The Enemy Page 5

  'No, I don't think I would.'

  'Then why should you think it of Gillian? It's bloody ridiculous.'

  'Because Penny didn't have acid thrown in her face,' I reminded him. 'Gillian did.'

  'This is a nightmare,' he muttered.

  'I'm sorry; I didn't mean to hurt you. I hope you'll accept my apology.'

  He put his hands to his face, rubbing at closed eyelids. 'Oh, that's all right, Malcolm.' His hand dropped to his side. 'It's just that she was always such a good little girl. Not like Penny; Penny could be difficult at times. She still can. She can be very wilful, as you'll find out if you marry her. But Gillian…' He shook his head. 'Gillian was never any trouble at all.'

  What Ashton said brought home to me some of the anguish parents must feel when things go wrong with the kids. But I was not so concerned with his agony that I didn't note his reference to if I married Penny, not when I married her. Evidently the fixation of the previous night had left him.

  He disillusioned me immediately. 'Have you given any thought to what we discussed last night?'

  'Some.'

  'With what conclusion?'

  'I'm still pretty much of the same mind,' I said. 'I don't think this is the time to present Penny with new problems, especially if the girls are as close as you say. She's very unhappy, too, you know.'

  'I suppose you're right,' he said dispiritedly, and kicked at the grass again. He was doing that shoe no good at all, and it was a pity to treat Lobb's craftsmanship so cavalierly. 'Are you staying to dinner?'

  'With your permission,' I said formally. 'I'm taking Penny to the hospital afterwards.'

  He nodded. 'Don't tell her about Gillian's eyes. Promise me that.'

  'I already have.'

  He didn't answer that, but turned on his heel and walked away towards the house. As I watched him go I felt desperately sorry for him. It didn't matter to me then if Nellie had him listed as a hero or a villain; I still felt sorry for him as a simple human being in the deepest of distress.

  Penny and I got to the hospital at about half past eight. I didn't go in with her but waited in the car. She was away quite a long time, more than an hour, and I became restive because I had promised to call Honnister. When she came out she said quietly, 'I've got what you wanted.'

  I said, 'Will you tell it to Honnister? I have an appointment with him.'

  'All right.'

  We found Honnister standing at the bar of the Coach and Horses looking broodily into a glass of beer. When we joined him he said, 'My man's been and gone. I've been hanging on waiting for your call.'

  'Inspector Honnister-this is Penny Ashton. She has something to tell you.'

  He regarded her with gravity. 'Thank you, Miss Ashton. I don't think you need me to tell you that we're doing the best we can on this case, but it's rather difficult, and we appreciate all the help we can get.'

  'I understand,' she said.

  He turned to me. 'What'll you have?'

  'A scotch and…' I glanced at Penny.

  'A gin and tonic.'

  Honnister called to the man behind the bar. 'Monte, a large scotch and a gin and tonic.' He turned and surveyed the room. 'We'd better grab that table before the last-minute crowd comes in.'

  I took Penny over to the table and presently Honnister joined us with the drinks. He wasted no time and even before he was seated, he said, 'Well, Miss Ashton, what can you tell me?'

  'Gillian says it was a man.'

  'Aah!' said Honnister in satisfaction. He had just eliminated a little more than half the population of Britain. 'What sort of man? Young? Old? Anything you tell me will be of value.'

  He led her through the story several times and each time elicited a further nugget of information. What it boiled down to was this: Gillian had walked back from church and, coming up the drive towards the house, had seen a car parked with the bonnet open and a man peering at the engine. She thought he was someone who had broken down so she approached with the intention of offering assistance. As she drew near the man turned and smiled at her. He was no one she knew. She was about to speak when he slammed down the bonnet with one hand and simultaneously threw the acid into her face with the other. The man didn't speak at any time; he was about forty, with a sallow complexion and sunken eyes. She did not know the make of car but it was darkish in colour.

  'Let's go back a bit,' said Honnister yet again. 'Your sister saw the man looking at the engine with the bonnet open. Did she mention his hands?'

  'No, I don't think so. Is it important?'

  'It might be,' said Honnister noncommittally. He was a good jack; he didn't put his own ideas into the mouths of his witnesses.

  Penny frowned, staring at the bubbles rising in her glass, and her lips moved slightly as she rehearsed her thoughts. Suddenly she said, 'That's it, Inspector. Gillian said she walked up and the man turned and smiled at her, then he took his hands out of his jacket pockets.'

  'Good!' said Honnister heartily. 'Very good, indeed!'

  'I don't see the importance,' said Penny.

  Honnister turned to me. 'Some cars have a rod on a hinge to hold up the bonnet; others have a spring-loaded gadget. Now, if he had his hands in his pockets he couldn't have been holding the bonnet open manually; and if he took them out of his pockets to close the bonnet and throw the acid at the same time then that bonnet was spring-loaded. He wouldn't have time to unhook a rod. It cuts down considerably on the makes of car we have to look for.' He drained his glass. 'Anything more to tell me?'

  'I can think of nothing else, Inspector.'

  'You and your sister have done very well,' he said as he stood up. 'Now I have to see a man about a dog.' He grinned at me. 'I really mean that-someone pinched a greyhound.'

  Penny said, 'You'll let us know if…'

  'You'll be first to know when something breaks,' promised Honnister. 'This is one villain I really want to get my hands on.'

  As he walked out I said, 'He's a good copper.'

  'It seems so,' said Penny. 'I wouldn't have thought of the significance of the way a car bonnet is held open.'

  I stared into my glass. I was thinking that if I got hold of that acid-throwing bastard first there wouldn't be much left of him for Honnister to deal with. Presently Penny said, 'I can't say, "A penny for your thoughts", or you might get the wrong idea; but what are you thinking?'

  I said it automatically; I said it without moving my mind. I said, 'I'm thinking it would be a good idea if we got married.'

  'Malcolm!'

  I'm pretty good at detecting nuances but there were too damn many in that single two-syllable word to cope with. There was something of surprise and something of shock; something, I was afraid, of displeasure and something, I hoped, of delight. All mixed up together.

  'Don't you think it's a good idea?' I watched her hunt for words. 'But don't say, "This is so sudden!".'

  'But it is so damned sudden,' she said, and waved her hand at the room. 'Here, of all places.'

  'It seems a good pub to me,' I said. 'Does the place matter?'

  'I don't suppose it does,' she said quietly. 'But the time-and the timing-does.'

  'I suppose I could have picked a better time,' I agreed. 'But it just popped out. I'm not the only one who thinks it's a good idea. Your father does, too; he wanted me to ask you last night.'

  'So you two have been discussing me behind my back. I don't know that I like that.'

  'Be reasonable. It's traditional-and courteous, too-for a man to inform his prospective father-in-law of his intentions.' I refrained from saying that it had been Ashton who had brought up the subject.

  'What would you have done if he had been against it?'

  'I'd have asked you just the same,' I said equably. 'I'm marrying you, not your father.'

  'You're not marrying anyone-yet.' I was thankful for the saving grace of that final monosyllable. She laid her hand on mine. 'You idiot-I thought you'd never ask.'

  'I had it all laid on, but circumstances got in the
way.'

  'I know,' There was melancholy in her voice. 'Oh, Malcolm; I don't know what to say. I've been so unhappy today, thinking about Gillian, and seeing her in such pain. And then there was that awful task you laid on me tonight of questioning her. I saw it had to be done, so I did it-but I don't like one bit of it. And then there's Daddy-he doesn't say much but I think he's going through hell, and I'm worried about him. And now you come and give me more problems.'

  'I'm sorry, Penny; I truly am. Let's put the question back in the deep freeze for a while. Consider yourself unasked.'

  'No,' she said. 'You can't unask a question. In a way that's what my work is all about.' She was silent for a while. I didn't know what she meant by that but I had sense enough to keep my mouth shut. At last she said, 'I will marry you, Malcolm-I'd marry you tomorrow. I'm not one for nonessentials, and I don't want a white wedding with all the trimmings or anything like that. I want to marry you but it can't be now, and I can't tell you when it will be. We've got to get this matter of Gillian sorted out first.'

  I took her hand. 'That's good enough for me.'

  She gave me a crooked smile. 'It won't be the usual kind of engagement, I'm afraid, I'm in no mood for romantic frivolities. Later, perhaps; but not now.' She squeezed my hand. 'Do you remember when I asked you to come here and meet Daddy? It was the night we had the Chinese dinner in your flat.'

  'I remember.'

  'It was a diversion. I had to stop myself from doing something.'

  'Doing what, for God's sake?'

  'Marching into your bedroom and getting into your bed.' She disengaged her hand and finished her drink. 'And now you'd better take me home before I change my mind and we start behaving badly.'

  As I escorted her to the car my heart was like a singing bird and all the other guff poets used to write about. They don't any more; they leave it to the writers of pop songs, which is a pity. I drove her home and stopped the car before the gates, and we had five minutes' worth of love before she got out. She had no key and had to press the button for someone to come.

  I said, 'We won't announce the engagement, but I think your father ought to know. It seems to be on his mind.'

  'I'll tell him now.'

  'Are you going to London tomorrow?'

  She shook her head. 'Lumsden has given me a few days off. He's very understanding.'

  'I'll pop out to see you.'

  'But what about your job?'

  I grinned. 'I have an understanding boss, too.' There was a rattle at the gate and it swung open, pushed by Wills, the dour and unfriendly type who had let me in that afternoon. Penny kissed me and then slipped inside and the gate clanged shut. I stepped up to it, and said to Willis, 'Escort Miss Ashton up to the house, see her safe inside, and make sure the house door is locked.'

  He looked at me for a moment in silence, then smiled, and it was like an ice floe breaking up. 'I'll do that, sir.'

  CHAPTER NINE

  I was in the office early next morning and first I had an extended chat with Nellie. I had just moved to the typewriter when Larry came in with a pile of newspapers which he dumped on his desk. 'Thought you were out on a job.'

  'I am,' I said. 'I'm not here. I'm a figment of your imagination.'

  I finished my list and took it in to Ogilvie, and wasted no time in getting down to the bones of it. I said, 'I don't mind fighting with one hand tied behind my back but I object to having both hands tied. I'll need a list of Ashton's present overt activities and affiliations.'

  Ogilvie smiled and pushed a file across the desk. 'I anticipated you.'

  In return he got my sheet of paper. 'That's more of what I need.'

  He scanned it. 'Six men, six cars, telephone ta…' He broke off. 'Who do you think we are-the CIA?'

  I looked studiously at the back of my hands. 'Have you ever been in the field, sir?'

  'Of course I've…' I looked up and found him smiling sheepishly. The smile disappeared as he said irritably, 'I know; you people think we desk-bound types have lost touch. You could be right.' He tapped the paper. 'Justify this.'

  'I have to do a twenty-four hour secret surveillance of three-perhaps four-people. It'll be…'

  He caught me up on that. 'Which three or four?'

  'First Ashton and Penny Ashton. Then Gillian Ashton, Just because she's been attacked once doesn't give her a lifelong exemption. I might be able to arrange with Honnister to have one of his chaps at the hospital if I ask him nicely enough. That'll take some of the load off us.'

  'And the fourth?'

  'Benson. I pushed the lot of them through the computer until I lost them in Code Purple.'

  'Benson, too?' Ogilvie thought about it. 'You know, the computer might be going by the address only. Anyone living there might be classed with Ashton.'

  'I thought of that and it won't wash. Mary Cope, the maid, lives in and I put her through as a control. Nellie has never heard of her. If Ashton is so damned important then he's six-man-important.'

  'I agree-but you can't keep an eye on four people with six men. I'll let you have eight.' He smiled slightly. 'I must be going soft-headed. If Harrison was handling this he'd cut you down to four.'

  I was taken aback but rallied enough to discuss who we were going to use on the operation. I said, 'I'd like to take Laurence Godwin.'

  'You think he's ready?'

  'Yes. If we don't use him soon hell go sour on us. I've been keeping an eye on him lately; he's been right more times than he's been wrong, which is not bad going in this trade.'

  'Very well.' Ogilvie returned to my list. 'I agree that Ashton's telephones should be tapped. If he's being threatened we want to know about it. I'll have to get authorization from upstairs, though; but I'll be as quick as I can. As for the postal surveillance, that's trickier but I'll see what I can do.' He put his finger down. 'This last item worries me. You'll have to have a damned good reason for wanting a pistol.'

  'Benson's carrying a gun in his oxter, and Ashton is carrying another. If they are expecting that sort of action I think we should be prepared.'

  'You're sure of this?'

  'Dead certain. I'd like to know if they have gun permits.'

  Ogilvie considered it. 'Under the circumstances Ashton might. I don't know about Benson. I'll check.' I'd have given a lot to know what those circumstances were but I didn't ask because I knew he wouldn't tell me.

  We settled a few more minor details, then Ogilvie said, 'Right, that's it. Round up your boys and brief them. I want a recording made of the briefing, the tape to be given to me personally before you leave. Get on with it, Malcolm.' As I was leaving he added, 'I'll authorize two pistols.'

  I went back and gave Larry a list of names. 'Get on the blower. I want those men in my office ten minutes ago.' I paused. 'And put yourself on the bottom of the list.'

  His expression was a study in pure delight. 'You mean…'

  I grinned. 'I mean. Now get busy.' I sat at my desk and opened the file on Ashton. It was very thin. The names and addresses of his firms were given, but his other associations were few, mostly professional men-lawyers, accountants and the like. He was a member of no club, whether social, sporting or intellectual. A millionaire hermit.

  The team assembled and I switched on the tape recorder. The briefing didn't take long. I outlined the problem and then told how we were going to handle it, then allocated jobs and shifts. One pistol would be carried by the man overseeing Ashton, whoever he happened to be at the time; the other I reserved for myself.

  I said, 'Now we have radios so we use them. Stay on net and report often so everyone is clued up all the time. Those off-shift to be findable and near a telephone. You might be needed in a hurry.'

  Simpson asked, 'Do off-shift men go home?' He'd just got back from his honeymoon.

  'No. Everyone books into hotels in or near Marlow.' There was an audible groan. 'As soon as you've done it report which hotel together with its phone number so we can find you. I'm at the Compleat Angler.'

  Br
ent said, 'Living it up on the expense account.'

  I grinned, then said soberly, 'I don't think well have much time for that on this exercise. I might add that this is an important one. You can judge its importance by the fact that Ogilvie raised the team from six to eight on his own initiative and without me having to needle him. In the light of our staff position that says a lot. So don't lose any of these people-and keep your own heads down. Right; that's all.' I switched off the recorder and rewound the tape.

  Larry said, 'You haven't given me a job.'

  'You stick with me. I'll be back in a minute-I'm going to see Ogilvie.'

  As I walked into his outer office his secretary said, 'I was about to ring you, Mr. Jaggard. Mr. Ogilvie wants to see you.'

  'Thanks.' I went on in, and said, 'Here's the tape of the briefing.'

  He was frowning and said directly, 'Did you cancel a request given to Inspector Honnister for copies of his reports on the Ashton case?'

  I put the cassette on his desk. 'Yes.'

  'Why?'

  'Because I thought it was a lot of bull,' I said bluntly. 'It was getting in the way of good relations. What Harrison did was bad enough.'

  'Harrison! What did Joe do?'

  I related Harrison's flat-footed approach and Honnister's reaction to it, and then his views on providing extra copies of his reports. I added, 'If we're going to ask Honnister to provide a guard at the hospital we need to keep in his good books.'

  'Very good thinking," said Ogilvie heavily. 'But for one thing. This department did not request those copies. It came from elsewhere, and someone has just been chewing my ear off by telephone.'

  'Oh,' I said, rather inadequately, and then, 'Who?'

  'Need you ask?' said Ogilvie acidly. 'The gentleman you met yesterday is sticking his oar in-which, I might add, he is perfectly entitled to do.' He rubbed his jaw and amended the statement. 'As long as he restricts himself to requests for information and does not initiate any action.'

  He pondered for a moment, then said, 'All right, Malcolm, you can go. But don't take any precipitate action without referring back to me.'