Chapter Forty-six

MURDOCH COULDN’T SAY he was really surprised. Once he was confident that Pugh was not Enid’s suitor, he suspected the man was also doing a little investigating of his own. He assumed he was a genuine reporter getting ready to write something sensational when Harry was hung.

“Good morning to you, Mr. Murdoch. No hard feelings, I hope?”

“About what?” asked Brackenreid.

“A little contest that Mr. Murdoch and I engaged in. I assure you, sir, the secret is all a matter of physics. I use your weight against you by actually pushing downward on the stick.”

“I for one have no idea what you’re talking about, Mr. Pugh, but let’s get to the matter at hand, shall we?” He scowled at Murdoch as if he were the one meandering. Scowling at Murdoch, however, was his typical expression.

“I sent for you because Mr. Pugh here has brought a most grave matter to my attention.” He brushed some ash from the front of his jacket. “I realise that you are, er, under some duress as it were, but I felt nevertheless it was imperative we clarify some things. You have been trespassing, Murdoch, and I’d like to know why.”

“I do not know what you are referring to, Inspector.”

Whether it was Murdoch’s tone of voice or memories of previous encounters, Brackenreid seemed to think it prudent to turn toward Pugh.

“Perhaps you could explain.”

“Certainly. Mr. Murdoch, I have to confess I have not been altogether honest with you.” He grinned. “But then we were both masquerading under false pretenses, weren’t we, Mr. Williams?”

Murdoch nodded, waiting. Pugh cleared his throat. “Yes, well, the point is, you see, that I am not a book salesman as I have been pretending to be. Like you, I am a detective, a private one with the Hoskin Agency. You may have heard of us?”

“Yes, I have.”

Murdoch did not add that much of what he had heard had not enhanced the agency’s reputation.

Pugh took a leather folder from his jacket pocket and removed two bills.

“Mr. Murdoch, take a look at these two-dollar notes. One is genuine; one is counterfeit. Can you tell me which is which?” He held them in front of him, ever the showman.

Murdoch moved closer. The bills both had portraits of the Marquis and Marchioness of Lansdowne on the front, and both were creased and grubby. He chose the dirtier one.

“This one is counterfeit.”

Pugh couldn’t quite hide his chagrin. “Yes, well done. But you must admit you had to study them carefully. It was not immediately obvious that it is a forgery. In the normal business of commerce, it would pass unnoticed. They are the work of truly expert engravers.” He replaced the notes in the folder. “For the past year, I have been employed by Mr. Cockburn of the Dominion Bank. They have become aware of a steady increase of counterfeit money, all two-dollar bills, circulating in the city. As you can imagine, it is a very difficult task to trace the source of queer money as it can pass through literally a dozen hands before being detected. However, I have finally discovered what I believe has been a primary source of distribution. In other words the engravers themselves. I was on the verge of making an arrest when my birds were flushed. Phit! Scared away by a wily fox who was poaching on my land, as it were. All my work for nought.”

Again he paused, his cigar held aloft. Murdoch shrugged.

“Mr. Pugh, you are an excellent magician, but perhaps it has affected your ability to be direct. I do not know what in Hades you are talking about.”

Pugh smiled, not offended by these hot words. “Quite right, Mr. Murdoch. Circumlocution becomes ingrained. To the point then. What I want to say is that this summer past I had narrowed down my search. I won’t bore you with the details of how I followed my trail; suffice it to say I ended up at the Manchester tavern….”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Why so, Mr. Murdoch?”

“Vince Newcombe is no queer pusher.”

“I must admit he does appear to be a jolly, well-meaning sort of fellow, but come sir, as a police officer you know how money can tempt the most honourable men to mischief.”

“Where would he print them? Unless it’s remarkably well hidden, he doesn’t have a press.”

“You race ahead of me, sir.”

Brackenreid interrupted. “Let him tell his story, Murdoch. You’d do well to listen closely.”

Murdoch would have liked to have sat down. While the other two were seated, he felt like a naughty schoolboy being reprimanded. Pugh must have become aware of this discomfort because he stood up and walked over to the window. Leaning against the sill, he drew on his cigar.

“I will admit for a while I did not know if the bills were coming from his tavern because of the turnover of money that takes place there, or if he was more directly responsible. Mr. Newcombe, as you are aware, on occasion runs betting matches. He pretends they are friendly contests for sport only, but of course that is not the case. Money is wagered, and therefore many notes are passed among the Fancy. In August I got myself a dog so I could participate in the match, and I made a careful record of what money was passed along by what person. As it turned out, my suspicions were quite justified. Delaney had in his possession eleven two-dollar bills of which eight were queer.”

He turned around but his back was to the light, throwing him into shadow so that his expression was inscrutable.

“Not counting myself, only two other people had passed along bills of two-dollar denomination. I had marked all the money I myself exchanged, so it was a simple matter to determine where the false currency had come from.”

He couldn’t resist a short pause before his denouement. Murdoch did not accommodate him and kept his expression indifferent.

Pugh continued. “In a word, James Craig contributed five bills and his father three. All were counterfeit. As you may know, the Craigs make their living publishing pamphlets and broadsheets. They therefore had access to a printing press. I kept them under close observation from that time on and soon determined that the appearance of queer money seemed to coincide with father and son working late hours in their printing shed. Yes, Mr. Murdoch, I know what you are going to say. Not proof enough by any means. I needed to catch them red-handed with the engraving plates in their possession. Then I could make an arrest. A big feather in my cap, as I’m sure you can understand. However, before I could proceed any further, they were scared off. Poof! Gone! Miss Craig will not or cannot give any indication of their whereabouts.”

He returned to his seat. “I discovered that you, sir, were neither a reporter nor another private detective but an officer from this station. My guess is that the Craigs also got wind that you were a police detective and went into hiding because they assumed you were onto them.”

“What the hell have you been doing, Murdoch?” interjected Brackenreid. “You are supposed to be on compassionate leave, not chasing around the country, poaching.”

“I was not poaching, as you call it, sir. I have had no inkling of what Mr. Pugh is pursuing. I did accidentally encounter the Craig lad, however. He has been up before the magistrate before. He called himself Carey then and he was in court on a charge of seduction. I was in the courtroom that day. I didn’t think he recognised me, but he must have.”

“How unfortunate. Actually, Murdoch, Mr. Pugh here is offering to do us, this station, a favour. He feels he is not ready to make an arrest, and he does not want to reveal his incognito.” He turned to Pugh. “You believe that Miss Craig is becoming quite attached to you, and you wish to cultivate that friendship, isn’t that so?”

Pugh nodded, rather shamefaced.

“He has done all the hard work, and we can just capitalise on it. Suit both of us. We’ll get some much-needed public approval, and Mr. Pugh here will receive his just wages.”

“I am not sure what you are implying, sir,” said Murdoch.

“Quite simple. Mr. Pugh is proposing we search the Craig house. If we find the engraving plates, we take credit. If we don’t, Mr. Pugh is still not unmasked and can go on with his investigation.”

Brackenreid opened his drawer and took out some notepaper. “I’m going to draw up an order. The sooner you get on to it the better.”

He started to scrawl on the page. Pugh remained at the window.

“By the way, Murdoch,” said the inspector, “if you weren’t barging in where you shouldn’t, what were you doing? Why did you give out a false name? Mr. Pugh said you were pretending to be some kind of reporter.”

Before Murdoch could answer, Pugh jumped in. The mood between them had changed quite suddenly. Pugh was no longer behaving as if they were competitors in the race for the golden apples thrown down by the Dominion Bank. In fact, he now seemed anxious to end the interview.

“Inspector Brackenreid, I am quite satisfied that Mr. Murdoch was not following the same trail after all. I can quite understand his circumstances. We can let it rest.”

Murdoch sensed how fidgety the other man had become, and with a sense of shock, he realised why. He actually took a step in Pugh’s direction.

“You took money off Delaney’s body, didn’t you?”

“I beg pardon, sir.”

“There was money missing, part of his winnings: twenty-two dollars. You took them when you found his body.”

“Murdoch, what’s the matter with you? What are you blethering about?” spluttered Brackenreid.

Murdoch whirled around. “You asked what I was up to, sir. Well, I was conducting an investigation of my own. I wanted to make absolutely sure that my father was guilty of the crime he is to hang for.”

“Good Lord, Murdoch. Have you lost your mind? What are you talking about?”

“Didn’t Mr. Pugh tell you? My father, Harry Murdoch, was convicted of killing John Delaney directly after the betting match Pugh referred to. He is due to be hung in two days’ time.” He turned round to face Pugh, who backed off a few steps. “The fact that money was missing was used to support the guilty charge against Harry. It was assumed he had stolen it. Yet another nail in his coffin. Why didn’t you come forward and say that was not the case? That you had taken it?”

Pugh looked down at his boots. “It wasn’t relevant.”

“I’m tired of people saying that. Isn’t a jury supposed to decide what is or is not relevant? Isn’t that what our bloody justice system is all about?”

“Now, now, Murdoch,” said Brackenreid, “calm yourself. Please realise this is the first time I have heard of your situation. It is most unusual to say the least.”

“I realise that, sir. But this man here actually withheld information that might have made a difference to the outcome of the trial.”

Brackenreid could be an irascible Napoleon of a man, but he retained some pride in his job as a police officer. He frowned now at Pugh.

“Is this true, sir? What Mr. Murdoch is accusing you of?”

“I assure you, I answered honestly the questions put to me at the trial.” Pugh tried to meet Murdoch’s eyes with only partial success. “I am sorry for your situation, but your father bashed Delaney and that’s the truth.”

“Is it? Are you God, Mr. Pugh, as well as a magician? Can you see into his heart with such certainty?”

“Please contain yourself, Murdoch. Mr. Pugh, is it true that you removed money from the body of this Mr. Delaney?”

Pugh shrugged and, for the first time, his jovial entertainer’s mask slipped. “Inspector, I have been pursuing this investigation for more than a year. I have spent untold hours on this case. I needed to check on those bills. I had no idea that it would come up at the trial.”

“But when it did, you said nothing.”

“Mr. Murdoch is understandably overwrought, but I tell you sincerely the matter of the missing money was small compared to the rest of the evidence, which was quite conclusive.”

“Nevertheless, we must in conscience bring this to the attention of the court.”

“If you do, we stand to lose every advantage we have.”

Brackenreid leaned back in his chair. “I believe you mean that you yourself will lose the advantage.”

“Will you deny me the search then?”

“Counterfeiting is a serious crime. I have every intention of following up on the information you have given me. However, this other matter must take precedence.”

Murdoch could hardly believe what he was hearing. If he’d had a different relationship with his inspector, he would have jumped forward at that moment and shaken his hand.

Brackenreid actually gave him a kind look. “Mr. Murdoch, I suggest you go at once and apprise the warden of this meeting. I will myself come over directly and speak to him in person. Mr. Pugh, if you would be so good as to remain here, I would like to hear from you the events of that evening. I will write it down.”

Pugh looked as if he were contemplating doing a bunk, but he thought better of it. He reached into his pocket and casually brought out a silver dollar and began to twist it through his fingers.

“Of course, Inspector.”

“Thank you, sir,” said Murdoch, and not trusting himself to stay near Pugh any longer, he left and hurried down to the station hall.

Seymour saw the expression on his face. “Will, what happened? You’re white as a ghost.”

Murdoch could hear himself panting as if he’d run a long distance. “I can’t tell you right now.”

He started to head for the door when the sergeant called to him.

“Hold on a minute. You’ve forgotten your package.”

He hurried around the desk and handed it over to Murdoch.

“Will …,” he started to say, but Murdoch took the parcel, grabbed his coat from the rack, and practically ran. With a desperation he could hardly bear, he knew he needed to speak to his father.