'Locks can be opened,' said Tallis.

'Only by the right keys, sir,' Leeming pointed out.

'Someone appears to have had them.'

'What do you mean?'

'According to this,' said Tallis, picking up a sheet of paper, 'a Mr Leonard Voke reported a burglary at his premises during the night. It appears that his safe was completely emptied.'

'I did tell him to be on his guard.'

'You obviously didn't tell him loudly enough. Nor did you have the sense to check every door to the premises to see if they could in any way be made more secure. Our task,' he went on, sententiously, 'is not merely to solve crime. We also exist to prevent it.'

Leeming was abashed. 'Yes, sir.'

'Since you chose to act on your own initiative this morning, the very least you could have done was to return to Mr Voke's shop to check if anything untoward had happened during the night.'

'I thought it was more important to visit Mrs Jennings.'

'Was she Mr Kellow's landlady?'

'Yes, Superintendent,' said Leeming. 'She showed me his room.'

He gave an account of his visit to the house, hoping to receive at least a hint of praise for what he had learnt. Tallis, however, was unimpressed. Stroking his moustache, he pondered.

'Mrs Jennings has told you little of practical use,' he announced at length. 'Your visit there was hardly productive.'

'I learnt much about the murder victim's character, sir.'

'That brings us no closer to identifying his killer.'

'I believe it does,' argued Leeming. 'It seems clear to me that the prime suspect is Mr Stephen Voke. He was fired by revenge. From what I can gather, Mr Kellow not only supplanted him as a silversmith, he also took young Mr Voke's place in his father's affections. That must have rankled with him.'

'Yes,' conceded Tallis, 'I can detect a plausible motive there.'

'Stephen Voke would also have known to whom that coffee pot locomotive was being delivered and had a very good idea as to when work on it would be completed. More to the point,' said Leeming, 'he would know his way around the premises in the dark.'