CH 6 – The Bus Driver.

If it was learnt during the investigation of the mysterious death of Carl Webb that Shedden was in some way innocently implicated in the spying business of the day, whether through carelessness with securing his files (or notes) or being too open in conversation with a colleague whilst being driven by his personal chauffeur (Carl Webb’s nephew Norman) then little wonder the police investigation appeared to be less thorough as you would expect and what was thought to have been their carelessness may have in fact been deliberate. The fact that detective Brown was denied any part of the investigation after the Rubaiyat was allegedly handed in might indicate he initially wasn’t trusted to be party to the scheme, though he was later rewarded with a promotion to detective inspector, which may have been the result of trust restored.

What’s more it could explain the absence of any photo of what was thought to have been Carl Webb’s Rubaiyat, together with the sudden appearance of the Tamam Shud slip some weeks after the body’s clothing was searched and later the hastily scrawled code thought to have been written by Webb was discovered on the book’s back cover, which in itself implied some type of espionage activity afoot. And to take the hypothesis even further you might think the visit by the police to Jessica’s home and her subsequent visit to view the bust were orchestrated to demonstrate the police’s knowledge of her relationship with Norman Webb’s uncle, himself thought to have been a spy and remembering that no photograph of her phone number – said to have been written on the back of the book and which led the police to her door – has ever been made public.

Little wonder Jessica remained silent for all her remaining years and not surprisingly her daughter Kate said when interviewed she had ‘a dark side’ to her nature.

And little wonder Dr Dwyer stated that he was ‘astounded’ no traces of barbiturate were discovered in the body by analyst Cowan, who coincidentally was present when Professor Cleland discovered the TS slip in the fob pocket of the trousers being worn by Webb.

And who proved to be unable to identify the black powder shaken from a simple particle brush found in Webb’s suitcase, which was left unlocked at the luggage office.

Which might explain why DS Leane didn’t investigate the train ticket found in Webb’s ticket pocket the day it was found … because who knows? If the police had of asked railway staff to describe the individual who lodged the bag on the day after the body was found their recollection may have been of someone who looked completely different.

You know it makes sense.