A Thief in the Night by Stephen Wade

another. Some were the usual – complaints about the dangers of Hyde Park at dusk. These middle-class upright types, they moaned all the time about drunks and people generally having a lark.
    But then he saw something different. It was a letter written in red ink and in capital letters, and it brought a shiver to his body, as it immediately made him think of Whitechapel just two years back. ‘Constable,’ he hollered, ‘get Detective Carney right now !’
    Carney was shouted for, and he came quickly, and he and Duff studied the words together in silence:

    TO CARNEY, OLD CHARMER
    I’M RIDDING THE WORLD OF POUFS, LIKE THAT ATIST
    DEJENERITS WILL DOOM US ALL
    JACK THE JOCKEY

    ‘Oh no, please, not again! It’s a Bedlam case, surely, Mr Duff?’ said Eddie.
    Duff shook his head and his double chin wobbled. ‘He knows about the painter, Sir. It’s not been in the press yet.’
    Carney was troubled. He took a few steps towards the window. From here he could see the Knightsbridge barracks. ‘Time for me to take a walk over there, Mr Duff. Could you have a note taken to the Septimus Club, please?’ He wrote a short message to Harry Lacey.

    At the barracks Carney asked to see the Commanding Officer and he was shown by the orderly to the officer’s room. As they walked along a long corridor, the orderly – a short, upright man, with a full moustache and greased hair parted down the middle – spoke abruptly. ‘You’re a detective Sir?’
    ‘Yes, based just over the park here.’
    ‘Hope some of the boys have not been thievin’ again Sir. It’s beneath a soldier to steal.’
    ‘Indeed, Mr, er …’
    ‘Corporal Dignan Sir, 3rd Battalion Grenadiers. Just back from Sudan, Sir.’
    ‘Oh, dangerous.’
    ‘Was for General Gordon, Sir. We let him down greatly. He was a saint, Sir. Now here’s Colonel Dacre.’ He opened a door, took a step forward, saluted, and announced Inspector Carney.
    The colonel stood up from behind his desk and shook hands with Eddie. ‘Take a seat Inspector. I think I know why you’re here … the incident the other night … the men can be on rather a short fuse when they’re back from active service.’
    He was youthful for a senior officer, moving animatedly, flapping his arms and making grand gestures.
    ‘No, it’s not about any drunken business Sir …’ Eddie said, sitting back in a chair and folding his greatcoat over one knee. ‘I want to ask you about something rather delicate. You will be reading about a murder in the evening paper, Sir, and I have to tell you, in confidence, that the suspect may be a trooper.’
    ‘Now, Inspector Carney, as you are fully aware, these impressive new barracks, they are not simply stone and mortar of the best quality … no, they are composed of flesh and blood as well, the cream of the British bloodstock in fact! Our men are the best. They may be involved in trivial scuffles from time to time, but they are not murderers …’
    ‘I always understood that you military men were … well, paid to kill.’
    ‘Ah, you’re being light and easy with me, Inspector. You know very well what I mean.’
    ‘The fact remains that soldiers have been seen on more than one occasion visiting the house where a young artist was murdered, just a short walk from here. Consequently I have to have a certain level of suspicion.’
    The colonel sat back and pressed his palms together. Eddie thought he was repressing an angry reaction. ‘Inspector Carney, my men pay visits to civilians on all kinds of occasions. Surely this artist chap had lots of other visitors?’
    ‘There were certain details at the crime scene which lead us to believe that the killer may have been a horseman.’
    ‘Hah! There you are … the park is streaming with people on horseback. My battalion is a cavalry one, yes, but they are surrounded by horsemen all the time! You appear to have no real evidence, Inspector Carney. Now, I do have rather a lot of paperwork to do …’
    ‘Very well.