‘I might indeed. Although I’ll be happy if this work takes a little longer. Mr Ramsden is paying me very well for it.’
‘That’s excellent news, Philip. Perhaps you could use the funds to buy some more books for your bookshelf?’ Augusta eyed the solitary book on it and smiled.
Chapter 15
‘I found this silver cufflink on the shop floor earlier,’ said Fred. He pulled it out of his pocket. ‘D. C. it says on it.’
He and Augusta sat in her workshop once the bookshop had closed for the day.
‘Let’s have a look.’ She peered at it. ‘It looks like a nice silver cufflink, too. D. C. What could those letters stand for?’
‘David Cartwright.’
‘Who’s he?’
‘I don’t know.’ Fred laughed. ‘I made it up.’
‘Well it could belong to someone with that name. We’ll keep it safe and I’m sure David will come back for it.’
‘I’ll put it in our lost property box behind the counter.’
‘Thank you. Now what did you find out about the accident between Alexander Miller and Arthur Connolly?
‘It happened in the summer of 1910,’ said Fred. ‘Mr Miller was returning home from an appointment in Finchley and was cycling down Regent’s Park Road. It was the stretch of road which runs downhill from Finchley railway station to the crossroads. Do you know it? Where Gravel Hill and East End Road meet Regent’s Park Road. The Queen’s Head public house is on the corner of East End Road and Regent’s Park Road.’
‘I don’t know the area well,’ said Augusta. Finchley was a parish north of London which had grown rapidly since the Victorian era. She estimated Alexander Miller could have cycled the route between there and Baker Street in under an hour.
‘I’ve been to Finchley a few times,’ said Fred. ‘So I can picture the location of the accident. It was a summer evening in June when Mr Miller collided with Mr Connolly who had just left the pub. It was about half-past eight and still light. The reports say the collision sent both men sprawling into the road. Mr Miller suffered a broken arm and cuts and bruises. Mr Connolly knocked his head on a kerbstone.’
‘Oh dear.’ Augusta winced.
‘They were both taken to the Hampstead General Hospital,’ said Fred. ‘Mr Miller was able to go home two days later, but Mr Connolly unfortunately died there from his injuries. He was fifty-one years old.’
‘How sad.’
‘I found reports of the inquest into Mr Connolly’s death,’ continued Fred. ‘Lots of witnesses were called, including Mr Connolly’s friends who he had been drinking with in the pub that day. They had gone to the pub after work and stayed there for three hours. Mr Connolly’s friends said he was under the influence of drink when he left the pub, having consumed between six and eight pints of beer.
‘A lady who was walking on the pavement at the time of the accident said she saw Mr Connolly leave the pub and she could tell from his unsteady gait that he had consumed a lot of drink. She said he looked up and down the road as if considering whether to cross it. But then staggered on a bit before actually stepping into the road. She said when he first looked up and down the road, there was no sign of Mr Miller. But about a minute later, she could see Mr Miller cycling down the road. He was moving fast because he was travelling downhill. The witness thought nothing more of it until Mr Connolly unexpectedly stepped out in front of Mr Miller. He hadn’t looked in Mr Miller’s direction at all. She said Mr Miller was going very fast and suggested he could have slowed his bicycle a little when he saw the pedestrian so close to the edge of the road.’
‘Did Alexander Miller give evidence?’ asked Augusta.
‘Yes. He said he hadn’t expected Mr Connolly to step out in front of him. He said he applied the brakes, but it was already too late. Apparently, there was nothing he could have done to avoid Mr Connolly. The lady witness said the accident happened so quickly that Mr Connolly probably hadn’t even realised what had happened. She helped both men immediately after the accident, as did some motorists and a few people who’d been on a passing tram. Mr Miller had injured his arm, but he was able to get to his feet. Mr Connolly’s condition concerned everyone because the accident had knocked him unconscious. An ambulance was called, and he was taken to the hospital. The doctors at the hospital did what they could for him, but sadly, he succumbed to the head injury. He never regained consciousness.’
‘How awful,’ said Augusta. ‘I’m astonished Mr Miller wasn’t more seriously hurt.’
‘The coroner ruled the death as an accident. He said it was quite apparent that Mr Connolly had not been paying due care and attention when attempting to cross the road. He said his judgement was impaired after drinking a significant amount of alcohol.’
‘An awful accident which you can only hope you never end up involved in yourself. There’s not a lot that can be done about it, is there? I can understand why the Connolly family were upset, but Alexander Miller doesn’t appear to have been at fault. Perhaps he was going a little too fast on his bicycle, and perhaps he should have paid more attention to the man who was stumbling around on the pavement near the pub. But even so, you don’t expect someone to step out in front of you like that. It could have happened to anyone travelling along that road, whether they were on a bicycle or in a motor car.’
‘I agree,’ said Fred.
‘But it makes you wonder, doesn’t it?’
‘Wonder what?’
‘If Alexander Miller’s disappearance could be connected to this accident.’
Chapter 16
‘I think it’s possible the two incidents could be connected,’ said Philip when Augusta discussed the Finchley accident with him the following morning.
‘Even though Alexander Miller disappeared a year after Mr Connolly’s death?’
‘Mrs Stanton told you the Connolly family had refused to accept Mr Connolly’s death was an accident. So we know they had a motive for harming Mr Miller. A year sounds like a long time, but it can take a lot of planning to make someone disappear. Imagine you wanted to make someone disappear, Augusta. How would you go about it?’
She thought for a moment. ‘I’m not sure.’
‘Exactly. You would need some time to come up with a plan, wouldn’t you? And once you had, you might also need some other people to help you. It could take time to convince them. And perhaps Mr Miller was watched for a while. The Connolly family could have observed his movements for some time before taking the opportunity to pounce.’
‘Abduct him, you mean?’
‘It’s a possibility. And if they abducted him, then it was clearly done well because no witnesses came forward.’
Augusta shuddered. ‘Abduction, then murder. That’s not a nice thought.’
‘No, it’s not. But if someone intent on revenge spent a year planning it, then they could have done a good job of it.’
‘It makes me wonder why the Connolly family wasn’t considered at the time.’
