up a piece of the tab that was still attached to the dress and my hunch paid off. It’s a Cash label. You must have seen them. Little white tabs with the individual’s name woven in red. People buy them for schoolchildren or students going away to college.’
Miller nodded. ‘Thousands of people, including my sister-in-law. Her two kids have them sewn into just about every damned thing they own. Is that all?’
‘No – one other thing. When we checked the nail scrapings we discovered a minute quantity of oil paint. There were one or two spots on the dress, too.’
‘An artist?’ Miller said. ‘That’s something.’
‘Don’t be too certain. Lots of people do a little painting these days.’ Henry Wade grinned and slapped him on the shoulder. ‘You shouldn’t have joined, Nick lad. You shouldn’t have joined.’
Grant was still working away at his desk when Miller peered round the door. ‘Got a minute?’
‘Just about.’ Grant sat back and lit a cigarette. ‘How’s it going?’
‘So far, not so good, but it was something else I wanted to mention. What do you know about a man called Vernon?’
‘Max Vernon, the bloke from London who took over Faulkner’s casino and betting shops?’ Grant shrugged. ‘Not much. The Chief introduced him to me at the Conservative Ball. Obviously a gentleman. Public school and all that sort of thing.’
‘Right down to his Old Etonian tie.’ Miller suppressed a strong desire to burst into laughter. ‘He’s leaning on Chuck Lazer.’
‘He’s what?’ Grant said incredulously.
‘It’s true enough,’ Miller said. ‘I was chatting to Lazer in the Square outside his place when Vernon turned up with a couple of heavies named Carver and Stratton. No comic Vaudeville act those two, believe me. Vernon wants a piece of the Berkley Club. He’ll pay for it of course, all nice and legal, but Chuck Lazer better play ball or else …’
Grant was a different man as he flicked one of the switches on his intercom. ‘Records? Get on to C.R.O. in London at once. I want everything they’ve got on Max Vernon and two men now working for him called Carver and Stratton. Top priority.’
He turned back to Miller. ‘What happened?’
‘Nothing much. Vernon didn’t say anything in the slightest way incriminating. On the face of it, he’s making a perfectly legitimate business offer.’
‘Did he know who you were?’
‘Not until Lazer introduced us.’
Grant got up and walked to the window. ‘I don’t like the sound of this at all.’
‘It certainly raises interesting possibilities,’ Miller said. ‘Those houses Faulkner was running in Gascoigne Square. His call-girl racket. Has Vernon taken those over too?’
‘An intriguing thought.’ Grant sighed heavily. ‘It never rains but it pours. Try and look in this afternoon at about three. I should have heard from C.R.O. by then.’
When Miller went back into the main C.I.D. room a young P.C. was hovering beside his desk. ‘I took a message for you while you were in with the super, sergeant.’
‘Who from?’
‘Jack Brady. He said he was ringing from St Gemma’s Roman Catholic Church in Walthamgate. He’d like you to join him there as soon as you can.’
‘Anything else?’
‘Yes – he said to tell you that he thinks he’s traced the girl.’
The lights in the little church were very dim and down by the altar the candles flickered and the figure of the Virgin in the chapel to one side seemed to float there in the darkness.
For Miller, this was unfamiliar territory and he paused, waiting as Jack Brady dipped a knee, crossing himself reverently. The man they had come to see knelt in prayer at the altar and when he got to his feet and came towards them, Miller saw that he was very old, the hair silvery in the subdued light.
Brady made the introductions. ‘Father Ryan, this is Detective Sergeant Nick Miller.’
The old man smiled and took Miller’s hand in a grip that was surprisingly firm. ‘Jack and I are old friends, sergeant. For fifteen years or more he ran the boxing team for me at the Dockside Mission boys’ club. Shall we sit in the porch? A pity to miss the sunshine. It’s been a hard winter.’
Brady opened the door and Father Ryan preceded them. He sat on the polished wooden bench that over-looked the quiet graveyard with the row of cypress trees lining the road beyond the high wall.
‘I understand you might be able to help us with our enquiry, Father,’ Miller said.
The old man nodded. ‘Could I see the photo again?’
Miller passed it across and for a moment there was silence as Father Ryan examined it. He sighed heavily. ‘Poor girl. Poor wee girl.’
‘You know her?’
‘She called herself Joanna Martin.’
‘Called herself …?’
‘That’s right. I don’t think it was her real name.’
‘Might I ask why?’
Father Ryan smiled faintly. ‘Like you, I deal with people, sergeant. Human beings in the raw. Let’s say one develops an instinct.’
Miller nodded. ‘I know what you mean.’
‘She first came to my church about three months ago. I noticed something different about her at once. This is a twilight area, most of the houses in multiple occupation, the tenants constantly coming and going. Joanna was obviously the product of a safer more ordered world. She was out of her element.’
‘Can you tell us where she lived?’
‘She had a room with a Mrs Kilroy, a parishioner of mine. It’s not far from here. I’ve given Detective Constable Brady the address.’
Somehow, the fact that he had used Brady’s official title seemed to underline a new formality in the interchange. It was as if he were preparing himself for the question that he knew must come.
‘I know this must be a difficult situation for you, Father,’ Miller said gently. ‘But this girl had problems and they must have been pretty desperate to make her take the way out that she did. Can you throw any light on them?’
Brady cleared his throat awkwardly and shuffled his feet. The old man shook his head. ‘For me, the secrecy of the confessional must be absolute. Surely you must be aware of that, sergeant.’
Miller nodded. ‘Of course, Father. I won’t press you any further. You’ve already helped us a great deal.’
Father Ryan stood up and held out his hand. ‘If I can help in any other way, don’t hesitate to get in touch.’
