They slept badly on the plane and Gerald organised a taxi from the airport. As they drove up the country roads towards Gerald’s house they almost ran into a crowd of people that were gathered outside the gates.
“What on earth is going on here,” said Gerald irritably.
A police constable leaned through the window.
“Are you the owner of this house, sir?”
“I am, what are all these people doing here.”
“There has been something of an incident, sir, I must ask you to accompany me to the incident room.”
As they grew nearer the gates, they saw the army vehicles that were drawn up and a gaggle of scruffy reporters with cameras and microphones who immediately deluged Gerald with questions. The police immediately formed a wall of bodies between the paparazzi and Gerald.
“I must ask you to accompany me to the police station.” This policeman looked to Gerald more senior.
“I am not going anywhere until I have an explanation,” Gerald blustered. “If you want me to go to the police station then I would expect to have my lawyer with me.”
“In that case, sir, perhaps you would prefer if I arrested you.”
“Arrest me in connection with what?”
“There is quite a list, sir, perhaps you could start the explaining why you seem to have an arms dump on your premises together with stores of illegal drugs. Perhaps then you could explain how it all came to explode. Perhaps you could explain why your two accomplices who we arrested here earlier seem to think that you could sort the matter out for them. Perhaps also you could explain the meaning of the can found just inside the gate giving a warning about ‘Depleted Uranium’. I also understand that the Army has found the radioactivity level as they approached the house to be substantial. Perhaps you could explain that.”
“There has been some enormous mistake,” said Gerald, quietly. “I will go with you voluntarily to help you sort it out. You don’t need to arrest me. I am a responsible citizen of the United Kingdom. I even do business with the government and there are people in a very high places who will be very unhappy about my treatment.”
“Well the sooner we get you down the station, the sooner we can get to the bottom of this,” said the officer.
“What about me, “said Carolyn.
“If you give your name to my colleague, so that we can contact you if we need you, you are then free to go,” said the officer.
By the time Carolyn had dictated her address and name, Gerald had sped away with three officers in a police car.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned round to see Mike standing there.
“I never really thought I’d be so pleased to see you,” she said, simply.
“The explosions were on the local radio this morning and they gave the address. I was worried about you and so thought I would come and see what was happening. Would you like a lift?” Mike said this well in the hearing of the police officer.
When they were in the car, they drove without speaking for five minutes. Carolyn’s mind was a jumble and full of questions.
“You were told to come and collect me, I suppose,” she said.
“Correct, but I don’t know any more than the police or yourself about what has happened. All I know is what was on the news this morning and that it is very big. The police are saying that they are in possession of a dossier giving them information that cracked a criminal organisation wide open involving illegal drugs, illegal gambling and illegal arms trade. It seems that your friend Gerald may be involved in all these things together with the his two associates.”
“I must admit I was very relieved when the telephone call came last night and we had to come back. It was definitely a case has saved by the bell,” said Carolyn.
“I won’t need to be rubbing on any lotion then,” smiled Mike.
“No, but if we have a few spare pounds after all this is over, the trip to Lanzarote has wetted my appetite for a bit of sun. You can rub on some suntan lotion there if you like.”
Mike laid his hand on hers as it rested on her knee. “I’m glad you came out of it in one piece,” he said. “Going away on a very long holiday sounds very nice indeed.”
He was rewarded by a very large smile of agreement from Carolyn
