Accuse the Toff by John Creasey

much better, beamed at him.
    â€˜As a matter of fact, Bill, things have turned up and this and that has happened. You ought to know about most of it but before I go into that will you say “Yes” or “No” if some names I mention mean anything to you?’
    Grice nodded, eyeing the Toff suspiciously, saying clearly but without words that he wondered what particular joke the other was about to spring.
    â€˜Thanks,’ said Rollison. ‘Brett, Christian name not known.’
    â€˜I know several Bretts,’ Grice told him.
    â€˜This one is oldish and has recently started on, or is about to start on, a journey with a business mission to America.’
    He had not expected to get much reaction from the Superintendent by the mere utterance of names but it seemed to him the best way of making sure that the names meant nothing to the police. Had he expected to create a sensation he could not have been more satisfied for the usually placid policeman started up in his chair then actually jumped to his feet.
    â€˜ That Brett!’
    â€˜So I’m told,’ said Rollison mildly. ‘So it rings a bell.’
    â€˜Where the deuce did you get hold of Lancelot Brett’s name?’ demanded Grice more quietly, resuming his chair and giving the impression that he wished he had not revealed such feeling. ‘ He can’t be concerned with the Jameson business. What else are you on?’
    â€˜Just the Jameson business.’
    Grice ran a hand over his thin brown hair as Rollison continued: ‘Does Brett mean so much?’
    â€˜We-ell,’ said Grice quietly, ‘he’s consulted us several times and to put it bluntly he’s been a confounded nuisance.’ Grice, a man who rarely used epithets, relied on emphasis for effect and obtained it then. ‘He thought at one time that his life was in danger and asked for police protection. We gave it to him. Nothing happened. He pretended that several things did but his statements were at variance with our men’s who were watching him all the time. He pitched one ripe yarn about being pushed off a bridge at Maidenhead. He was under survey when he crossed the bridge and all he did was to walk over it and stand looking down at the Thames for five minutes.’
    â€˜Well, well,’ commented Rollison. ‘A persecution complex.’
    â€˜It wouldn’t have mattered so much in another man,’ said Grice. ‘We would have referred him to a psychiatrist and left it at that. But Brett is an expert in commercial economics; he has one of the clearest business brains in the country. Being a consultant to the Ministry of Supply, we had to nurse him. He left for the States by air three days ago and I haven’t been so relieved to see the back of anyone in my life. Now—’ Grice paused to consider and added with feeling: ‘You’re trying to tell me that he’s mixed up in the Jameson business. Come on, what do you know?’
    â€˜Wait a minute,’ urged Rollison. ‘Brett caused a sensation; let’s see if we can find a little earthquake as a savoury. Peveril—does Peveril mean anything to you?’
    Grice pursed his lips.
    â€˜No-o,’ he said.
    â€˜That isn’t convincing,’ said Rollison.
    â€˜I have heard the name,’ said Grice, ‘but I don’t remember in what connection. It’s a Cornish name, isn’t it? He reflected for a while and then shook his head. ‘It doesn’t mean anything but I’ve heard it lately.’
    â€˜It could have been in l’affaire Brett,’ suggested the Toff.
    â€˜Or a hundred-and-one other jobs,’ said Grice.
    â€˜All right, please yourself. Lancing?’
    â€˜A town in Sussex,’ said Grice.
    â€˜Now the police are being clever,’ murmured Rollison, ‘and they’re never so unbearable as then. This time it’s a girl named Lancing. I’ve only met her casually,’