There was never a chance to rest for any length of time at Scotland Yard. Demands on the detectives were continual. Whenever they tried to get their breath back, something always came up. Robert Colbeck and Victor Leeming were enjoying a brief chat together in the inspector’s office when an urgent summons came from the superintendent.

‘Can’t he find someone else to take charge of a case?’ complained Leeming. ‘The moment we sit down, he finds a reason to make us stand up again.’

‘Try to see it as a reward for our success.’

‘It’s unfair.’

‘I’d rather view it as a challenge,’ said Colbeck, getting up. ‘Each case has its individual character. That’s what makes our work so fascinating.’

‘Every investigation spells danger in one form or another,’ said Leeming, ruefully. ‘As I know to my cost. Also, it usually takes us a long way away from home. Doesn’t the superintendent realise there are such things as wives and children?’

‘Family life is an unknown country to him, Victor. Let’s find out what he wants.’

He led the way to the superintendent’s office and knocked politely before opening the door. Edward Tallis was seated behind his desk, studying a telegraph. He looked up at his visitors. Colbeck was as immaculately dressed as ever but Leeming was in a sorry state. Apart from his routine untidiness, he bore the scars of war. His face was bruised, he sported a black eye and there was a long, livid scratch down one cheek.

Tallis waved the telegraph in the air.

‘This is a cry for help from Captain Forrest,’ he said.

‘I’ve never heard of him,’ said Leeming.

‘Your ignorance comes as no surprise to me, Sergeant. Captain Forrest is the Chief Constable of the Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary. He is also a friend of mine,’ boasted Tallis. ‘We met at a military reunion. Like me, Forrest saw service in India. He and I talk the same language.’ He handed the telegraph to Colbeck. ‘A man was murdered last night on a train to Portsmouth.’

‘There are few details here, sir,’ said Colbeck, reading the message.

‘Then you must go to Winchester and find out the full story.’

‘Doesn’t the Hampshire Constabulary have its own detectives?’ asked Leeming.

‘The captain wanted the best man for the job,’ said Tallis, drily. ‘That’s why I’m sending Colbeck – and his assistant.’ Leeming squirmed. ‘What are you waiting for?’

‘Nothing, sir,’ said Colbeck. ‘We’ll leave immediately.’ He handed the telegraph back to Tallis. ‘Please excuse us.’

He led Leeming out of the room and closed the door behind them. Tallis sat back in his chair with an air of satisfaction. He had been able to help a friend in need and to guarantee that the crime would be solved. Reaching for his pen, he composed a reply to Captain Forrest.

‘Colbeck never fails …’

‘But only because I keep barking at his heels,’ he murmured.

They could not believe their luck. When their victim had been searched, they found rich pickings. The dead man not only had a wallet bulging with money – as well as a pocket watch and a gold wedding ring – he had been carrying an address book that contained the names of several women. Each one of them had a series of stars beside her name. They came to the same conclusion.

‘These are all conquests of his,’ said the man. ‘He’s kept a record of every time he’s shared a bed with them.’ He grinned. ‘You must admire his stamina.’

She grimaced. ‘I loathed the man on sight,’ she said. ‘I could see from the expression on his face that I’d aroused his interest. The moment I left the ticket office, he followed me onto the platform. What he didn’t know, of course, was that you were following him.’

‘I waited until the right moment then dived into the same compartment.’

‘Thank goodness! I’d hate to have been alone with that dreadful man.’

They were seated at the kitchen table in the house they had rented in Portsmouth. Spread out before them were the spoils from the previous night. He picked up the wedding ring.

‘I wonder if he took this off before he got into bed with his mistresses,’ he said.

‘He certainly kept it on when he tried to ravish me. He was like an animal.’

‘That’s why I had to kill him. I’m not having you mauled like that. Our other victims were different. In their cases, all I had to do was to pretend to wake up and they pulled away from you. It never occurred to them that you’d stolen their wallets while they embraced you.’ He laughed. ‘The beauty of it was that they couldn’t report the theft to the police because they would be asked about the circumstances in which they’d been robbed.’

‘They’d also have had to lie to their wives about how their wallets had gone astray.’

‘I don’t feel sorry for Blanchard’s wife,’ he said.

‘Neither do I.’

‘In killing her husband, we’ve done her a favour. She won’t see it that way, of course. Mrs Blanchard probably worships him. She doesn’t know that she was married to a shameless adulterer.’

‘What’s our next step?’ she asked, picking up the watch to examine it.

‘The first thing I must do is to put that naval uniform away for a while. I’m no longer a member of the Royal Navy. Then we must celebrate in some way. Giles Blanchard has been our benefactor. There was well over a hundred pounds in his wallet.’ He picked up the address book. ‘But this is the real treasure. The women who let him do what he wished to them are in for a very nasty surprise. They’ll not only be horrified by his death – they’ll discover that it’s going to cost them a lot of money.’

Captain John Forrest was alone in his office at the headquarters of the Hampshire Constabulary. Tall, slim, and sharp-featured, he looked younger than his sixty years. When there was a tap on his door, it opened to reveal a uniformed constable who led in two visitors before quietly departing. Colbeck introduced himself and Leeming. Though he was impressed by Colbeck’s demeanour, the chief constable’s attention was fixed on Leeming’s facial injuries.

‘You must excuse the sergeant’s appearance,’ said Colbeck. ‘During a recent investigation, he arrested two men after a lively tussle with them. The injuries they sustained were far worse than the ones before you.’

‘I commend your bravery, Sergeant Leeming,’ said Forrest.

‘Thank you, sir,’ muttered the other.

‘Not long before you arrived, a telegraph came from Superintendent Tallis. He assures me that, in asking for the pair of you, I have put the investigation in excellent hands.’

‘But why did you choose us?’ asked Colbeck. ‘Are there not able enough detectives in your own ranks?’

‘There are none with your reputation, Inspector. For a heinous crime committed on the railway, I felt that you needed to be involved. Fortunately, Superintendent Tallis and I are friends. I knew that he would answer my plea.’

‘He’s never answered any of mine,’ said Leeming under his breath.

‘What exactly happened?’ asked Colbeck.

Forrest indicated the chairs and his visitors sat down. The chief constable remained on his feet. He was far less intimidating than Edward Tallis. Forrest spoke to them quietly and respectfully.

‘Until an hour ago,’ he said, ‘all I knew was that a man had been strangled to death on the last train to Portsmouth. We had no idea of his name because whoever killed him had emptied his pockets. That seemed to be the motive for the murder.’

‘Have you learnt anything to make you question that assumption?’ asked Colbeck.

‘Judge for yourselves.’ Forrest waited while Leeming took out his notebook and pencil. ‘We now know that the victim was a Mr Giles Blanchard. He was travelling home to the Isle of Wight. When he failed to turn up, his wife became alarmed. She contacted the police early this morning. Mrs Blanchard was, as you can well imagine, panic-stricken.’

‘Where had her husband been?’ asked Leeming, looking up from his notebook.

‘He’d been to his club in Chichester – it’s called The Haven, for some reason. He told his wife that he expected to be home well before midnight. Mrs Blanchard didn’t sleep all night.’

‘That’s understandable,’ said Colbeck. ‘How was the murder...