Handsome Brute: The True Story of a Ladykiller Read Online Free PDF Page A

pearls. She used a blue powder compact. With a cracked mirror. She told me she was always breaking things. The light streak in her hair was very noticeable.’
    Brook had been upfront and honest and seemed to have nothing more to say, let alone anything to hide, so Suter wound up the interview.
    ‘By the way, sir, I have not taken your full name or address.’
    ‘Rupert Robert Brook, Thurmaston Aerodrome, Leicester.’
    At this point, an extraordinary twist of fate began to draw Brook further into the hands of the police. As Suter’s interview with Brook was ending, a clerk came up from the enquiry office and interrupted the conversation.
    ‘Excuse me, sir,’ he said, addressing Suter. ‘There is a Mr Marshall downstairs waiting to see you.’
    ‘That will be the young lady’s father,’ said Suter, who turned to Brook. ‘May I contact you at the hotel if I need any further information, sir?’
    ‘Yes – at any time.’
    Suter led Brook downstairs to the enquiry office where they were met by Doreen’s father. He was also accompanied by Joan, the missing girl’s sister. Aside from Doreen’s shock of grey hair, the two young women looked incredibly alike, dark-haired and petite. Suter had already met Mr Marshall and his daughter in the investigation of her disappearance and now introduced them to Brook.
    ‘This gentleman had dinner with your daughter on Wednesday night.’
    Brook repeated the story that he had already told Suter. Then, turning to Doreen’s father, Brook assured him that he shouldn’t worry about her.
    ‘Doreen told me she would be busy for a few days. I wasn’t expecting her to ring until Sunday. If there’s any other way I can help?’
    Mr Marshall thanked Brook for his concern. Brook went on.
    ‘In all probability, she’s with her American friend.’
    But this reassurance didn’t calm Marshall’s worries. She wasn’t the sort of girl to go off without telling anybody with a man she had only just met. Mr Marshall noticed that throughout the conversation, Brook didn’t take his eyes off his daughter, Joan. Mr Marshall thought that Brook had a ‘sickening conceit’ and increasingly felt that this man was responsible for his daughter’s disappearance. 7 Joan also had an instinctive feeling that Brook was involved. He had said he left Doreen at the Winter Garden near the Pavilion. It was after midnight and her hotel was only a few hundred yards from where he claimed they parted. Joan asked him directly, ‘Why didn’t you see her home?’ Brook simply shrugged his shoulders. Joan had a dreadful sick feeling that her sister was dead and that the superficially charming man in the dark glasses had killed her. 8
    As Brook was talking to the Marshalls, Suter had the opportunity to scrutinize his handsome features at close quarters. Had his demeanour changed when he was brought face to face with Doreen’s family – and particularly the girl’s sister? Suter began to feel a growing sense of recognition about Brook’s face. He had seen it somewhere before – recently. He recalled a photograph of a wanted man in the Police Gazette , pinned on the noticeboard upstairs in the CID office. Was there a similarity, or were his eyes playing tricks? Excusing himself from Mr Marshall and his daughter, Suter took Brook to one side.
    ‘I think you must have a double, sir.’
    ‘Oh really?’
    ‘Yes. We have a photo of a chap who is wanted and you are not unlike him. Come up and have a look at the photo.’
    Apparently bemused, Brook followed Suter upstairs to the CID office where Detective Sergeant Leslie Johnson was sitting behind his desk. 9 Johnson also noticed that Brook continued wearing his sunglasses. It was now about 5.45 p.m. Suter pointed to the noticeboard and showed Brook the Police Gazette photo of Neville Heath, wanted in connection with the murder of Margery Gardner at Notting Hill.
    ‘You must admit there is a striking resemblance,’ suggested Suter. ‘Is that you?’
    ‘Good