‘It must have been very difficult for everyone.’
‘It was. Then a week after the inquest, Mr Connolly’s brother called on Alexander and said some very hurtful things to him.’
‘Oh dear,’ said Augusta. ‘Did he threaten him?’
‘Probably. I’m not sure exactly what he said. Alexander didn’t like talking about it because it upset him. The Connolly family said Alexander should be tried for murder. They kept calling him a murderer. Well that just wasn’t the truth at all. So it was all very unpleasant.
‘Alexander was absolutely distraught about the accident. He struggled to cope with the fact that he had accidentally ended someone’s life.’
‘So the Connolly family had a motive for harming your brother,’ said Augusta.
‘Yes. But I don’t think I’ve ever seriously thought they could have been behind his disappearance. And besides, none of them would have been able to type a letter pretending to be from him. They were barely literate.’
‘The letter was posted in Birmingham,’ said Constable Simpson. ‘But the sender of this letter claimed Mr Miller had moved up north. Birmingham isn’t north, it’s in the Midlands.’
‘Yes, I know,’ said Mrs Stanton.
‘So it begs the question why this letter was posted in Birmingham,’ said the constable. ‘Birmingham is close enough to London that someone could have travelled by train there, posted this letter, then returned to London within the same day.’
‘Are you thinking the sender of this letter could have been from London and tried to disguise that fact by posting the letter from Birmingham?’ Augusta asked.
‘Yes I am thinking that. And it supports Mrs Stanton’s idea that the letter is a forgery. If Mr Miller really had sent it because he had moved up north, then you would have expected it to have been posted up north.’
‘But where does all this talk get us?’ said Mrs Stanton with a sigh. ‘Nowhere. Ten years have passed since the letter was written.’
‘The passage of time can be useful,’ said Augusta. ‘Perhaps someone has made a confession to someone else during that time. I believe that at least one person knew what happened to Alexander. What if more people know now?’
‘If they do, they’re not exactly volunteering the information are they?’ said Mrs Stanton.
‘With your permission, Mrs Stanton, I would like to keep hold of this letter,’ said Constable Simpson. ‘I’m quite convinced your brother didn’t write it. I shall speak to my superiors about it. I can’t promise that a full investigation will be carried out again, but I’ll do what I can.’
‘Fine. Do what you will.’ She gave him a dismissive wave.
The gesture angered Augusta. Constable Simpson was keen and doing his best to help. But Jane Stanton’s indifference was bordering on rudeness. Was it her usual nature, or did she have something to hide?
Chapter 12
‘Sparky, you look more handsome every time I see you,’ said Lady Hereford. ‘You’re ageing remarkably well.’
She fed the canary some seed as she sat in her bath chair by the counter in Augusta’s shop. Sparky belonged to Lady Hereford, but Augusta looked after him for her.
‘How old is Sparky?’ asked Augusta.
‘Now there’s a question. I acquired him as my husband’s health began to decline. I think he must be five years old now. Equivalent to a fifty-year-old person.’
‘Really?’
‘I can’t be completely sure. I think canaries can live ten or twelve years. Perhaps he’s more like a forty-year-old. Either way, he’s looking wonderful for it.’
‘He is.’
‘Now tell me what you’ve been up to, Augusta.’
‘Just the usual things. Running the shop. With Fred’s help, of course.’ She gave Fred a smile. ‘And I found an old letter.’
‘An old letter?’
‘There’s an article in the Daily London News today which explains it all,’ said Fred.
‘You’re in the newspaper again, Augusta?’ asked Lady Hereford.
‘I’m mentioned in a couple of sentences, but thankfully that’s all. They wanted to take my photograph, but I refused.’
‘You refused? If I’d been asked, then I’d have happily had my photograph in the newspaper! You’re too modest, Augusta. So what’s so interesting about the old letter you found?’
‘I’ll summarise the news article for you, Lady Hereford,’ said Fred. ‘The headline reads, “Long Lost Letter Reopens The Case Of The Missing Man.”’
‘Goodness. Who’s the missing man?’
‘Alexander Miller,’ said Fred. ‘The article here says Mrs Louisa Bradshaw was surprised to receive a letter which had originally been sent to her ten years ago. The letter was found in a copy of The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells which had found its way into a second-hand bookshop belonging to Mrs Augusta Peel. When Mrs Peel found the letter inside the book, she decided to return it to its original recipient.’
‘What a good idea, Augusta!’ said Lady Hereford.
‘Mrs Bradshaw said she was delighted to see the letter again and couldn’t remember putting it in the book,’ continued Fred. ‘However, she recalled lending the book to a friend during the war. The book was then found in a box of books left anonymously outside Mrs Peel’s shop last week. Mrs Bradshaw said the letter described a mystery. It was written by her late brother, John Gibson, who wrote about the disappearance of his friend Alexander Miller. Mr Miller was twenty-five and worked as a clerk in the accounts department at the Great Western Railway’s headquarters at Paddington station. He was last seen at his place of work on 1st July 1911. He had been due to go on a cycling excursion with Mr Gibson the following weekend but didn’t turn up.
‘Mrs Bradshaw says her brother made some attempts to find his friend, but he tragically lost his life in an accident at Baker Street tube station in November 1911.
‘Alexander Miller’s sister, Jane Stanton, lives with her husband in her brother’s former flat on Baker Street. She says she received a letter which had supposedly been written by her brother a few weeks after he vanished. The letter claimed he had moved to the north to start a new life. Mrs Stanton believes the letter was a forgery and hadn’t been written by her brother.’
