Yesterday's Papers Read Online Free Page A

digging into cases where the truth has yet to come out. I gather you have a weakness for a mystery, but people seem to think you are a man who strives to see the right thing done. Frankly, I hoped you would sympathise with my own instinct to investigate and be willing to offer a little practical assistance.’
    â€˜Flattery won’t necessarily get you everywhere. What was the second reason?’
    â€˜Any approach I may make to Mr Tweats will need to be judged with delicacy. I have to say - I trust I do not offend you - it seems possible that, if Edwin Smith pleaded guilty, he did so as a result of receiving less than the best advice.’
    â€˜I won’t pretend Cyril was a latter-day Marshall Hall, but I’m not clear about exactly what you’re looking for.’
    â€˜I have taken pains to trace the present whereabouts of the main surviving actors in the drama. Guy is dead, of course, and so is Edwin Smith’s barrister. The detective who headed the inquiry is a sick man, by all accounts, and Carole’s mother a semi-recluse. But I plan to talk to as many people as I can over the course of the next few days. I hope to hear from Smith’s former girlfriend, and perhaps I’ll catch up with the young man Carole was courting at the time of her death. Meanwhile, I have gone as far as I can in researching the case through paperwork available to the public. I cannot hope to gain access to the police records. But there will, I expect, still be an office file somewhere in your archives. I would be interested to see it. There is just a faint possibility that it may contain information which helps me in my quest.’
    â€˜To decide whether Smith was innocent?’
    â€˜And, if he was, perhaps to gain a clearer idea of who might have been guilty.’
    â€˜You’ll be lucky.’
    â€˜Indeed I may,’ said Miller. His teeth glinted in the harsh yellow light as he added, ‘Think of it, Mr Devlin. To discover the truth now, after all these years, wouldn’t that be a prize? Think of old Mrs Smith and what it would mean to have her son exculpated at long last. And that is not all. Who knows, one might even have the opportunity to identify the person who took advantage of Smith’s scapegoat role and succeeded - yes! - in getting away with murder.’
    The man was enjoying himself, Harry felt sure. Never mind the convicted man’s mother: he was treating his enquiries as a game. And in that moment, Harry made up his mind about Ernest Miller. He was too shrewd to be dismissed as a meddlesome old fool with a bee in his bonnet; there was nothing blind or self-deceiving about his confidence that Smith had not committed the crime. Yet Harry sensed he was a man who, for all his bookish air, would like to take his pleasure recklessly. A man who might relish it all the more if the game he was playing became dangerous.

Chapter Three
    when I broke forever with the past
    â€˜I’m making no promises,’ Harry said to Miller as they stood on the doorstep of the Wallace.
    â€˜I would not expect them. After all, you are a lawyer.’ Miller gave a thin smile. ‘I hope only that I have said enough to tantalise you, to make you anxious to know rather more about the killing of Carole Jeffries, even after thirty years.’
    â€˜I can’t even be sure we’ll still have the original papers. And if we do...’
    â€˜Naturally, I understand there is the question of professional confidentiality, although on this occasion, since the client has long been in his grave, I anticipate no practical objection. However, you may have other qualms about making any disclosures to me. As successor in practice to Cyril Tweats, you may be conscious of the risk of being tarnished by potential criticism of the way he handled Edwin Smith’s defence.’
    Harry shrugged. ‘I’m not worried about that. But even if we do have the old file, it may cast no light on the