He began to walk towards Kilburn, not knowing where he was going, but anxious to think. What a death! How unlike Sydney to fall in front of a train! Was it suicide? He thought of the cold, ruthless face, and decided that Sydney most certainly would not have taken his own life. An accident, then? But how did people fall in front of trains unless they deliberately jumped or were pushed? Pushed? His mind began to crawl with alarm. Was he pushed? Suppose Emily and Max and the two Greeks…? He gritted his teeth. Was this the beginning of their revenge? He looked furtively over his shoulder, and quickened his pace. It was the kind of clever, ruthless trick they would stage: a murder that looked like an accident. Of course, the dead man might not be Sydney, and in that case he was getting alarmed over nothing. But he wouldn’t rest until he knew for certain. He supposed the body would be in some mortuary, but he hadn’t the vaguest idea which one. He was scared to go to a police station. The memory of Crispin now filled him with nervous dread.
Farther up the road he saw a policeman coming towards him He forced down his natural fear of the uniform and with misgivings planted himself in the policeman’s path.
“I think I know this man,” he blurted out, pushing the newspaper at the policeman. “I believe he’s a friend of mine.”
The policeman gave him a quick, inquisitive glance, and then looked down at the newspaper. He frowned, chewing his moustache.
“What man’s that, sir?” he asked patiently.
George pointed to the paragraph. His finger danced on the page.
The policeman ponderously read the item, then he glanced at George. “You think you know ’im, do you, sir?”
George nodded. “I suppose I ought to do something,” he said helplessly. “I thought you could advise me.”
The policeman brooded. “If you think you know ’im,” he said at last, “it’d he your duty to—er—view the remains.” He shook his head sympathetically. “Unpleasant job, sir, at the best of times, but seeing as ’ow you might identify ’im…”
“Where should I go?” George asked. The word “remains” made him feel sick.