horton reached him.

  Largent exclaimed: “What—what’s the matter? My Lord, what—”

  There, in front of policemen, firemen, the servants, the doctor, little Miss Medbury, and Lorna, Lord Horton shot out his long, powerful arms and crooked his strong fingers round Largent’s neck, gripping so tightly that on the instant Largent made a choking cry, then seemed to stop breathing.

  Lorna knew that Horton meant to kill the dealer.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Cool Reason

  Lorna thought that the vicious power of Horton’s attack would be sufficient to break Largent’s neck. She saw the murderous glint in the big man’s eyes; then two policemen and a fireman rushed forward, and a policeman struck Horton on the nape of the neck, making him back away and release his hold. The others gripped his arms. He struggled for a moment, but realised that it was useless, and stood quite still. Largent was coughing and reeling back against the wall.

  The big burly sergeant who had been with Hennessy asked Horton quietly: “What made you attack Mr. Largent like that, sir?” The calmness of his voice and the ease with which the ‘sir’ came out were alike remarkable.

  Horton looked at him with those burning eyes.

  “He blackmailed my son into stealing from me,” he said. “And so he killed my son.”

  “I’d like you to come along to the headquarters and make a statement, my Lord,” the sergeant said with the same calmness. “Will you come too, Mr. Largent, please.”

  “It’s a fantastic lie,” Largent croaked. “A fantastic lie.”

  “But I don’t think anyone who heard him believed that it’s a lie,” Lorna told Mannering just twenty-four hours later. She was sitting in a small ward at the Gilston Hospital, and Mannering was lying flat on his back. There were bruises and cuts on his forehead and a gash on his right arm, but the worst injury was still his back; he had been told that it would be two weeks before he could walk with any comfort; a month more before he was completely recovered; but there would be no lasting harm.

  He looked pale, but was in no pain. He knew just what had happened: that both the girl and her brother would recover completely; that Rodney Horton had died from his injuries; that Largent was under arrest on a charge of complicity in the murder of Clive Morgan. He knew that Hennessy was in a nearby ward, much worse injured than he, with a cracked skull. That Horton had hardly said a word to anyone since his attack on Largent; and he also knew that the thin-faced man who had attacked him on the gallery was one of Largent’s runners, who had stated that he had worked with Morgan to make Rodney steal his father’s precious treasures.

  “Now that we know the key to it, that Largent was behind it, everything is simple,” Lorna said. She felt completely relaxed for the first time since she had come to Gilston, and there was no frown, no hint of sullenness. The key to the staircase wall was found on Largent’s runner. He’d been with Rodney just before the accident. And some of Horton’s missing treasures were found in Largent’s flat.

  “All very neat,” Mannering murmured. “And Horton nearly choked the life out of Largent.”

  “I thought he would break his neck.”

  “I wouldn’t have been surprised,” said Mannering, almost lazily. “What did Largent have to say afterwards?”

  “He and Horton were hustled away too quickly, so I don’t really know.” Lorna answered. “I suppose you had a pretty good idea that Largent was the man you were after.”

  “Delectable thought, but it didn’t occur to me,” said Mannering, and his smile was even more relaxed. “I always thought Largent was too big for his boots, an unbearable snob and a peacock for vanity, but strictly honest. I still think he is.”

  “What on earth are you talking about?”

  “Honesty,” Mannering replied mildly. “There’s one thing that doesn’t fit in. Largent wouldn’t have wanted Hester Vane locked away in the suite where the stolen treasures were stored. I don’t believe he knew she was there. Only two people knew that – Rodney Horton, who wasn’t likely to talk, and I.”

  Lorna asked sharply: “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that I think Barry Horton would sacrifice Largent’s life and reputation to whitewash the memory of his son,” declared Mannering. “One good thing about the affair has been the way in which parents have wanted to protect their young! But the only possible reason for anyone to attack Guy was that the attackers had been recognised. The only reason to want Hester blamed for the murder was to give someone else, who had no alibi, a funk-hole. Rodney Horton is the only person who fits in everywhere. He was in the woods on the night of the murder. He was being blackmailed by Morgan, and wanted Morgan silenced. He was in the woods when Guy Vane was attacked. He knew Hester was alone in the Tower Room. He knew that I had a key, and arranged the attack on me – to kill me – and doubtless arranged for the key to be stolen. He knew that Hester, who was deeply in love with him, but would eventually realise that he had killed Morgan; it had to be one or the other, and it wasn’t her.”

  “John! If you knew—”

  “I didn’t know much in the beginning,” Mannering said, “but it became obvious once the real issues were made clear. Hester was standing in for Rodney, who was using her as a go-between for Morgan. And Rodney was quite prepared to leave her to die. I haven’t any doubt that he believed that if she were to die in the Tower, it would be taken for granted that she was the murderer. And—can you see the greatest cunning, sweet?”

  Lorna said: “Tell me.”

  “Rodney took a few of the precious things, fairly openly, and admitted it. But he also took much more, and hid that away. Clive Morgan didn’t know how big the thefts were – the amount of hush money he settled for proves that. Rodney was a much bigger rogue than anyone dreamed and we knew that he handled stolen jewels apart from his father’s. He knew all the great collectors, the men who would buy without a word, and hoard the objets d’art – he had only to pose as a frustrated, hard-done-by youth to get away with it. The police as well as Horton and everyone would be looking for a big shot behind Rodney – but none existed.”

  Lorna didn’t speak.

  “The ugly truth is that Rodney was robbing his father right and left, using the Tower suite as a kind of safe deposit, sneaking different treasures out one at a time, and selling them to these collectors. Morgan knew a little of that and began his blackmail. He threatened to tell Lord Horton, and Rodney had to kill him. Hester Vane had shielded him, but we know now how readily he sacrificed her, hoping to save his own skin.

  “The runner for Largent who gave evidence against Largent will have taken a bribe from Barry Horton, simply to save his family’s name. Largent was just an easy victim – who actually bought goods from Rodney in good faith. Horton took advantage of that situation.”

  Mannering stopped.

  Lorna said: “But the evidence against Largent will be overwhelming, darling. He actually had some of the Horton treasures. If you really think this is true, how are you going to prove it?”

  “I’m going to make Hester Vane tell the truth,” Mannering said. “When she knows that Rodney deliberately left her in that room to die, actually had Simms start the fire which was to finish her off quickly—”

  “Simms?”

  “Who else could it be? The valet who stole my key vanished, and still isn’t found,” murmured Mannering. “The valet who was there to spy on all my movements. The valet who had served Rodney for a long time. First the police want to find and then question Simms. If he doesn’t break down, I’ll tackle Hester.” He closed his eyes. “I would much rather Simms were made to talk, I’d rat
her Hester didn’t know what her lover tried to do.”

  “There isn’t a word of truth in it,” said Simms, who was caught in London that day. “I wasn’t well on the day of the fire, and just stayed in my room.”

  Two weeks later Mannering stepped out of the Rolls-Bentley outside the Vane bungalow. They knew that he was coming, and he saw the curtain move, but was not sure whether the mother or the daughter stood there. Guy was still in hospital, but out of danger. Lorna, who had driven the car, came and joined him in the porch. He could move without real discomfort, but had to move carefully. Before he rang the bell, the door opened and Michael Vane stood there.

  “Come in, Mrs. Mannering!” He looked eagerly at Mannering. “Mr. Mannering, this is the first chance we’ve had to tell you how deeply grateful we are to you. But for you, Hester wouldn’t be alive, and—”

  He broke off.

  Alicia Vane came hurrying from the kitchen; so the woman at the window had been her daughter.

  Alicia, trying not to let her emotion get the better of her, dabbed at her nose, and led the way into the front room. Hester Vane, completely recovered, was dressed in a slimly cut dress of pale green. She looked pale, but her eyes were very bright. She watched Mannering as if she were a little afraid of him, and her lips were unsteady when she greeted him.

  “I’ll never forget what I owe you,” she said. “For as long as I live, I’ll remember how right Guy was about you.”

  Mannering smiled as he gripped her hands. “I helped to get you into the trouble, I had to get you out of it,” he said. “Wouldn’t you feel the same?”

  She hesitated.

  “Of course you would,” Alicia Vane said.

  Mannering was looking closely into Hester’s eyes.

  “It isn’t always so easy,” he said. “In some ways it would be better if Rodney were alive, it would be easier to tell the truth then, wouldn’t it? Hester, Largent is awaiting trial. All the evidence is against him – including the evidence of your silence. Lord Horton means to preserve the memory of his son, and present him to the world as the victim of an unscrupulous criminal – of Largent.

  “But that isn’t the real Rodney, is it?

  “You believe he killed Clive Morgan, don’t you? You believed he attacked Guy.”

  “It isn’t true!” Hester cried, and there was desperation in her voice. “He didn’t kill them, Simms did. Simms was the real devil, Rodney had to do what he ordered. Simms was blackmailing him as well as Clive. That’s why I helped! It wasn’t Rodney, he was tricked and cheated by everyone. Even now, you’re trying to do the same to his memory.”

  The Vanes were standing very still.

  Mannering said: “Tricked and cheated, Hester? If Largent is sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the crimes, a part he didn’t commit, he’ll be tricked and cheated, and you’ll have to live with your share of guilt. Simms could go anywhere and do anything, remember. He could contact Morgan, and if he was so deeply involved, why were you needed?”

  Hester didn’t answer.

  “You were needed because Rodney had to have someone not concerned in crime to help him, someone innocent on whom to turn the police if anything went wrong. When Morgan began to press too hard and Rodney knew that he had to be killed, Rodney deliberately chose a time when you could be suspected, when you would be arrested. He was quite prepared to sacrifice you for his own ends. He hated his father and was prepared to sacrifice him, too. He used Simms, and anyone who might be helpful. You know that Rodney was simply an evil man, Hester. If you try to preserve the memory of a bad man, and if you condemn another to prison for life because of that memory, you will never be able to live with yourself.

  “And remember, Rodney locked you in the Tower Room, deliberately. He left you to die.

  “Don’t try to be loyal to him anymore, Hester.”

  He saw that she was crying.

  “Yes,” she said in a muffled voice, ten minutes later. “I was afraid that Rodney had killed Morgan. He was the only one near. But it was Simms who attacked Guy, I’m sure of that. It was Simms—”

  Later, Guy described one of his attackers precisely, and it was certainly Simms. Challenged by that, Simms made a full confession; that he and Rodney had worked this out together for years. He and another man, Largent’s runner, had attacked Guy because Guy had seen them among the trees, and crept after them, believing they were Morgan’s murderers.

  A week after that was established, the Mannerings were back in their Chelsea flat, and Hennessy came to see them. He was convalescent, but would be back on duty soon, and he looked bright and hale enough when in the room which overlooked the Thames.

  “No, I won’t have a drink,” he said. “My head still plays me up a bit. A cup of tea wouldn’t come amiss, Mrs. Mannering.” Lorna rang for the maid, and there was silence in the lovely room, with its Louis Quinze décor, its gilt and its greys and blues. When the girl had gone, Hennessy said: “I’ve just come from Scotland Yard, I had a few things to clear up there. They’re withdrawing the charge against Largent, offering no evidence. There’s no doubt that Horton knew what his son was doing, and saw a chance to involve Largent. He just wanted to whitewash his little brute of a son, and nearly got away with it.”

  “How about Simms?” Lorna asked.

  “He was in it up to the neck, as you suggested. Everything was pretty well as you reasoned, Mr. Mannering, I never thought I’d come to respect the lay mind so much!”

  Mannering grinned.

  “And I never thought I’d find a layman who could use nitroglycerine as expertly as a safebreaker,” Hennessy went on. “You wouldn’t care to tell me how you learned to handle the stuff, would you?”

  Mannering said promptly: “Of course. I once knew a man who …”

  Lorna was laughing at him over Hennessy’s shoulder as he went on with his vivid imaginary story. It did not matter at all whether Hennessy believed it or not.

  Series Information

  Published or to be published by

  House of Stratus

  Dates given are those of first publication

  Alternative titles in brackets

  ‘The Baron’ (47 titles) (writing as Anthony Morton)

  ‘Department ‘Z’’ (28 titles)

  ‘Dr. Palfrey Novels’ (34 titles)

  ‘Gideon of Scotland Yard’ (22 titles)

  ‘Inspector West’ (43 titles)

  ‘Sexton Blake’ (5 titles)

  ‘The Toff’ (59 titles)

  along with:

  The Masters of Bow Street

  This epic novel embraces the story of the Bow Street Runners and the Marine Police, forerunners of the modern police force, who were founded by novelist Henry Fielding in 1748. They were the earliest detective force operating from the courts to enforce the decisions of magistrates. John Creasey’s account also gives a fascinating insight into family life of the time and the struggle between crime and justice, and ends with the establishment of the Metropolitan Police after the passing of Peel’s Act in 1829.

  ‘The Baron’ Series

  These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

  Meet the Baron (The Man in the Blue Mask) (1937)

  The Baron Returns (The Return of the Blue Mask) (1937)

  The Baron Again (Salute Blue Mask) (1938)

  The Baron at Bay (Blue Mask at Bay) (1938)

  Alias the Baron (Alias Blue Mask) (1939)

  The Baron at Large (Challenge Blue Mask!) (1939)

  Versus the Baron (Blue Mask Strikes Again) (1940)

  Call for the Baron (Blue Mask Victorious) (1940)

  The Baron Comes Back (1943)

  A Case for the Baron (1945)

  Reward for the Baron (1945)

  Career for the Baron (1946)

  Blood Diamond (The Baron and the Beggar) (1947)

  Blame the Baron (1948)

  A Rope for the Baron (1948)

  Books for the Baron (1949)

  Cry f
or the Baron (1950)

  Trap the Baron (1950)

  Attack the Baron (1951)

  Shadow the Baron (1951)

  Warn the Baron (1952)

  The Baron Goes East (1953)

  The Baron in France (1953)

  Danger for the Baron (1953)

  The Baron Goes Fast (1954)

  Nest-Egg for the Baron (Deaf, Dumb and Blonde) (1954)

  Help from the Baron (1955)

  Hide the Baron (1956)

  The Double Frame (Frame the Baron) (1957)

  Blood Red (Red Eye for the Baron) (1958)

  If Anything Happens to Hester (Black for the Baron) (1959)

  Salute for the Baron (1960)

  The Baron Branches Out (A Branch for the Baron) (1961)

  The Baron and the Stolen Legacy (Bad for the Baron) (1962)

  A Sword for the Baron (The Baron and the Mogul Swords) (1963)

  The Baron on Board (The Mask of Sumi) (1964)

  The Baron and the Chinese Puzzle (1964)

  Sport for the Baron (1966)

  Affair for the Baron (1967)

  The Baron and the Missing Old Masters (1968)

  The Baron and the Unfinished Portrait (1969)

  Last Laugh for the Baron (1970)

  The Baron Goes A-Buying (1971)

  The Baron and the Arrogant Artist (1972)

  Burgle the Baron (1973)

  The Baron - King Maker (1975)

  Love for the Baron (1979)

  Doctor Palfrey Novels

  These Titles can be read as a series, or randomly as standalone novels

  Traitor’s Doom (1942)

  The Legion of the Lost (1943)

  The Valley of Fear (The Perilous Country) (1943)

  Dangerous Quest (1944)

  Death in the Rising Sun (1945)

  The Hounds of Vengeance (1945)

  Shadow of Doom (1946)

  The House of the Bears (1946)