Chapter 16

For a moment Clive stood stupefied and then forgetting his intention to remain silent blurted out, "You?"

There was a further moment of hesitation as he questioned whether to attack with the chloroform pad in his hand or run before he incriminated himself further. He chose the latter and turned to find himself confronted by two burly men, one of whom grabbed his right wrist in a grip of steel.

"Aren't you going to accept Mr Clifford's invitation?" he asked and, turning Clive round again, propelled him into the house and through to the kitchen.

"Have you a plastic bag handy, Mrs Clifford?" he continued.

Briony opened a drawer and produced one which she handed to the other man who had pulled on some rubber gloves.

"Thank you," he said, opened the bag and held it under Clive's chloroform pad.

"Drop," he ordered. Clive did so and the man closed the bag, wrapping it and placing it away from everyone on the draining board. He then frisked Clive finding the handcuffs, gag, a packet of condoms, a tube of lubricating jelly and a bottle of Viagra. He placed all these beside the bag on the draining board. From his own pocket he produced a pair of more business-like handcuffs. He pulled a chair back from the kitchen table.

"Sit," he ordered and as soon as Clive was bundled into the chair handcuffed his wrists to it. He took another pair of handcuffs from his pocket and attached one of Clive's legs to the chair leg.

The first man held out his hand to Tom. "Brian," he said.

Tom shook it warmly.

"And this is Len," he said indicating the other man. Tom shook hands with him too.

"Well," continued Brian, "would you care to call the police, sir?"

"Why?" interjected Clive.

"So that you can explain to them, sir, why you turned up here wearing a mask and carrying chloroform when you believed Mr Clifford to be in Scotland and his wife at home on her own."

Clive was silent again.

Tom rang the police. "Good evening," he said. "I have a man at my house who was attempting to gain entry armed with a chloroform pad. He believed my wife to be here on her own. His pockets contained various things that indicate that he intended to rape my wife." He gave his address.

"On their way," he said turning to the others. "Would you two like a cup of tea or something stronger?"

"Tea would go down a treat," answered Brian.

Briony busied herself also putting a tin of biscuits on the kitchen table.

Conversation was desultory during the twenty minutes before the police arrived, two male constables. Brian disconnected the recording device from the telephone and found Clive's call of the previous Wednesday.

PC Strong introduced himself and PC Abbott and appeared to be the leader. "Mr Clifford," he said. "Is there somewhere that we can talk privately?"

Tom led him to the sitting room and they both sat down.

"We'll need to take proper statements from all of you later, sir," he said, "but would you please give me a brief résumé of the background to this evening's incident and the incident itself."

"Certainly," said Tom. "Mr Wheeler is my director. Ever since he met my wife at an office party some nine months ago he has shown a strong attraction to her. His wife recently divorced him and she warned us that he had set his sights on Briony and would pursue her single mindedly. I engaged the services of a private detective agency, the two men here this evening. I am supposed to be in Scotland at the moment but, because I thought Mr Wheeler might take advantage of my absence, with my chairman's agreement, I returned here the day after the team deployed, a week ago yesterday. On Wednesday my wife received a phone call from Mr Wheeler suggesting that they go away together for last weekend. She turned him down. We have a record of the conversation. Brian, that's the private detective, placed a tracker on his car. Mr Wheeler came down last Sunday when he thought my wife was at her parents' house and had a sniff round. He returned here this evening. My wife and I were warned off and Brian and his assistant hid outside. I answered his knock on the door. He was wearing the mask he still has on and was carrying a pad of chloroform. That's in a plastic bag in the kitchen. With it are various aids of a sexual nature and a pair of handcuffs. It is my belief that having failed to persuade my wife to have sex with him he had decided to rape her."

PC Strong looked up from his notebook and eyed him steadily for a few seconds. "Thank you, sir," he said. "Would you be kind enough to ask Brian to come in and have a word?"

Tom did so.

PC Strong smiled at Brian when he entered the room. "Hello, Brian," he said. "You haven't been involved in a criminal investigation for quite a while as far as I'm aware."

Brian smiled back. "No, Jim, just the usual run of unfaithful spouses."

"Mr Clifford reckons your prisoner intended to rape his wife."

"So do I. I was instrumental in obtaining the evidence for Mrs Wheeler to sue for divorce. Off the record, he's callous, ruthless and selfish. Did Mr Clifford mention that when he was away another time Wheeler invited Mrs Clifford over for the weekend when he knew but Mrs Clifford didn't that his wife would be away?"

"No he didn't."

"I don't doubt he'd have tried it on that weekend, possibly not rape or abduction. It would have been too risky."

"Right. I think we'll take this joker and his toys in. Let's go back to the others."

They returned to the kitchen.

"We'll be taking Mr Wheeler to the station with us," said PC Strong. "Bag up the evidence, Harry. We'll need to take formal statements from the rest of you over the next forty-eight hours. Please would you ring the station on Pitsbury 449642 tomorrow morning and make an appointment to come in and do so." He took some handcuffs from his belt. "Brian would you release Mr Wheeler, please?"

Len did so. PC Strong snapped his own handcuffs on Clive's wrists and the police led him away.

Briony ran to Tom and flung her arms round him. "Thank you, my darling Tom-Tom," she said softly and then turning to the others but still holding Tom's hand, "and thank you both too. I can't tell you how relieved I am that that man's in custody. God bless you all."

"Yes indeed," added Tom. "Now that the police have gone would you like the something stronger?"

"I could murder a beer," said Brian.

"Me too," added Len.

"Coming up," replied Tom. "Darling?"

"White wine, please. I'll do it."

Tom put two cans of beer and two glasses on the table. "Help yourselves," he grinned. "Quicker that way."