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Chapter 4: Clues & Deductions
Inspector Jaffe was back at the Royal Aeronautical Club in the Chairman's office. Sir George Carstairs was looking even more concerned than he had been when the two had previously met. He stubbed out the last of a large cigar and turned his back on the Inspector, staring disconsolately out of the window at the view across Hyde Park .
“It's almost inconceivable, Inspector.” Carstairs said. “Miss Addams was, is, one of our most long standing employees. I find it unbelievable that she could have been involved in this.”
“That's as may be, Sir,” Jaffe responded. “I'm afraid though that things look very much that way from what Ii have discovered so far. You said yourself that she had not been back to work since the robbery.”
“That's true, but I had told her to take a few days off to get over the shock of it all. Didn't really think that she would though – she'd never had a day off for the last six years.”
“So was that when she joined?”
“Yes, 1931, I remember it clearly – every one was busy celebrating the race. We'd just won the trophy outright you know – good heavens you don't think she was planning to steal it even then, do you?”
Jaffe pondered for a moment before answering. “No Sir George, I think that was probably a coincidence but she is very definitely our main suspect now.”
“Can you tell me how you reached this conclusion?”
“Of course, perhaps it may help you to recall some important detail. I was keen to talk to Miss Addams again – there were several points about her story that seemed odd – her obsession with rather trivial points, for example. Then there was all that business with the charts, …”
“She could be rather intense about her work, Inspector. I'm not sure I would have thought that odd at all.”
“Hmm, well that's as maybe. In any case I went around to her flat to talk to her again but could not contact her. According to her landlady, she had left the previous evening with two gentlemen that fitted the description of the two thieves that she had given us. Well I can tell you that seemed unusual to say the least. The landlady offered to show us the flat, so my Sergeant and I decided to have a look around. Needless to say there was no sign of Miss Addams but there was considerable evidence of a hasty departure. She had evidently packed a suitcase very quickly leaving other clothes strewn around the place. The clinching evidence of her involvement in the robbery is this.” Jaffe held out a crumpled, partly burnt, scrap of paper towards Carstairs. “Perhaps you can confirm my opinion as to what it is.”
Carstairs took the paper and, picking up a magnifying glass from his desk, peered at it. “I think I see what you mean, Inspector. It's from a chart - almost certainly from one of the charts that the thieves packed around the trophy. It's a corner from a North Atlantic chart. See - the latitude and longitude figures here would be just north of Ireland . It could be one of the charts that Alcock and Brown used for their crossing.– certainly they were missing after the robbery.”
“I thought so. You have confirmed my suspicions. I am afraid it looks as though Miss Addams conspired with the robbers and has now absconded with the trophy and her associates. They must have taken the trophy to her flat for safe keeping and have now fled.”
“But could there be other explanations, Inspector?”
“I don't think so Sir George. The robbery was evidently carefully planned. Miss Addams would have had every opportunity to do that. She seems to have left willingly and took the trouble to pack a suitcase and to find her passport, bank books and other papers. I could have possibly believed that this scrap of paper was carried in inadvertently by one of the thieves but we retrieved it from the fireplace. The rest was ashes. It looks as though they repacked the trophy and burned the packing that they didn't need. I can't imagine the thieves would have burst into her flat and started burning maps, that's not very likely is it?”
“Well no, Inspector, I suppose not. It still seems extraordinary to me. What can her motive have been? The trophy is quite valuable but it could never be sold, it's instantly recognisable.”
“I doubt that money will turn out to be the issue in this crime, Sir George. I suspect that the motive is more likely to be found in Miss Addams' obsessive behaviour.”
“Well it is all most concerning. The Club will be a laughing stock, Inspector, I have already had the Air Ministry asking if we should pass some other items from our collections and archives to the Science Museum for safe keeping. If it turns out that one of our own staff was to blame the consequences for the Club will be disastrous. What do you intend to do next?”
“Scotland Yard will be searching for Miss Addams. She's the only real suspect that we have. I'd like to get any information that you have about her background.”
“Of course, Inspector Jaffe, I'll do everything I can.”
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