‘Joe and I may not need to get anywhere near the town itself.’

‘All the same,’ she said, nervously, ‘I don’t like it.’

‘We can’t let them get away with it, Ellen.’

‘Well, no …’

‘Think how you’d feel if Alice had been assaulted like that,’ he suggested. ‘You’d want me to pursue them to the ends of the earth.’ Giving her a hug, he kissed the chevron of anxiety on her brow. ‘Don’t worry, love. I did go to France once before in pursuit of a criminal, remember, and I didn’t know a word of French that time. I’ll be a lot better prepared now.’

‘Can’t you send someone else?’

‘It’s my responsibility. The commissioner put me in charge of this case, so this is not something I feel that I can delegate.’

‘Why can’t Joe Keedy go there by himself?’

‘One detective can’t arrest two suspects,’ said Marmion, ‘and he certainly couldn’t bring them back alone. When they realise the sentence they’re facing, they’ll seize any chance to escape.’

‘In that case, you could be in danger.’

‘Stop getting so upset, love. You’ve never been like this before.’

‘You’ve never been to Belgium before.’

He spread his arms. ‘It’s not an ideal situation, I grant you, but I want these two men behind bars. I’ll do whatever it takes to put them there. It’s all part of the inquiry into the looting and burning of Mr Stein’s shop.’

Ellen made no reply. She took a close interest in her husband’s work and — though he kept any unpleasant details to himself — he found it helpful to use her as a sounding board. As a rule, she simply listened and made a few comments on what she’d been told about an investigation. This time, however, she was raising objections.

‘When will you go?’ she asked.

‘We have to wait for clearance first. Sir Edward is taking care of that. It could take a day or two.’

‘And will you and Joe be entirely on your own?’

‘Hardly,’ he told her. ‘We’ll cross the Channel on a troopship. We’ll probably have the protection of a battalion or two of infantry. There’s certain to be reinforcements and supplies going to the front.’

‘Will you travel with them in France?’

‘Yes — we’ll have bodyguards all the way, love.’

She was mollified. ‘Oh, well, that sounds a little better.’

‘The pity is that I won’t get a chance to see Paul while I’m there,’ he said, ‘but his regiment is somewhere near the Somme. We won’t exactly be on a pleasure trip, so we can’t just move around at will. It’s a shame — I’d love to see our son again.’

‘I’d love you to make sure that he’s safe and well.’

Paul Marmion had been part of a collective enlistment. When it was announced that those who signed up together would serve together, groups of young men had rushed to the recruitment centres. Paul played for a football team that had volunteered as a complete unit. Knowing that their son was among friends gave Marmion and his wife a degree of reassurance at first. However, as the lists of British casualties on the Western Front steadily lengthened, they had serious concerns for Paul’s safety.

Ellen stood up and Marmion embraced her again. It had been a long day but he had got home in time for the evening meal. The sound of bubbling hot water took his wife into the kitchen to turn down the gas underneath a saucepan. Marmion followed her and sniffed.

‘Something smells tasty.’

‘It’ll be another ten minutes yet,’ she warned him. ‘Tell me about the rest of the investigation. Have you made any progress?’

‘We think so. Joe Keedy interviewed three suspects and got two more names of people who were there at the time. He went off earlier to arrest both of them. I’ll be interested to hear what he managed to winkle out of the pair.’

‘Have you caught the man who started the fire?’

‘There were two, apparently. Witnesses talk of seeing smoke not long after the looting began. Then a second man emptied a can of petrol at the rear of the shop and — boom — the fire really blazed.’

‘It’s such an appalling thing to do.’

‘We’ll get him eventually,’ he said, determinedly. ‘We managed to find the garage where he bought the petrol and the owner remembered him well enough to give us a good description of him. It tallies with what some of the others told us. I issued the description to the press when I made a statement about the murder. That will be tomorrow’s headline.’

‘What about the rape?’

‘We’re keeping quiet about that, Ellen. It’s what the family wants. They also want the body, of course. I had Mr Stein’s rabbi hassling me this afternoon.’

‘When can it be released?’

‘Later this evening, with luck,’ he said. ‘The post-mortem is almost complete. It’s been given top priority.’ He heard a door open upstairs. Feet then descended the stairs. ‘Here comes Alice.’

‘She’s been marking books up in her room.’

‘Has she said anything else about the WEC?’

‘Not a word, Harvey.’

‘Then I won’t bring it up.’ He turned to greet his daughter as she came into the kitchen. ‘Hello, teacher — how are you?’

‘Very well, Inspector,’ she replied, turning a cheek to accept a welcoming kiss from him. ‘You’re back earlier than usual.’

‘Is that a complaint?’

‘No, Daddy, it’s quite the reverse. It’s a nice surprise.’

‘Your father has to go to France,’ said Ellen.

Alice blanched. ‘Going to France in the middle of a war?’

‘It’s all part of the investigation,’ he said.

Marmion gave her a brief explanation. Pleased that the two men accused of rape were being pursued, she was naturally worried about her father’s safety. He did his best to allay her fears.

‘What if they’re actually fighting at the front?’ she asked.

‘I think that’s unlikely,’ he replied. ‘They only set sail today. However, if they are in the trenches when we get there, Joe and I will have to put on a helmet and go in search of them.’ He laughed at the expressions of horror on their faces. ‘I was only joking.’

‘That kind of joke is not funny,’ chided Ellen. ‘I worry about Paul every day. Now I’ll have you to worry about as well.’

‘So Joe Keedy is going with you, is he?’ said Alice.

‘I couldn’t stop him. You know Joe. He loves action.’

‘Make sure you bring him back in one piece.’

‘He can look after himself, I promise you.’

Alice pondered. ‘What are your chances of getting a conviction?’

‘Why do you ask that?’

‘Well,’ she said, seriously, ‘we all know how difficult it is to get a successful prosecution for rape. It’s one of the reasons some women won’t even report the crime.’

‘That’s a fair point,’ he remarked.

‘It would be a terrible shame for you to go to all that trouble to arrest these two men, only to see them walk scot-free from court.’

‘That won’t happen, Alice.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘No,’ he admitted. ‘When a case goes to court, you can never be one hundred per cent certain of the outcome. Juries have minds of their own. They sometimes come up with unexpected verdicts.’

‘That could happen in this case,’ said Ellen, siding with her daughter. ‘Don’t misunderstand me. What those two men did was dreadful and they should be imprisoned for it. I’m just thinking how it would look in court. On one side, you’ve got two soldiers, fighting for their country and putting their lives at risk. On the other, you’ve got a teenage girl who’s bound to be a bundle of nerves. It will be her word against theirs.’

‘Are you suggesting that we don’t bother to go to France?’

‘No, Harvey, I’m just saying that it could be a waste of time.’

‘We won’t simply be arresting them for what they did to Ruth Stein,’ Marmion pointed out. ‘Several other crimes were committed. We’ll want to question them about their possible involvement in the attack on the shop. They may have a lot to answer for.’

‘I never thought of that.’

‘Mummy’s comment is very apt,’ Alice reflected. ‘What will happen in court? Everything turns on the evidence of the victim. To be cross-examined about what the attackers did to her would be a humiliating experience for any woman. How will this girl stand up to it?’