SEVENTEEN
Before turning in for the night, I’d sat up in bed and read through the file on Bruce Horsefield, the true identity of Lance Corporal Marshall but had learned nothing of any significance. Well, nothing that could give me a lead. It was a familiar scenario: unruly kid developed into a teenage hoodlum, petty crimes and then in 1936 he’d tried his hand at holding up a jewellers’ shop. It was an amateurish attempt, albeit with a shooter, and he was chased down the street and caught. He was gaoled for five years but released early in order to join the army to fight for his country. Within months he had deserted and disappeared. He was an only child, brought up by his widowed mother. She was still alive, but claims not to have seen him since he went in the army. Her house had been sea
