'What did he tell you of Mr Voke?'

'Oh, he spoke very fondly of him but I'd already observed the deep affection between the two of them. Mr Voke waved him off at the station. They seemed so close that I took them for father and son. As it turned out,' he recalled, 'Mr Kellow has been more of son to the old man than his own flesh and blood.'

Colbeck's ears pricked up. 'In what way, sir?'

'Well, it transpires that the young Mr Voke, also a silversmith, expected to take over the business in time and resented the fact that his father gave some of the best commissions to Mr Kellow because he deemed him the superior craftsman. There were also constant rows between father and son about money. In the end, there was a serious rift in the lute and the son stalked off to work elsewhere.'

'So he might bear a grudge against Mr Kellow.'

'I think it unlikely that anyone would do that, Inspector.'

'Why?'

'He was so shy and self-effacing. He was the sort of person who would run a mile from an argument. At least,' said Buckmaster, 'that's my estimate of him. Miss Linnane's will be the same. The only way to get at the truth, of course, is to talk to Mr Voke himself.'

'Precisely,' agreed Colbeck, getting up from the chair. 'I expect that my colleague, Sergeant Leeming, will be doing that very soon.'

It was late evening when Victor Leeming finally reached the little shop in Wood Street. His first duty on returning to London had been to call in at Scotland Yard in order to apprise Superintendent Tallis of the latest developments. Thanks to a message transmitted by telegraph, the superintendent was in possession of news that the sergeant had not heard. The South Wales Railway Company was offering a large reward for information leading to the capture of the person or persons responsible for the murder of Hugh Kellow. Notice of the reward would be carried the following morning in London newspapers as well as in more local periodicals. Leeming and Colbeck would not be working in the relative anonymity of Wales. The metropolitan press would now be watching them as well.