Spanish Inquisition (17 page)

There was no response. Not even a flicker of reaction in those deep, dark eyes.

‘Why didn't you talk to Lieutenant Carfax about it? She's always prepared to offer advice, or simply listen. We all need to talk things through with someone now and again.'

Still no response.

‘Can you tell me where you went for the abortion? Who gave you the details? The father of the baby?'

Connie glanced up at Max, then turned back to embark on a new approach. ‘Everyone on the base is still talking about your great performance in
Carmen
. I understand the Bandmaster is eager for you to sing at their concerts. I'm sure there'd be no official opposition to that. What an opportunity to use that lovely voice you have. Great success in the opera, the offer to sing in public with the Drumdorrans, and Su Carfax told me you're in line for promotion to sergeant. Everything going for you.' She allowed a short pause. ‘So why did you turn your back on the Army, Maria?'

Max decided to follow up on that theme, saying quietly, ‘You were on duty on Saturday when a highly confidential message was transmitted. Did it concern someone you know; a friend? A person you think highly of? Your lover, perhaps. Is that why you ran away? Did someone try to make you reveal the fabric of that message?'

It became obvious that they were not going to get any response from the girl in the bed, no matter how they approached her, so Max gave Connie the nod to wind things up. She got to her feet and put the chair back alongside the locker, then smiled at Maria.

‘I'll come again when you're feeling better. We'll talk then. Is there anything you'd like me to bring you? Anyone you'd like a visit from? Any message I can give to someone on the base? No?'

Max was already sliding the curtains aside when a quavery voice said, ‘I want to come back.'

He turned to see tears on her cheeks. ‘No problem there,' he told her. ‘As soon as the doctor gives the go ahead you can transfer to the Medical Centre. I'll have a word with him on the way out. It could be tomorrow or the next day.'

‘We'll inform Lieutenant Carfax that you'll soon be back,' Connie added. ‘Anyone else?'

But that was probing too far. Silence returned and the patient's back was turned.

Returning to the car, having decided Clare was the best person to arrange Norton's transfer to the base, Max thanked Connie for her efforts.

‘Head against brick wall. Once she's back with us it'll be easier. What did you deduce from her decision to return despite leaving with all her belongings just three days ago?'

‘She's done what he demanded of her with a deal of violence, so she now expects the affair to take up where it left off.'

He glanced sideways at her as they set off. ‘You don't think it was your speech about her singing success and future prospects in that direction, plus the thought of promotion made her see what she would be missing out on?'

Connie shook her head. ‘Passion is definitely behind this. She's got rid of the baby he didn't want, and forgiven him for knocking her almost senseless. Now she thinks everything'll be rosy, silly bitch. When she discovers he has no intention of resuming the affair she'll be off again. Just you wait.'

‘There speaks the voice of the complete female cynic,' he said with some amusement. ‘And you look such a nice, kind person.'

‘I am,' she protested laughingly. ‘It's this job that makes me cynical.'

By the end of the afternoon they could establish several facts which merely eliminated possibilities. Tom had checked Staff Andrews' story regarding leaving his vehicle for repairs on the forecourt of the Jewish firm in the early hours of Sunday morning. The owners returning late from a party had seen it there. They offered to return it if they could collect what was owing.

‘I've also Bill Jensen's evidence of seeing Vince Andrews at the Recreation Centre on the nights they were rehearsing
Carmen
,' he told the team. ‘In fact, he had a beer with him on several of those occasions under the impression Staff had been attending one of the classes.'

‘You think he's in the clear?' asked Max sharply.

‘On what he told me today my gut feeling is that he knew nothing of the attack on Norton, but it clarified evidence we already have.' Throwing Piercey a glowering look, he said, ‘That call you interrupted in Norton's dressing room was from Staff Andrews. He said she promised to call him back in ten, which is what you heard her say. When she didn't, he drove to her accommodation block, saw her arrive then jump straight into your Audi which raced up to meet her. The timing fits perfectly.

‘He saw the car rocking with what he believed was highly active sex, but was more likely to have been caused by the assault on her.' Glancing back at Max, he said, ‘The RMP Post is just three hundred metres from the copse. I suggest Chummy either pushed Norton out where that took place, or he drove to within easy staggering distance of it before dumping her. That would make sense of how Norton managed to reach help in her distressed state.'

‘It still doesn't explain why she claimed
I
beat her up,' Piercey complained vigorously.

‘Her attacker was driving
your
car,' Tom snapped. ‘We have a witness to the fact. Until you produce solid evidence that proves you were elsewhere, you remain the prime suspect.'

Max intervened. ‘Staff Andrews reckons he left the Sergeants' Mess to drive to Norton's living quarters, where she came in her own vehicle just five or so minutes later. Comparing the timings we already have with those he offers, Chummy must have taken the Audi from the mess car parking area shortly after Phil left it there, in order to race up and skid to a halt almost as Norton arrived. As Staff Andrews didn't witness the carjacking, we now have very precise timing which ties in with Private Jimmy James' statement concerning what
he
saw that night. I suggest the phone call Norton made moments before she left the theatre was to advise someone that Phil was on his way to the Mess, and that person was there ready to carry out his plan. That young woman surely conspired to set Phil up. Once she's back on base she'll be charged with going AWOL and with giving false information. That's for starters. Hopefully, she'll then realize the mess she's in and decide to cooperate.'

‘I wouldn't count on it,' said Connie. ‘She's a very determined woman. Add overwhelming passion and you have someone who won't behave in reasonable fashion. She's Carmen. Flamboyant, daring, hot-headed. She'll need watching carefully.'

‘The cynic speaking?' teased Max.

Connie indicated her friend Heather. ‘We spoke to a number of both men and women in the cast of the opera, and repeatedly heard that Norton practically metamorphosed into the character she played. It's my guess she hasn't yet fully reverted to Corporal Norton, who handles confidential and highly sensitive communications.'

‘On that subject, are we still considering the possibility of breached security being behind the attack on her?' asked Beeny.

Tom nodded. ‘Until we find indisputable proof of what really went on in the early hours of last Sunday, we continue to consider every scenario.'

‘Including the one that has me in the bloody centre of it,' growled Phil Piercey.

‘There's no smoke without fire,' Heather murmured.

Tom had clearly had enough. He wrapped up the briefing with the advice that everyone should consider the firm evidence they had and return in the morning with a fresh concept to offer.

‘And
you
,' he ended, looking pointedly at Piercey. ‘You rack your brains for an incident which instilled in someone the need for revenge of this magnitude. There
has
to be a reason for the assault to take place in your car, and for the victim to name you repeatedly.'

Everyone departed leaving Max with Tom. He took the opportunity to say, ‘D'you really believe the foundation of the crime was to take revenge on Phil?'

Tom glanced across from the papers he was lining up. ‘Why else set him up as they did?'

‘Convenient patsy?'

Tom walked to the safe and deposited the confidential reports, then locked them away. ‘There were half a dozen others trying their luck with her. Why pick Phil?'

‘As Derek Beeny said, an opportunity to get one in against the law and order lads.'

‘Nah, there has to be a more calculated reason than that, and I wager he bloody knows what it is.'

Max regarded him frankly. ‘He's one of ours, Tom. Don't malign his integrity. He's a wild card, at times, but he's made of sterling stuff.'

Tom nodded. ‘He needs a prod to keep him from getting too sure of himself. He still can't prove he was in his room in the Mess when the assault took place, and evidence is piling up against him.' He perched on the edge of a desk. ‘Is there any chance Norton will retract her accusation and name the man who beat her up?'

Max shrugged. ‘Connie seems sure the girl is totally mixed up even about her own identity, at the moment. I'll call in at the Medical Centre and get Clare or Duncan MacPherson to contact the hospital about transferring the patient asap. We might have better luck with Norton once she's on home ground.'

‘It'll be interesting to discover who contacts or visits her.'

‘Or who
doesn't
. Connie reckons the lover will have no intention of resuming the affair even though the baby has been aborted.'

‘Makes sense,' Tom agreed, taking up his car keys. ‘Something like that puts the kibosh on romance, especially if the bloke's a married man having a fling.'

They began walking from the building. ‘Talking of romance, it seems our lady doctor has got herself engaged. Nora saw her this morning wearing a whacking great ring on the appropriate finger. Know who the lucky man is?'

Max grinned. ‘Can't keep a secret on this damned base. We'll be inviting you all to our celebration party on Sunday.'

Tom halted and offered his hand. ‘Congratulations. Nora reckons you've found the right one, this time, and I agree.'

Learning from MacPherson that Clare had already left the Medical Centre, Max recruited the Scottish doctor's professional assistance to arrange Maria Norton's transfer as soon as the German doctor considered it possible.

‘I'd like her installed in a single room. That one at the far end of the corridor will be ideal. She'll technically be under arrest on at least two counts, so I'll arrange twenty-four-hour surveillance outside her door.'

‘No, you will not,' MacPherson returned smartly. ‘This is my domain.
I
give the orders. Any decisions concerning patients in my care are
mine
. This woman you want to transfer here will become one of them and, as such, you'll have no authority over her while she remains in this building.' His eyes were bright with anger, reflecting the fabled quick temper of redheads. ‘I'll no tolerate any
guards
sitting outside my wards.'

Getting into his stride, he said, ‘The lass is a
victim
, man. She was brutally assaulted by one of your detectives, then underwent a crude abortion which could well have so damaged her she'll never reproduce. No, you certainly will not treat her as a prisoner in my hospital.'

Trying to keep his patience in the face of this tirade, Max said tautly, ‘I'm not suggesting handcuffing her to the bloody bed! I simply want a discreet watch kept on her.'

‘I've said no.'

‘Then I'll post uniformed guards
outside
your domain. I have full authority to do that and it'll be anything but discreet.'

They stood in the small consulting room facing each other aggressively: two big men testing each other's staying power. If there was an underlying element of lingering sexual rivalry Max chose not to recognize it.

Eventually, MacPherson said, ‘That would be way over the top. Talk sense.'

‘Fair enough.' Max took a deep breath to give himself time to find the best words. ‘Yes, Maria Norton was a victim of assault. Just one day later she left your domain, collected all her belongings, and absconded taking every precaution against being traced. That was her own decision. Seeking a backstreet abortionist was also her sole decision. When a female colleague and I visited her today she refused to speak to us. She neither answered our questions nor accepted our offers of help. Only as we were leaving did she say, “I want to come back.” Hence why I'm here.'

‘And I've agreed to arrange her transfer, but I see no reason to treat her as a prisoner.'

‘But
I
do,' Max insisted. ‘I'm a policeman. I deal with lawbreakers, and this woman has broken several. She went absent without leave giving the impression that she didn't mean to return; she gave a statement describing the assault on her person which we have proved to be a pack of lies, and we have evidence to suggest that she conspired with someone to accuse an innocent man of the brutal attack on her. Yes, she was a victim, but our inquiries point to her being a victim of her own criminal machinations.'

After a moment of reflection MacPherson said, ‘So what do you imagine she might do while in my charge?'

‘Ah, now it's your turn to talk sense. And, by the way, you're not the only person qualified to make a decision on this. Clare treated Norton when she was first brought in. Her opinion must be sought.'

‘Oh aye, be sure to consult her. I shall still object to having policemen sitting outside my wards. The poor woman will be quite unfit to run amok through this building.'

Max gave a heavy sigh. ‘Let's drop the question until Norton arrives here. You'll then see the frame of mind she's in and understand why I think it essential to keep her under observation. It's my impression she's in a volatile mental state. While I don't expect her to consider killing herself, I've no hesitation in reading into her desire to return the expectation of resuming her relationship with the man who fathered the baby. Experience tells me that's very unlikely. When she discovers that, there's a chance she might harm herself. Or even abscond again.