Spanish Inquisition (18 page)

‘There's also a third possibility. She could have been attacked because she was privy to highly sensitive information transmitted while she was on duty. If that was so, she could be under further threat once she's back on the base.'

He prepared to depart leaving the matter unresolved for the moment. He had had enough of MacPherson's attitude for now. Time to resume hostilities when the sick corporal was acutally here in the ward.

‘We not only bang-up soldiers who break the law, we aim to protect them from reprisals.' He stopped in the doorway and looked back. ‘We also pledge to prove the innocence of those wrongly accused. In this instance it's one of my own team. I defend his rights as strongly as you defend yours, Duncan.'

The hospital doctors wanted to keep Maria Norton for at least five more days to allow time for counselling sessions. Max and Clare had exchanged words on the subject of police personnel on chairs outside wards, she supporting MacPherson's views, so news of a delay in the patient's return was timely. They let the matter drop.

The next day being a Friday when it was usual for everything to wind down early, there was additional reason for normal activities to cease by mid-afternoon. The band of the Drumdorran Fusiliers was to give a marching display to officially welcome the West Wiltshire Regiment back from Afghanistan, and to impress Top Brass who had arrived for tactical discussions with the returning commanders. This stirring display would end with Beating the Retreat, after which personnel could buy hot food and drinks from stalls set up around the parade ground.

In view of this, Max agreed with Tom that they could make little advance on the Norton case until the start of the next week. After hearing any fresh reflections the team might have, which were few, the team completed overdue reports on several minor cases they had been dealing with before leaving with promises to attend Max and Clare's party on Sunday evening.

For the first time since they had both moved into the matching apartments the large connecting room was fully used. As well as members of 26 Section, Major MacPherson and senior medical staff had been invited. The hosts employed the caterers Clare had found while Max was in Spain, and the large table bore an impressive selection of the company's festive fare.

It was a very merry occasion. Any personality clashes were put aside, and when someone began playing popular tunes on Clare's piano an impromptu sing-song began. So fully did guests participate it was a while before Max grew aware of the landline telephone ringing. He took the call with some misgivings. Who could be contacting them at this hour? There were no immediate neighbours to complain of noise, and all their friends and colleagues were here.

‘Max Rydal,' he said above the vigorous singing.

‘George Maddox, sir. Sorry to interrupt your Sunday but I gather Major MacPherson is with you at the moment. We need a doctor urgently. We have a serious ongoing situation.'

Max's heart sank. ‘He'll be on the way asap. Give me a few details, George,' he said taking the phone through to the relative quiet of his own apartment.

‘It's another violent assault, this time on the ADC of one of the visiting staff officers. Sarn't Pocock found him on the road bordering the copse and called an ambulance. He's at the Medical Centre receiving treatment, but a doctor should be present. It's a worse battering than Norton's and I think SIB should be in on this.'

‘Yes. I'll send Tom Black.'

Disconnecting, Max threaded his way between the cluster of guests to reach Duncan MacPherson, who was deep in conversation with Olly Simpson.

‘Duty calls, Duncan,' he said, drawing the man aside to give the details. ‘Why do these calls always come when we're having fun?'

‘It was ever thus, Max. Give my thanks to your future wife for a most enjoyable evening . . . until now. Goodnight. I'll let myself out.'

Catching sight of Tom looking inquisitively at the departing Scot, Max motioned to his friend to go with him into his apartment. He came very smartly, his policeman's instinct working overtime.

‘Norton done another runner?' he asked.

Max shook his head. ‘We have a second ABH. One of the visiting ADCs has been found on the road by the copse having been thoroughly done over. George said it's worse than the attack on Norton. One of George's squad will be at the Medical Centre, but this is another case for us.'

‘I'll get going.' Tom headed for Max's personal front door, and he followed.

‘Same method, same location, same day of the week. Have we been up a gum tree, Tom? This can't have anything to do with an opera and a girl who thinks she's Carmen. Do we actually have a serial sadist on our hands?'

O
n Monday morning Max followed Clare to the Medical Centre in the hope of interviewing Captain Rory Smythe. Tom had contacted Max in the early hours to say the ADC was too traumatized to speak. They now found nothing had changed overnight, so Clare promised to call Max once the officer had recovered sufficiently to be interviewed.

At Headquarters the ennui over the stalemate in the Norton case had been banished by this new dramatic attack. Before Tom began the general briefing Max had a short discussion with him on what they had gleaned about the victim from his military record, which they had both checked out. Smythe had been rated a diligent and generally proficient cadet at Sandhurst, who was then commissioned into the West Wiltshire Regiment where he served until two years ago when he became ADC to Major-General Bishop.

Max said, ‘I suspect our victim had friends in the right places, Tom. He was no more than an average cadet at Sandhurst. He's now thirty-six and there's no mention of distinction in the field, either in Iraq or Afghanistan.'

‘Or mention of useful skills like foreign languages, in-depth personal knowledge of Middle Eastern countries, or a special proficiency in any aspect of battle strategy.'

‘Exactly. So he's a better administrator than a warrior, which is why his usefulness as an ADC has been recruited. He must have a quick brain or he wouldn't have held the post for two years. You saw him last night. Is he a big man? Would it take two to beat him up?'

Tom shook his head. ‘Couldn't see much of his frame. Thin and wiry, I'd guess. If he was jumped in the darkness, one hefty blow could have stunned him enough to enable the attacker to do quite a lot of damage without resistance from his victim.'

‘As ever, the big question is why. On the surface he appears to be a solid dependable assistant to his senior officer, with no special flair for or insight to specialist info he could be cowed by force into revealing.'

‘In other words, are the two attacks linked in some way, or totally coincidental? Has Captain Smythe some connection with Maria Norton?'

Max nodded at his office door to indicate that they should join the team, saying as he walked, ‘Norton must be interviewed more determinedly, and I'll arrange to speak to Major-General Bishop when there's an opportunity. I doubt he'll be able to throw much light on the case, but I'd like the man's assessment of his Aide.'

There was immediate silence when they appeared, Piercey looking particularly alert. They had all learned the basics of what had occurred before leaving the party last night, where Piercey had instantly pointed out that he had a foolproof alibi this time.

‘Captain Smythe is still too ill to be interviewed,' Tom began, ‘so we have very little info to start with. I spoke to Sergeant Pocock last night and all he could tell me was that he spotted a body at the side of the road near where the main track through the copse begins. Thinking it strange that his mates would have abandoned someone out there, and having his wife in the car, he pulled up just beyond the still figure and approached with caution. It was soon apparent the man was not drunk or high on drugs, but that he had been quite viciously attacked.

‘There's no question of Sarn't Pocock being responsible. He and his wife had celebrated their wedding anniversary in town with two other couples and were heading home. He denies seeing anyone near or moving about in the copse. Nor did he pass any other cars along that stretch of the perimeter road. It was one of those times when there was little traffic returning to the base.

‘Until the doctors have fully examined the victim we won't know whether there are signs that he was pushed from a vehicle after the attack, and until George's boys have completed a search of the area there's no evidence that it happened at the spot where he was found. Or even in that vicinity. What we can do is discuss the possibility of there being a common denominator in the two cases.'

‘Or eliminate it,' Max added. ‘Last night I read too much into the similarity of method, location and day of the week. On reflection I found much to dispute that hasty conclusion. Your input, please.'

To no one's surprise Piercey pointed out that no way could he be a suspect. ‘Norton was seen jumping eagerly into my Audi, then being driven to the copse where the rocking of the car suggested hectic sex. Maybe it was, and the assault came later, but there was an indisputable intention to involve me in whatever was going down that night. This
must
be a separate case.'

Beeny agreed with his friend. ‘Ask the Uniforms. They deal with punch-ups, general aggression, impromptu fights all the time, but they don't imagine deep plots to link them together.'

Max's lips twitched with amusement. ‘You think I'm off on a mystery story, do you?'

Beeny smiled. ‘One of your wild geese, perhaps.'

‘There is one possible link,' offered Olly Simpson in his usual laconic fashion.

‘Let's have it,' urged Tom, clearly irritated by Piercey's second attempt to justify his innocence.

‘Norton has access to classified info, which Smythe might also have.'

‘And Norton's Troop Commander is concerned about a communication Maria received before she was attacked last week,' added Heather. ‘Could both victims have been privy to secret knowledge someone's desperate to learn?'

Piercey was still on the defence. ‘If he was that desperate, why wait a week before attacking a different victim? He'd have had a second go at Maria before this. I say they're different cases.'

‘So we return to Captain Goodey's nutshell theory regarding Norton and continue our search for the father of the aborted foetus while we try to untangle this second puzzle. As to the first, the holder of the key to it is Norton herself,' Tom said somewhat unnecessarily. ‘She resisted Connie's gentle persuasion, so I want you to take a tougher line with her, Heather. The doctor on her case wants her to have several counselling sessions to ease her confusion. Be sympathetic and get her talking. Be the friend she doesn't apparently have. You're one of a large family; you know how to gain people's confidence. Once you have hers make her aware of how she could minimize the trouble she's in.'

Max intervened to point out that Heather might have some opposition from hospital staff. ‘If so, do get across to them that we need to trace and punish whoever forced her with violence to take the risk of an amateur abortion.' He smiled ruefully. ‘It might turn into a long, boring wait, but insist on being allowed to talk to her. What happened last night makes it imperative.'

Heather nodded. ‘She can't keep it up forever. It's natural for a woman to unburden herself after something like that. Hopefully, she'll prefer to confide in me rather than a German counsellor.'

Tom pushed on. ‘Now the new case. Captain Smythe is a former member of the West Wilts. I'll interview him when I'm given the go-ahead, but I want the rest of you to check for regimental members presently on base who could have served with him two or more years ago. Go and talk to them. Get a description of what he was like as a regimental commander, and any info on incidents concerning him which could have a bearing on this attack. His service record shows he was divorced three years ago. Get the gen on that and any opinions on why he left the regiment to take on his present job. Was he tactically moved sideways, or did he go at his own request? OK, get going. Call in with any vital disclosures, as usual. Also, as usual, keep eyes and ears open for anything on the Norton case. It isn't in limbo while we follow up on the second victim.'

Max called Headquarter Company to discover when Major-General Bishop might be available to speak to him, and was told that the visiting officers were scheduled to take a break at eleven hundred for coffee. Deciding that it would be in the Officers' Mess used by Headquarters staff and officers who were not transitory, Max drove across the base shortly before eleven and asked the Mess Sergeant to pass a message to Bishop when he arrived and deposited his cap on the table used for the purpose in the foyer.

Shortly after the group entered, Max was approached and told the General would be happy to speak to him about Captain Smythe's unfortunate accident. Walking to the anteroom Max thought caustically that men of Bishop's calibre had a way of dismissing even the most serious disasters as things that simply could not be helped. He supposed that came under the heading of keeping calm and in control of the situation; instructions for commanders of men in battle.

Major-General Bishop was a tall man with flaxen hair and rather piercing blue eyes, who was in conversation with a West Wilts captain Max knew well.

Approaching, Max said, ‘Thank you for giving me some time, sir.' Then he added, ‘Hallo, it's good to see you safely back,' to Guy Strand, who returned the greeting with a smile before stepping away with his coffee cup to allow the other two to talk privately.

‘Your people acted very promptly, I hear,' said Bishop, walking towards a quiet corner of the large room with Max.

‘We'll know more when Captain Smythe is able to tell us what happened, sir. There was no abandoned vehicle in the vicinity and it seems unlikely that he would have been walking near the copse at that hour. We believe he was either taken there after the assault, or went willingly with someone who unexpectedly became violent and abandoned him there. We'll know more by the end of the day,' he added with confidence. ‘What I'd like from you is some personal knowledge concerning your ADC. He served with the West Wiltshire Regiment until two years ago. I understand you are here for discussions with the commanders of the troops just returned from Afghanistan, so Captain Smythe might well meet some former colleagues on base. Did he mention it, say he was hoping to reunite with an old friend or two?'