‘I’m sorry, Charlie,’ he said, ‘I’ve got to go.’

Redfern was nonplussed. ‘But I need you here.’

‘I’ll explain later.’

Running to the door, Hambridge let himself out.

When they’d driven Gerald Ablatt back home, he told them that his sister was a very nervous woman and that her husband needed to be present when they divulged the terrible news to her. Accordingly, Marmion and Keedy made their way to a forge in Bethnal Green. In central London, the detectives were used to seeing a large number of cars, vans, lorries and buses chugging along. Here, however, horse-drawn vehicles were in the majority and Jack Dalley’s livelihood was secure. As Marmion entered the forge, the blacksmith was hammering the last nail into a horseshoe. His customer paid the money owed and led the horse out. Dalley gave Marmion a smile of welcome. He was a brawny man with a gnarled face and dark-green eyes.

‘I don’t mend cars, sir,’ he said, politely.

‘Are you Jack Dalley?’ asked Marmion.

‘That’s me, sir — who wants to know?’

Marmion introduced himself and explained, as gently as he could, why he was there. When he heard that his nephew had been murdered, Dalley was shocked and sympathetic. He tore off his leather apron at once and hung it on a nail.

‘Perce!’ he called to his assistant.

‘Yes?’ replied the man.

‘Take over here. I’ve got to go.’

‘What’s the trouble, Jack?’

‘I’ll tell you later.’

Percy Fry looked mystified. He’d just fitted a rim to a cartwheel and was testing his handiwork. Fry was a sinewy man of middle height with receding hair and wrinkles that made him seem much older than his fifty years. As he watched his employer getting into the police car, he scratched his head.

On the journey to his house, Dalley pressed for details but there was little that the detectives could tell him. The blacksmith had fond memories of the victim.

‘Cyril was a good lad,’ he said. ‘When he was a boy, he loved to hang about the forge and hold horses while I shoed them. There was a time when I thought about taking him on as an apprentice but Gerald was against it. He wanted his son to have a job where he could look smart and not get dirty. But I’d have taught him a real trade. Handing out books all day was beneath him.’ His lip curled. ‘It’s the kind of work a woman could do.’

‘They’ve been doing most things since the war started,’ said Keedy, ‘and doing them as well as men. The inspector’s daughter is a case in point. She was a qualified teacher but she gave it up to learn to drive so that she could help with the war effort. And there are thousands like her.’

‘I’m not sure I hold with that.’

‘It’s one of the necessities of war.’

‘Yes,’ said Marmion, heading off a potential argument, ‘but that’s not the issue at stake at the moment. What I’d like to hear is what sort of a nephew Cyril Ablatt was. Did you see much of him, Mr Dalley?’

‘He called in from time to time,’ said the blacksmith, ‘and we had tea there on a Sunday every so often.’

‘Did he ever mention any enemies he had?’

‘No, Inspector, though he was never going to be popular, what with those strange ideas he had. I disagreed with Cyril but I tried not to have a row with him for my wife’s sake. Nancy hates family quarrels.’

‘His father said that he didn’t have a young lady.’

‘He always claimed that he didn’t have time,’ recalled Dalley, ‘but I think there was another reason. Cyril talked too much. Girls don’t like that. Nora — that’s my eldest — went out with him once. She said that she couldn’t shut him up. He didn’t want female company — just an audience.’

‘It seems that he spent all his time reading in his bedroom.’

‘That’s not right and it’s not healthy. If he’d been my son, I’d have burnt those books and told him to act normal. Mind you,’ he added, ruefully, ‘if I’d been his father, he’d be fighting for his country right now.’

‘Would you have forced him against his will?’ asked Keedy.

Dalley was blunt. ‘I’d have got him into army uniform somehow.’

When they reached the blacksmith’s house, they saw a more tender side of him. He asked them to wait outside while he told his wife what had happened. He felt that the blow would be slightly softer if it came from him. The detectives stayed in the car and looked at the small, squat, unpretentious house. Its one feature of note was a wrought-iron gate that gave access to the tiny front garden.

‘I reckon that Dalley made that,’ said Marmion.

‘Why doesn’t he live over the forge?’ asked Keedy. ‘It’s a fair old way for him to go every day. It’d be much easier if he lived on the premises. Apart from anything else, he’d be able to keep an eye on the place. There must be some expensive tools and equipment in the forge.’

‘There is, Joe. I’m sure he has a reason to live here.’

‘I’d be interested to know what it is.’

‘Then you’ll have to ask him.’

‘What did you make of Dalley?’

‘He’s something of a gentle giant.’

‘I don’t think he’d be all that gentle if you got on the wrong side of him.’

‘We met him at a vulnerable time,’ Marmion reminded him. ‘His emotions are bound to be a bit raw. He was really shaken when I told him the news.’

‘Yes,’ said Keedy, reflectively. ‘That’s the trouble with murder. It wounds so many people. It reaches out to family, then friends, then mere acquaintances. Dalley won’t be allowed to forget it. When the story gets into the newspapers, every customer at his forge will want to ask about his nephew.’

‘Each time it will be as if someone is twisting the knife anew.’

‘Does anyone ever get over the violent death of a loved one?’

‘I doubt it, Joe.’

The wait was much longer than anticipated. It was light now and there were more people around, setting off to work or coming out to wonder why a car was standing outside the Dalley house. It was half an hour before the couple appeared. The blacksmith was still in his working clothes but his wife, Nancy, was wrapped up in a thick coat with a tippet around her shoulders and a feathered hat. Dalley more or less carried her to the car and it was apparent that she was too grief-stricken to say anything. The detectives expressed their condolences then remained silent during the journey to the Ablatt house. When they got there,their passengers got out, went to the front door and knocked. Gerald Ablatt appeared and his sister flung herself into his arms. He ushered her inside. Dalley came briefly back to the car.

‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘We’re grateful for the lift.’

‘We’ll be in touch, sir,’ said Marmion. ‘Before we go, however, the sergeant has something to ask you.’

Keedy took his cue. ‘I wondered why you didn’t live over the forge, sir, that’s all. It would save you going to and fro all the time.’

‘We used to live there,’ explained Dalley, ‘but it’s not the cleanest place to bring up a family. When my parents died, they left me the house where you took me earlier. We moved into it four or five years ago. As for the forge,’ he went on, ‘my assistant lives there. Percy and his missus look after the place for me. I take the rent out of his wages.’ He pursed his lips. ‘He’ll have to manage on his own for a long while now. I’m needed here.’

Turning on his heel, he went into the house and shut the door behind him. The car set off and rounded the corner, giving them a clear view of the slogans and taunts painted crudely on the side wall. It was evident that the anonymous artist was burning with hatred for Cyril Ablatt.

‘Do you think someone will be back with a paintbrush?’ asked Keedy.

‘Not as long as Dalley is here,’ replied Marmion. ‘They wouldn’t dare.’

Running the bakery involved the whole family. Gordon Leach’s mother worked in the shop with the help of his sister. Having done his stint of baking, Leach had to go off on the first of his delivery rounds. The horse stood patiently between the shafts while he loaded the bread into the back of the cart. Still warm, it was wrapped in tissue paper. When the job was complete, he clambered into the cart and was about to set off. Then he saw the animated figure of Fred Hambridge coming towards him. He climbed out immediately.