The Sins of the Father

'No, thank you.'

'A wise decision, ma'am,' he said as he placed his mug on the table, lit his cigarette and sat down. 'So, how can I help?'

'I understand that you were one of the detectives who arrested my fiance.'

'What's his name?

'Thomas Bradshaw.'

She was right. The look, the voice, the demeanour, everything about him changed. 'Yes, I was. And I can tell you, ma'am, it was an open and shut case until Sefton Jelks became involved.'

'But the case never came to trial,' Emma reminded him.

'Only because Bradshaw had Jelks as his lawyer. If that guy had defended Pontius Pilate, he would have convinced the jury that he was simply assisting a young carpenter who wanted to buy some nails for a cross he was working on.'

'Are you suggesting that Jelks - '

'No,' said Kolowski sarcastically before Emma could finish her sentence. 'I always thought it was a coincidence that the DA was coming up for re-election that year, and some of Jelks's clients were among his biggest campaign contributors. Anyway,' he continued after exhaling a long cloud of smoke, 'Bradshaw ended up getting six years for desertion, when the precinct's sweepstakes had him down for eighteen months  -  two years tops.'

'What are you suggesting?' asked Emma.

'That the judge accepted Bradshaw was guilty  - ' Kolowski paused and blew out another cloud of smoke before adding  -  'of murder.'

'I agree with you and the judge,' said Emma. 'Tom Bradshaw probably was guilty of murder.' Kolowski looked surprised. 'But did the man you arrested ever tell you that you'd made a mistake, and that he wasn't Tom Bradshaw, but Harry Clifton?'

The detective gave Emma a closer look, and thought for a moment. 'He did say something like that early on, but Jelks must have told him that it wouldn't fly, because he never mentioned it again.'

'Would you be interested, Mr Kolowski, if I was able to prove that it would fly?'

'No, ma'am,' said Kolowski firmly. 'That case was closed a long time ago. Your fiance is doin' six years for a crime he pleaded guilty to, and I've got too much work on my desk  -  ' he placed a hand on a stack of files  -  'to be reopening old wounds. Now, unless you got anything else I can help you with . . .'

'Will they allow me to visit Tom at Lavenham?'

'I can't see why not,' said Kolowski. 'Write to the warden. He'll send you a visiting order. After you've filled it in and sent it back, they'll give you a date. It shouldn't take more than six to eight weeks.'

'But I haven't got six weeks,' protested Emma. 'I need to return to England in a couple of weeks' time. Isn't there anything I can do to speed up the process?'

'That's only possible on compassionate grounds,' said the detective, 'and that's limited to wives and parents.'

'What about the mother of the prisoner's child?' countered Emma.

'In New York, ma'am, that gives you the same rights as a wife, as long as you can prove it.'

Emma produced two photos from her handbag, one of Sebastian and one of Harry standing on the deck of the Kansas Star.

'That's good enough for me,' said Kolowski handing back the picture of Harry without commenting. 'If you promise to leave me in peace I'll speak to the warden and see if anything can be done.'

'Thank you,' said Emma.

'How do I reach you?'

'I'm staying at the Mayflower Hotel.'

'I'll be in touch,' said Kolowski, making a note. 'But I don't want you to be in any doubt, ma'am, that Tom Bradshaw killed his brother. I'm sure of it.'

'And I don't want you to be in any doubt, officer, that the man locked up in Lavenham is not Tom Bradshaw. I'm sure of that.' Emma placed the photographs back in her bag and rose to leave.

A frown appeared on the detective's face as she walked out of the room.

Emma returned to her hotel, undressed and went straight back to bed. She lay awake wondering if Kolowski might be having second thoughts about whether he'd arrested the right man. She still couldn't work out why Jelks had allowed Harry to be sentenced to six years, when it would have been so easy for him to prove that Harry wasn't Tom Bradshaw.

She finally fell asleep, grateful not to be woken by any nocturnal visitors.

The Sins of the Father

The phone rang when she was in the bathroom, but by the time she'd picked it up, there was only a dial tone.

The second call came just as she was closing the door of her room on her way down to breakfast. She dashed back inside and grabbed the phone, to hear a voice she recognized on the other end of the line.

'Good morning, Officer Kolowski,' she replied.

'The news isn't good,' said the detective, who didn't deal in small talk. She collapsed on to the bed, fearing the worst. 'I spoke to the warden of Lavenham just before I came off duty, and he told me that Bradshaw has made it clear he doesn't want any visitors, no exceptions. It seems that Mr Jelks has issued an order that he's not even to be informed when someone asks to see him.'

'Couldn't you try to get a message to him somehow?' begged Emma. 'I'm sure that if he knew it was me - '

'Not a hope, lady,' said Kolowski. 'You have no idea how far Jelks's tentacles reach.'

'He can overrule a prison warden?'

'A prison warden is small fry. The DA and half the judges in New York are under his thumb. Just don't tell anyone I said so.'

The line went dead.

Emma didn't know how much time had passed before she heard a knock on the door. Who could it possibly be? The door opened and a friendly face peered in.

'Can I clean the room, miss?' asked a woman pushing a trolley.

'I'll only be a couple of minutes,' said Emma. She checked her watch and was surprised to find it was ten past ten. She needed to clear her head before she could consider her next move, and decided to take a long walk in Central Park.

She strolled around the park before making a decision. The time had come to visit her great-aunt and seek her advice about what she should do next.

Emma headed off in the direction of 64th and Park, and was so deep in thought about how she was going to explain to Great-aunt Phyllis why she hadn't visited her earlier, that what she saw didn't fully register. She stopped, turned and retraced her steps, checking every window until she reached Doubleday's. A pyramid of books dominated the centre window, alongside a photograph of a man with slicked-back black hair and a pencil moustache. He was smiling out at her.

THE DIARY OF A CONVICT:

My time at Lavenham maximum security prison

by

Max Lloyd

The author of the runaway bestseller

will be signing books in this store

at 5.00 p.m. on Thursday

Don't miss this opportunity to meet the author

GILES BARRINGTON

1941

16

GILES HAD NO IDEA where the regiment was going. For days he seemed to be perpetually on the move, never able to sleep for more than a couple of hours at a time. First he boarded a train, followed by a truck, before he climbed up the gangway of a troop carrier that ploughed through the ocean waves at its own pace, until it finally disgorged 1,000 soldiers from the Wessex at the Egyptian port of Alexandria on the North African coast.