Salute the Toff Read Online Free PDF Page A

Toff mendaciously.
    â€œYe didna start this?”
    â€œMy dear Mac,” said the Toff with every sign of testiness, “I had a call from a friend of a friend who told me Draycott was missing, and I offered to go along to the flat with the girl. I found what you found. The girl will be here—or,” he added as an afterthought, “at 1023 Bayswater Road, with a Mr. and Mrs. Fraser. But give her a few hours’ rest.”
    â€œWhat will ye be doing?”
    â€œSleeping, I hope,” said the Toff.
    There was little that McNab could want to see him about, except to confirm the circumstances in which the body had first been found, and there was no great hurry about that. There were the relatives and friends to find, and a thousand-and one routine items that would mean a sleepless night for the detective.
    The Toff and Harrison, therefore, had the night to work in.
    There was ample time for the train, and the Toff did not want to hurry Anthea or Fay; but within ten minutes of McNab’s call Anthea came from the bedroom, and through the open door the Toff saw that Fay was sitting in front of the dressing-table combing her hair.
    Anthea smiled.
    â€œShe’ll be all right, Rolly. I’m taking her home for tonight, as she would normally be alone.”
    â€œBless you,” said the Toff.
    He did not tell either woman of Harrison’s news, for he was far from convinced that James Draycott was at Manchester, and unawareness would do Fay less harm than a new fear. Instead Rollison accompanied them to Anthea’s car, and before they went off Fay gripped his hand firmly.
    â€œYou’ve been a great help, Rolly.”
    â€œI’ve done nothing.”
    â€œThat’s just it,” said Fay, and she turned her head away quickly, while Anthea let in the clutch and drove towards the end of Gresham Terrace.
    It was a fine, bright night, for the moon was nearly full and very clear, and he could see the people walking along the road – as well as the woman who was standing by a small car nearly opposite No. 55. He might not have thought twice about her but for the fact that a gust of wind made her grab her hat, and thus fixed his attention on her hair.
    He walked past without a second glance, but as he went he was recalling that he had seen that small, red-haired woman at 14 Grey Street, Chelsea, and he did not think that it was a coincidence that she was outside his house.
    Inside, he said to Harrison: “Go up to the flat and wait, will you? I’ll be back in twenty minutes or so.”
    â€œWhere are you going?” Harrison demanded testily. “And why do you have to make a lot of mystery?”
    â€œIt may be inherited vice,” said the Toff, “or it may be forced on me. I wish you would stop behaving like the world’s worst Jonah, and be a rational human being for once. I’ll be back in twenty minutes or so, or I’ll ‘phone you.” “All right,” said Harrison.
    â€œAnd if you could pack a few odds and ends,” said the Toff, “it would help, my man being away.” While Harrison was preparing to deliver a crushing rejoinder the Toff went again into the street. He turned right, towards Piccadilly, and the red-haired woman followed him.
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Chapter Five
The Woman With Red Hair
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    The Toff afterwards said that it was the second glimpse of the woman with red hair that really caught his interest, and which first intimated that the case might be out of the ordinary. Until then he had imagined it to be a tale of personal tragedy, a crime of passion or even despair, without any of the ramifications likely to attract him. He was not interested in the murder of a man or woman as such; but when it was connected with a wider crime – that was a different matter. It was no part of his self-appointed task to harry individuals driven to a point of insanity by their immediate circumstances, and he did not propose to make