Chapter 9: Saturday

I was pulling the torpedo behind my bike, it being so named because of the shape of the copper hot water cylinder. This, the largest of the three home-made trailers, ran very well.

James knew the route obviously. "We'll go by way of College Street and out up through the industrial estate. There's a narrow ginnel* for pedestrians but all the cyclists use it and it comes out near Jed's house."

From the front of the university we turned by the church into College Street and were going in single file with James leading. I brought up the rear. The torpedo towed well considering the weight that was loaded in it.

Even from a distance, on the other side of the road we saw the pharmacy had been broken into. The whole of the front was broken out with glass everywhere. James navigated around the broken shards carefully when a dark-clothed man stepped out from the shop.

Oh shi-it!

The uniformed officer, with a white mask over his face, held his hand up imperiously in the old fashioned traffic cop's order to halt.

I thought of scarpering* but he had an automatic slung over his shoulder and a holster at his belt.

If I thought I could get way with just riding past, I would have done so. He looked far more threatening with a mask on, even a white one. Authoritatively, he pointed to exactly to where he wanted us to pull our bikes up.

We stopped as James wheeled around and came back.

I noticed the chemist was standing there watching. He too had a mask over his face. Glancing inside, I saw the grill over the pharmacy section was badly dented but was still intact. Someone had played havoc with the toiletries that he sold. I felt sorry for the pharmacist, he was a nice chap.

'Now young man, Miss," the constable looked at Sarita after addressing me, "I'm interested in a couple of incidents on Friday."

The chemist threw a couple of medical masks over to us. The reason was evident. The policeman, I recognised him from the previous day, he waited patiently.

"Yesterday, fore-noon, we find there was a fatality, at the university, the steps to that building, the big one, behind Administration." He spoke with brevity. "It so happens that a young man, fitting your description, was seen in the vicinity and you, Miss..."

"Doctor," Sarita boldly corrected.

"And you, Doctor, fitted the description of a young female student, who was seen speaking to the suspect, a few minutes earlier."

I was about to open my mouth.

He glared at me, quite nerve-wracking it was.

"I advise you to say nothing that might incriminate you."

Was that a formal caution? Quickly, I ran through the words they used on the police programmes on TV. I knew them by heart as everyone else must do; 'You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.'

No, he'd not said that but even so, this looked bad, a charge of murder.

I was still pondering this as he took a deep breath. "There was also another incident. Do you know Wesley Street?"

I had no idea where it was. But I decided not to even admit to that.

"Late last night a Chinese gentleman, one Ho Yee, alerted us to the fact that noises were emerging from one of his rubbish skips. I have to say that we recovered one, Dirk Stirkland from the said skips. As the hospital is closed, we transported him home." Pointedly, he stared at the police Ford Transit* van.

"Subsequent questioning elicited the information that he was attacked by a number of Pakistani gentlemen and one female of your description Mi ... Doctor." He raised his head in Sarita's direction.

"Now comes the interesting part, he was adamant that a gentleman a little taller than yourself but attired in similar clothing to you was directing the attackers, 'a Whitey, ' as described in his statement. We must take the information very seriously for I'm not sure the man will survive without being crippled for life, if he lives at all. Not only that but another body was recovered early this morning at the same location, namely that of one, Geoffey Timmins.

"Now, before I ask if you have any information you should tender to our enquiries, let me say that all three gentlemen, involved in fighting, are well known to myself and my fellow officers. Sidney Stableman, found at the university was a porter and we now understand he often masqueraded as a student. We strongly suspect him of attacking young foreign female students on their last day in this country. His modus operandi was to put them on the train with just enough time to catch their plane home, presumably in the hopes no attack would be reported.

"No incidents were reported directly to the East Dowlands Constabulary and it was left to foreign forces to alert us to the problem.

"Another point to bear in mind is that all three of the 'victims, ' he slurred the word with distaste, "often ganged together to conduct violent and criminal acts. Only last night, one of their compatriots was found dead after armed officers sought to apprehend him in the aftermath of an attack and robbery on an elderly and severely ill lady.

"Now, as to your involvement in the incidents, I'm sure you have no knowledge. Mr Cowgate. the pharmacist here, tells me that at the time of the university incident you were in his shop at ten thirty precisely. Is that not right?"

I nodded numbly.

"And my colleague and I saw you a number of times lower down the High Street, so you could not have got there and returned to the campus in the time specified?"

I was struck dumb and Sarita glanced at me dead-faced.

"Now we come to the trash bin incident. As we both escorted you to the clinic, I'm sure we were not wrong in seeing you picked up by a hospital car on its way to the Area Health Offices. And my wife tells me that Mrs. Dear, who works there, said you were there all afternoon. Poor Mrs. Dear, she has since succumbed to that bloody disease!"

"Yes," piped up James, "I went out on my bike to show them the way to my shop, late it was."

"Precisely," went on the serious bobby. "Then we have a problem and that is that you two are on the black list of a number of rather nasty layabouts and yobbos who can prove to be very dangerous. I must warn you that you are in no small amount of danger and to take due regard to the potential violence of the associates of the men of whom I have spoken."

He could speak in longer sentences now but his speech was ponderous and slow.

"Can you tell me where you're going now? Perhaps our van might be making a patrol in the same direction?"

"I was just taking them to my cousin's out beyond Jepson Drive."

"I think we can get those bikes and stuff in the van. What's in them by the way?"

He really did examine my paid bill for the water. He took more interest in that than anything else. He looked at it and then up at me and again at the heavy containers we had behind our bikes.

It occurred to me, this was just a ruse to get me to come quietly because the back of the van was locked with a key from outside. Later, I assumed it was a habit that was difficult to break.

We passed the industrial estate and slowed down, navigating our way past boxes cartons, bottles, broken and even splashes of blood on the road.

He called out from behind the grill at the front, "Was like a riot here at 4.a.m. this morning. The rampaging had finished in town and we came up to look for some bottled water." That explained his study of my receipt. "One burst from the Heckler & Koch* and it cleared like magic."

"You were a lucky sod," he threw over his shoulder, "No water here now, we looked."

I was already thinking of giving him some of our water when I saw it.

"But!" I exclaimed.

There, parked in a row of unmoving lorries, where it had been marshalled into the queue for the builders' merchants stood a green curtained artic*. Along with a truck full of cement, there were others waiting in line before a barred gate; plywood, concrete blocks and big pipes were there as well as a Spanish truck full of slate and one of bricks. Momentarily, I wondered how long they would all be stuck in that unmoving queue.

Yes it was the green truck, Showers' Plumbers was written over the side diagonally. The HGV* looked quite in place in the line of heavy goods vehicles laden with builders' materials there.

I grimaced as I saw what I knew to be the dead body of the driver slumped over the wheel. The 'flu struck quickly when it came. I started to detail the last time I'd seen him, "Thursday," but broke off, "Let me out, please."

Once outside, I tried to draw back the heavy plastic curtain-side. It was held down by thick canvas straps and locked into place by a mechanism I did not understand.

Bobby, I don't know if that was his name or nickname but that was what James addressed him as, he stepped in to help. Not knowing why, he drew back a section of canvas and peered inside.

"It's all bottled water," I pointed out, "the same as I have. It's a new brand name. The driver was explaining to the forklift driver that the plumbers' merchants had gone bankrupt and he worked for the leasing firm. He'd over run his hours trying to find this warehouse. That's why he was running late. He didn't look too well when I saw him."

I indicated the signs by the loading bay,

PERISHABLES ONLY UNLOADED AFTER 4.P.M.

BY ORDER

"They wouldn't take the delivery from him and someone had directed him to the builders' yard. They only have outgoing stuff from the warehouse. I know, there's loads of customers in the evenings. It gets really busy. All the warehouse staff were occupied with finding customers' orders."

Bobby's face hardly moved. He got onto his radio and then came over, "I'll stay here and wait for my colleagues then we'll get that artic down to the station yard. There'll be enough to hand out to those who need it."

He was considering how to go about this and turned in our direction, "You'll be OK from here." Addressing James he announced, "You tell your cousin, there'll be no police to stop him taking you back into town on that little blue pickup of his." He even tore a page out of a pad from the dashboard of the transit van and passed it over. "That'll see you right, but tell him it only applies within the town and out to here and that's today only."

I took quite a few minutes to get out the three bikes from the back of the van. Then the rectangular plastic water tank trailer was hefted out and was hitched up to Sarita's bike. I again had the heaviest, the copper water cistern while the rectangular plywood trailer full of water was towed by James.

It was obvious he was known to the officer, "Better be careful, James, I shouldn't be seen too much with this pair. We know it's a case of mistaken identity but no need to court trouble. Remember, you two. James tells me, you're getting out of Dodge. Good advice, the sooner the better and watch that 'flu. There's a lot vicious men out there too, oh, and women!"

As we got ourselves on the way Sarita asked quietly, "Did he mean me? He was looking at me when he said it."

"I'm sure not."

And then I concentrated on pedalling up the small incline to Jed's house.

Jed was as different from James as I could imagine. He had a neat house, neat lawns and beautiful children. When we came into the kitchen, invited by his wife, we were regarded with suspicion until they recognised what was in the cases. We sent the children to fetch in all the bottles that had been in my torpedo, the dimensions of the aperture too small to take a full case although there were over forty one-litre bottles in it.

I'll say this, on his own, I think Jed would have taken us for a ride after we presented the water to him without obligation but when he started iffing and butting* about what it was worth, his wife and James let him know what was what.

I saw a different, confident side to Sarita. One of the children was poorly and it was a great relief when she diagnosed chicken pox and gave instructions on how to deal with it.

Damn me if she didn't take Mrs. Jed, sorry Mrs. Carmody, upstairs to give her an examination or something. Then they, Mrs. C. and Sarita called up her teenage daughter too. Goodness knows what they were doing.

There was just room in the back of the pick-up for me and the three bikes and trailers while Sarita squashed into the bench seat in front.

Once at the shop, I could see there was a lot we needed. His shop had climbing gear and sports stuff, tennis, rugger, cricket and the like on the ground floor. Upstairs were the tents, sleeping bags and camping paraphernalia including clothing. I don't know what was in the basement.

No wonder he didn't live on the premises. There was no room.

Our list suddenly increased when we saw what there was; camping food, stove, fuel, camping pots and lightweight mugs.

Finally I confided in James that I had a stock of more water, "I'm prepared to let Jed have a lot more if he ups what we can pick from his shop."

Jed was nice bloke but very sharp where money was concerned, a bit too sharp, if you know what I mean? When Jed learned that he might have water enough to sell some he became very interested. He was like my granddad but Gramps never showed emotion when dealing and though Gramps struck a good bargain, the other party always thought they had a good deal.