Read Online Blood on the Line by Edward Marston - Free Book Online

father. Her gift had been generous but it would not last long. It would soon be wasted on drink and a few sordid nights with some of the whores who infested the area. Irene was disgusted at the thought, yet it did not stop her giving him the money in the first place. She’d salved her conscience and that was why she came.
    ‘Why don’t you write to me anymore?’ he asked.
    ‘I never have the time, Father.’
    ‘Well, I have plenty of time. Let me have your address and I can write to you instead.’
    ‘I’m not allowed to have letters.’
    He was indignant. ‘Not even from your father? What sort of hard-hearted employers do you work for, Irene? They’ve no right to stop you having letters.’
    ‘I have to go,’ she said, planting a token kiss on his cheek. ‘I don’t want to miss my train.’
    ‘But you’ve only been here a few minutes,’ he complained.
    ‘I’ll stay longer next time.’
    And before he could stop her, she let herself out and hurried off down the street. Crime had helped her to escape from Manchester and to give her a surface respectability.Yet a visit to her father plunged her back into the city’s most notorious area of vice, lawlessness and grinding poverty. Irene did not belong there. She was destined for a better life with the man she loved. While she was still disturbed by the thought of shooting someone, she was quick to see its benefit. It had earned her Oxley’s respect and love. In pulling the trigger, she had passed a kind of test. They were kindred spirits now.
     
    The quality that most irritated Leeming about their new recruit was his willingness. Ian Peebles was like a dog, eager to do anything that might please his owner. Had the sergeant thrown a stick, he was sure that the Scotsman would fetch it for him.
    ‘What can I do, Sergeant Leeming?’ asked Peebles.
    ‘For the moment, you can just watch and wait.’
    ‘The superintendent explained the background to the case and I read the reports in this morning’s newspapers. According to one of them, Jeremy Oxley is a will-o’-the-wisp .’
    ‘Don’t believe everything you read in the press, Constable. They are often unjustly critical of us. Above all else, don’t talk to any journalists. They’ll twist your words to their own advantage.’
    ‘Och, man, I found that out when I was in uniform.’
    ‘Where were you based?’
    ‘In K Division at first,’ said Peebles. ‘That’s in Barking. It’s a very rough district. I was later moved to A Division.’
    Leeming was impressed. ‘That’s Hyde Park PoliceStation,’ he noted. ‘We’d all like to have worked there. It was a kind of promotion for you. What did you do to earn it?’
    ‘I made one or two significant arrests,’ said Peebles, modestly. ‘I enjoyed my time in A Division, then I was recommended for the Detective Department.’
    ‘You were lucky,’ said Leeming. ‘My days in uniform were spent in the worst parts of London, the kinds of places where police are very unpopular.’
    Peebles stood to attention. ‘I didn’t join the police in search of popularity,’ he declared as if taking an oath. ‘All that matters to me is that we sweep the streets clean of villainy. London is the greatest city in the world. It deserves to be purged of crime.’
    ‘You’ve been listening to Superintendent Tallis.’
    ‘I think he’s an inspiration – don’t you?’
    ‘In some ways,’ said Leeming, hiding his true feelings.
    ‘But then the same could be said of you and Inspector Colbeck.’
    ‘We do our job to the best of our ability, no more, no less.’
    ‘The superintendent told me that you’re his best men.’
    ‘Really?’
    It was a surprise to Leeming, who got a continuous string of complaints from Tallis, often couched in unflattering language. It was the same for Colbeck. There was an underlying tension between the superintendent and him that prevented Tallis from giving anything but the most reluctant praise to the Railway Detective. Yet behind