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their backs, it transpired, the superintendent was lauding them.Leeming was annoyed that he was prepared to confide in a detective who was effectively on probation while saying nothing to the two people about whom he was talking. In Leeming’s view, Tallis was a different breed of dog. If Peebles was a tail-wagging retriever, the superintendent was a terrier barking incessantly at their heels.
    They were in Colbeck’s office and Peebles was diverted by some of the posters on the walls. They listed wanted criminals and the rewards that were on offer. He peered intently at them.
    ‘That’s one of the things I admire most about you and the inspector,’ he said, turning to face Leeming. ‘You never rely on informers or people in search of a reward. You solve your cases by hard work and deduction.’
    ‘It may be true up to a point,’ conceded Leeming. ‘I provide the hard work and the inspector supplies the deduction. But we take help from anyone we can. Inspector Colbeck is a great believer in picking up something useful wherever he can find it. He has a word for it.’
    ‘Serendipity.’
    ‘Yes, that’s right – serendipity.’
    ‘I think there’s far more to it than that,’ argued Peebles. ‘I’ve kept a scrapbook of your cases, you see. I cut out newspaper reports of them and paste them in. It’s taught me a lot about your methods.’
    Leeming was uneasy. ‘Has it?’
    ‘Look at that train robbery, for instance. You were so thorough. You dealt with the railway company, the post office, the Royal Mint, a bank in Birmingham, a lock manufacturer in the Black Country and you infiltrated theGreat Exhibition to make your first arrests.’ He grinned with frank adoration. ‘It was brilliant detective work.’
    ‘One thing led to another,’ explained Leeming.
    ‘You got through an immense amount of work between you.’
    ‘That’s certainly true.’
    ‘Then there was the severed head found on Crewe station.’
    ‘You don’t need to remind me of that.’
    ‘How on earth did Inspector Colbeck know that there was a connection with the forthcoming Derby? He even sailed off to Ireland at one point.’
    ‘He was acting on a sixth sense. It’s what he always does.’
    ‘Well, I don’t have that gift.’
    ‘Neither do I, Constable.’
    ‘The case that really intrigued me was the one that took you and the inspector to France. It all began when someone was killed on a train then hurled off the Sankey Viaduct. In fact—’
    ‘Let me stop you there,’ said Leeming, interrupting with both hands raised. ‘This may surprise you but we never look back at old investigations. We always have our hands full with new ones.’
    Peebles was astonished. ‘You don’t keep a scrapbook?’
    ‘It would never cross my mind.’
    ‘But you should have a record of your triumphs.’
    ‘I’m not that vain, Constable.’
    ‘I keep a list of every suspect I’ve questioned and every arrest I’ve made,’ said Peebles. ‘Not that I’ve handled thesort of complex cases that you and the inspector do, of course. I’m still a raw beginner.’ He rubbed his hands. ‘I can’t wait to join the hunt for Oxley and his accomplice. When we catch them,’ he went on, face shining and buck teeth aglow, ‘we’ll have wonderful press cuttings. If you don’t wish to record your successes, I’ll happily do so.’
    Leeming groaned inwardly. While they were involved in a difficult case, the last thing they needed was a self-appointed recording angel like Ian Peebles. Their every move would be enshrined in his scrapbook. It would make them far too self-conscious to do their job properly. Leeming was so alarmed at the prospect that he made a silent wish.
    ‘Come back soon, Inspector Colbeck – I need you.’
     
    Colbeck had never been in a cotton mill before and he found the noise deafening. Ambrose Holte, the mill owner, occupied a large, almost palatial office that was insulated against the pandemonium. When Colbeck explained why