ate the two men chatted over what they had learned so far from their visit to North Hill.
Tom was still not convinced that Horace Morgan was not implicated in some way in Kerensaâs murder and declared he intended finding out more about the estate stewardâs past. He agreed with Amos that it seemed unlikely he would have done anything to harm his baby son and pointed out they had no evidence that the baby had been harmed. At the moment he was merely missing.
The two policemen also decided there were flaws in the story given to them by the landlord of the inn where they were eating that his wife had gone away to have a baby. Both men were sceptical about his claim that he was unable to remember the address where his wife was staying.
âI might be able to find out where she is,â Tom said. âAlfie Kittow mentioned having received letters from his wife and any letter delivery man worthy of his calling will read the postmark on letters he carries. We know the local man was aware a letter he delivered to Horace Morgan came from the East India Company offices â he will probably remember the postmark on the letters Kittow received from his wife. That should help us.â
âGood thinking,â Amos said. âIf Kittow announces to all and sundry that his wife has had a baby boy and he gives up the Ring oâ Bells to go and join her, then no one will query it â but it could possibly explain the mystery of what has happened to baby Albert Morgan! A number of gaps remain to be filled in before we have any chance of making a case against him, but he is certainly very worried about something. Weâll go into it further, but not until we have spoken to both the men Alfie has told us about. Even if they have nothing to do with the case they might have their own ideas on why he has been so eager to divert attention from himself. There is also this gypsy, Jed Smith. We need to speak to him. He might be able to throw some light upon the disappearance of baby Albert, but I think we have a long way to go with this case yet, Tom.â
Chapter 8
R IDING BACK TOWARDS Bodmin across the moor later that day, Amos and Tom were talking of all they had learned to date. They were forced to admit they had made little real progress and, as yet, there was no single suspect. The afternoon had proved particularly frustrating as neither of the men mentioned by both Bessie Harris and the landlord of the Ring oâ Bells was at home.
As Alfie had informed them, George Kendall was working a double shift on the Notter Mine and Jowan Hodge and his wife had not been at home when they called.
It had become increasingly apparent that Kerensa had been altogether as promiscuous as they had been led to believe and, as a result, the list of possible suspects was growing instead of reducing, as they had hoped it would when they had ridden to North Hill earlier in the day.
âThere canât be many homes in the area where the man of the house isnât fearing heâll be next to have us knocking on the door,â Tom commented.
âNo, and most will no doubt behave much as Alfie Kittow did and try to divert attention from themselves by giving us even more names of men we will need to question.â
âDo you think Alfie had an affair with Kerensa Morgan?â Tom asked.
âHe certainly wasnât happy having us asking him so many questions, especially when we were inquiring about his wife. Bessie Harris believes his wife could have left him as a result of an affair with Kerensa and not because she was having a baby and wanted to be somewhere quieter than a busy and sometimes rowdy public house.â
âIf he wanted his wife back do you believe he might have been desperate enough to murder Kerensa to get her out of the way?â
âItâs possible and if he did he might â quite literally â have been able to kill two birds with one stone. He hinted he might give up the Ring
Tom was still not convinced that Horace Morgan was not implicated in some way in Kerensaâs murder and declared he intended finding out more about the estate stewardâs past. He agreed with Amos that it seemed unlikely he would have done anything to harm his baby son and pointed out they had no evidence that the baby had been harmed. At the moment he was merely missing.
The two policemen also decided there were flaws in the story given to them by the landlord of the inn where they were eating that his wife had gone away to have a baby. Both men were sceptical about his claim that he was unable to remember the address where his wife was staying.
âI might be able to find out where she is,â Tom said. âAlfie Kittow mentioned having received letters from his wife and any letter delivery man worthy of his calling will read the postmark on letters he carries. We know the local man was aware a letter he delivered to Horace Morgan came from the East India Company offices â he will probably remember the postmark on the letters Kittow received from his wife. That should help us.â
âGood thinking,â Amos said. âIf Kittow announces to all and sundry that his wife has had a baby boy and he gives up the Ring oâ Bells to go and join her, then no one will query it â but it could possibly explain the mystery of what has happened to baby Albert Morgan! A number of gaps remain to be filled in before we have any chance of making a case against him, but he is certainly very worried about something. Weâll go into it further, but not until we have spoken to both the men Alfie has told us about. Even if they have nothing to do with the case they might have their own ideas on why he has been so eager to divert attention from himself. There is also this gypsy, Jed Smith. We need to speak to him. He might be able to throw some light upon the disappearance of baby Albert, but I think we have a long way to go with this case yet, Tom.â
Chapter 8
R IDING BACK TOWARDS Bodmin across the moor later that day, Amos and Tom were talking of all they had learned to date. They were forced to admit they had made little real progress and, as yet, there was no single suspect. The afternoon had proved particularly frustrating as neither of the men mentioned by both Bessie Harris and the landlord of the Ring oâ Bells was at home.
As Alfie had informed them, George Kendall was working a double shift on the Notter Mine and Jowan Hodge and his wife had not been at home when they called.
It had become increasingly apparent that Kerensa had been altogether as promiscuous as they had been led to believe and, as a result, the list of possible suspects was growing instead of reducing, as they had hoped it would when they had ridden to North Hill earlier in the day.
âThere canât be many homes in the area where the man of the house isnât fearing heâll be next to have us knocking on the door,â Tom commented.
âNo, and most will no doubt behave much as Alfie Kittow did and try to divert attention from themselves by giving us even more names of men we will need to question.â
âDo you think Alfie had an affair with Kerensa Morgan?â Tom asked.
âHe certainly wasnât happy having us asking him so many questions, especially when we were inquiring about his wife. Bessie Harris believes his wife could have left him as a result of an affair with Kerensa and not because she was having a baby and wanted to be somewhere quieter than a busy and sometimes rowdy public house.â
âIf he wanted his wife back do you believe he might have been desperate enough to murder Kerensa to get her out of the way?â
âItâs possible and if he did he might â quite literally â have been able to kill two birds with one stone. He hinted he might give up the Ring
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