Find the Lady

‘But it’s not a recent painting of the woman?’ Gawber said. ‘It can’t be.’

‘It isn’t. It’s just a close representation of her. The dress, the hat and the hairdo are the same as in the photo. You can’t see her feet. I guess the model would have worn elegant sandals, fashion of the day. The lack of lines on the face suggests she’s young … under twenty-five, whereas we are told by all the witnesses of Lady B that she is forty to sixty.’

‘I don’t understand, sir,’ Gawber said.

‘Nor do I,’ Ahmed added.

‘Join the club,’ Angel said. ‘What’s a picture of Lady blooming Blessington doing in Margaret Gaston’s bedroom?’

Gawber and Ahmed looked puzzled.

‘It’s a coincidence, sir,’ Gawber said. ‘It’s got to be.’

Ahmed nodded agreement.

Angel pursed his lips and shook his head.

Gawber remembered: Angel didn’t believe in coincidences.

CHAPTER NINE

There were about twenty uniformed and plainclothes women and men in the briefing room, chattering away to each other and sipping drinks out of paper cups. Each was in possession of an A4 computer-printed photo and description of Simon Spencer which Scrivens had handed to them on their arrival.

Angel arrived on the dot of 1600 hours carrying the print of the 1930s Lady of Leisure. Ahmed followed him in and closed the door. Gawber came up to him, they exchanged a few words and then Angel stepped up onto the dais.

All talking stopped and everybody looked attentively at him.

‘Two things I want to talk about briefly. Firstly, in co

He held up the framed print. ‘I am looking for a woman who looks something like this. We have witnesses who say that such a woman murdered the blind Mrs Prophet on Monday afternoon. Now I have been in touch with the publishers of this print. They sold many thousands of them when this sort of thing was popular in the sixties. They stopped selling this particular one in 1966. They don’t know who the original artist was, and the model is almost certainly dead by now having enjoyed a perfectly normal, boring life. The landlady at the flat where it was found said that it must have been left by a tenant many years ago. She can’t recall how long since. Nevertheless, I am given to understand that this is a fair representation of what the wanted woman actually looks like. The real life woman, I am told is older … between 40 and 60 years, and calls herself Lady Blessington, but our enquiries indicate that that name is false. But she is a murderer and confidence trickster of a very high calibre; therefore, be on the look out for her, she may strike again. Obviously, if you see anybody who looks like this let me know.’

He stopped, looked up the room and said: ‘Any questions on that?’

A voice at the front said: ‘If that’s a picture of what the murderer looks like now sir, how is it that … it was painted all that time ago?’

Angel licked his bottom lip. ‘I don’t know, John. I don’t know,’ he said quickly. ‘Just go along with me on this for the time being, will you?’

He observed a few murmurs of confusion and incredulity from several officers. ‘I can’t explain it,’ he added. ‘I only came across the thing today. I hope to clarify the matter in due course.’

He handed the print to Ahmed and indicated that he should stick it on the wall behind him.

A voice called out from the back. ‘I thought the murderer was thought to be Reynard, sir. Orange peel being found around the body and that…. Is there any mileage in that theory at all?’

‘At the moment, nothing is set in stone. Please keep your mind on finding Lady Blessington or whatever her real name is.’

There were a few more murmurs.

‘Can we move on?’ he said. ‘Now apropos the murder yesterday of Harry Harrison, aka Harry Henderson, inquiries have led us to believe that his murderer was possibly his partner in crime Simon Spencer, until recently an apparently respectable teller at the Northern Bank. The two of them worked a brazen fraud against the Smith family some of whom tragically perished in the tsunami in 2004. The two men co

Looks were exchanged among the officers.

He continued. ‘There are two entrances to the flat. There’s the front door that leads straight from the pavement on Mansion Hill into the ground floor. It is always locked and can only be opened by tapping in the combination, known only to the landlady and the tenants. And there is a side door which leads through to a small backyard where the waste bins are located. The ground floor consists of four flats, two utility rooms, the lift and the stairs. The side door is usually locked by two heavy bolts. I have arranged for the bolts to be removed, so that the door ca

A voice called out from the back.

‘Have you some specific intelligence that Spencer will show, sir?’

Angel frowned. ‘No. He may not show, of course. But two million pounds is a powerfully strong reason why he probably will.’

‘Is Spencer known to have any criminal associates, sir?’ another voice called out.

‘No. You mean … will he come alone? I believe this fraud was virtually his maiden job. He’s hardly had the opportunity to become a member of a gang.’