The description sounded remarkably like Fisher. What was the man doing drawing attention to himself like that?
‘Did you speak to him?’ he asked.
‘Oh yes. I couldn’t thank him enough. I offered him some money, but he wouldn’t take it. We had quite a chat together afterwards.’
‘Is that so? He sounds like a helpful gentleman indeed. Did you catch his name?’
‘Albert Clark.’
At least the private detective had not been foolish enough to tell Charlotte his real name. But he was supposed to be secretly following her, not making himself obvious by coming to her aid in her hour of need. The saving grace was he had rescued Charlotte’s precious handbag.
‘I’m very pleased for you, my dear,’ he said. ‘It sounds like the fellow did an outstanding job.’
‘I only wish he would have accepted a reward for it. But he was too gallant, I suppose. And quite handsome too.’
Anthony scraped his soup bowl noisily with his spoon. What was the use of employing a private detective to follow his wife about if she was going to be charmed by his looks and gallantry?
‘I thought you’d be a little more pleased for me,’ said Charlotte.
‘I am pleased! And it’s reassuring to know these handsome chaps are around to look after our wives when we’re not there to do it ourselves.’
She laughed. ‘If I didn’t know you better, I’d say you were a little bit jealous, Anthony.’
‘Jealous? Of a man with a walking stick sitting about in a Lyons Corner House? Don’t be ridiculous, Charlotte.’
Chapter 33
‘I’ve found an address in the directory for a J Campbell in Wimbledon,’ said Fred the next morning. ‘It could be Jeffrey Campbell, the husband of Jemima Campbell, who worked with Miller and Gibson.’
‘Thank you, Fred. It sounds like it could be them,’ said Augusta. ‘I’ll pay Jemima Campbell a visit later today. Hopefully, she might tell me what happened between the two friends. I read a few more of John Gibson’s letters last night, but he didn’t mention Jemima in them.’
‘Perhaps Miller believed what Gibson had told him about the boyfriend and that put an end to the conflict.’
‘It’s possible. Hopefully Jemima will tell me if they fell out with each other.’
A movement outside the window caught Augusta’s eye. It was the same man who had peered in through the window a few days previously. He wore a flat cap, and a cigarette was stuck to his lip.
‘Him again,’ said Augusta.
‘Who?’ said Fred.
‘I’m going to find out.’
As Augusta walked to the door, the man sauntered away. She left the shop and caught up with him outside in the street.
‘Can I help you?’ she said.
He wore a grubby shirt with no collar and his sleeves were rolled up, revealing muscular forearms.
‘Maybe you can.’ He pulled the cigarette from his lip and grinned, revealing a few remaining teeth. ‘You paid a visit to my sister-in-law, Mary Connolly,’ he said.
‘Yes, I did.’
‘My name’s Tom Connolly. I’m Arthur’s brother.’
Augusta realised this was the man who had paid Miller a visit. ‘My condolences to you, Mr Connolly,’ she said. ‘I imagine your family has suffered enormously since the accident.’
‘Yes, we have. And it didn’t help that we didn’t get any justice. But now I’ve learned Alexander Miller went missing. So maybe there was some justice in the end.’ He raised a finger at her. ‘But I don’t see why you need to go bothering us about this. Miller needs to be forgotten about.’
‘I can understand why you have strong feelings about Mr Miller.’
‘Strong feelings? We hated the man. But don’t start getting any ideas about that.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘We had nothing to do with him vanishing, if that’s what you’re thinking. I know we’re easy people to point a finger at.’
‘I’m not suggesting you had anything to do with it.’
‘The police will think it. It doesn’t take much for them to arrest us for something. It always happens to our family.’
‘I’m not accusing your family of anything, Mr Connolly.’
‘No? So why did you call on Mary? You asked her if any of us had seen Miller after the accident.’
‘Because I heard from Miller’s sister that you visited him.’
‘From the way you were asking Mary questions, it sounds like you suspect I’ve done more than that.’
