The inspector gave an amused snort. ‘You’re expecting me to remember that far back?’
‘No. But I’m wondering if there’s anything in your records about his disappearance. Apparently his friend, John, spoke to the police about it.’
‘Doesn’t ring any bells with me.’
Augusta tried her best to remain patient. ‘Perhaps it could be looked up in your records?’
‘Now?’
Augusta glanced around the empty reception area. ‘It doesn’t look very busy here at the moment. Is it possible to look now?’
‘At the moment it doesn’t look busy. But those doors can fling open at any moment with some ruffian being marched in by my officers. It’s all hands on deck when that happens.’
‘Are your old files and logbooks easily accessed?’ asked Augusta.
‘They’re stored out the back.’
‘So it would take ten minutes to look up the records for July 1911?’
He blew out a sigh from beneath his grey moustache. ‘Ten minutes? More like twenty.’ He turned to the desk sergeant. ‘See what you can find for her, Bellingham.’
Two minutes later, the desk sergeant was leafing through a logbook for July 1911. ‘Miller?’ he said. ‘There’s an entry here.’
‘Let me see.’ Inspector Whitman pulled the logbook across the counter. ‘Where? Oh yes. There we are. You’re lucky we found it so quickly, Mrs Peel. Looks like a chap by the name of John Gibson came in here on the seventeenth of July and reported Alexander Miller to be missing.’
‘Did anything come of it?’
‘I don’t know. I’m just reading out what’s written in the logbook.’
‘Perhaps there’s a file which relates to this entry?’
The inspector sighed and nodded at the desk sergeant who went off again. The file he returned with was thin.
‘What does it say in there then, Bellingham?’ asked the inspector.
The desk sergeant leafed through some sheets of paper. ‘Looks like a Constable Harris visited Alexander Miller’s flat and had to break in to gain entry. There was no sign of the resident inside. A search was carried out for him but he wasn’t found.’
Inspector Whitman turned to Augusta. ‘Does that answer your question, Mrs Peel?’
‘Sort of. If Alexander Miller had been subsequently found, would there be a note about it in the file?’
‘There should be. If the constable did his paperwork properly. I recall Harris was usually good with that sort of thing.’
‘Where’s Constable Harris now?’
‘Now? I don’t know. He left the Metropolitan Police to work in the country somewhere. London was clearly too much for him.’ He chuckled.
‘Are there any other entries in the logbook for Alexander Miller?’ asked Augusta. ‘Perhaps other people reported him missing too?’
‘Now hold on, Mrs Peel. We haven’t got all day to entertain you, you know. Like I said, those doors could fling open at any moment.’
‘Do you mind looking for the first few weeks of July? That’s all I ask and then I’ll leave you in peace.’
‘Well if you’re promising to leave us in peace… go on Bellingham.’ He pushed the logbook back to the desk sergeant. ‘Have a look at the rest of July.’
Augusta watched the desk sergeant turn the pages.
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘There’s another entry here.’
The inspector pulled the logbook towards him. ‘The sixth of July,’ he said. ‘Alexander Miller reported missing by Mrs Jane Stanton.’
‘Does the record say who she was?’ asked Augusta.
‘Mr Miller’s sister.’
‘So she reported her brother missing eleven days before John Gibson. Was anything done then?’
‘It’s difficult to say, Mrs Peel. This was ten years ago. All we’ve got to go on are a few pieces of paper in a file. If Mrs Stanton reported her brother missing on the sixth of July, then I don’t think a great deal would have been done about it at the time. He’d only been missing a few days then. The chap could have taken himself off for a few days somewhere and it would have been a waste of our time looking for him. Your expression suggests to me I’m speaking harshly, Mrs Peel. But let me assure you we get these missing person reports on a regular basis. And most of the time the person turns up somewhere safe and well. Usually they’ve forgotten to tell family and friends that they were going off somewhere for a few days. So when Mrs Stanton came in, our officers wouldn’t have been unduly worried. A search was clearly carried out for Mr Miller after he was reported missing the second time. As far as I can see, Mrs Peel, we did our job as well as we could.’
‘Did Mrs Stanton leave an address?’
‘We’re not in the habit of disclosing private addresses, Mrs Peel.’
‘Even when it was ten years ago?’
Inspector Whitman sighed. ‘Very well. Give her the address, Bellingham.’
Chapter 7
