doesn’t seem in the same league as Joe getting drugged and whisked off unconscious, not to mention being locked up overnight.’ Deepbriar said. ‘I reckon it was just a couple of kids larking about in the village hall.’
‘Joe being kidnapped could still be something to do with Wriggle.’ The younger man looked thoughtful. ‘He’s a mean old beggar, and there’s a lot of bad feeling in the building trade at the moment. Or maybe he’s trodden on Sylvester Rudge’s toes somehow, and this was by way of a warning. Bit drastic though, drugs and kidnapping.’ He looked up as his friend returned. ‘You know Joe, we can’t help wondering if you really were carried off by those little green Martians.’
Joe didn’t return the smile. He shook his head. ‘They were human right enough,’ he said.
Chapter Seven
----
‘W hat makes you so sure the people who locked you up were human?’ Peter Brook asked. ‘No, seriously,’ he went on, as Joe began to protest, ‘I don’t believe the flying saucer story, I can’t see little green men putting something in your cup of tea, but your reasons could help us work out who these men were.’
Deepbriar looked at Brook with new respect. He’d always known the young man was bright, and winning a scholarship to Cambridge had proved it; that was just the sort of thing Mitch O’Hara or Dick Bland came up with.
‘I don’t remember much,’ Joe said. ‘Though I can’t stop thinking about it.’ He stared down into his glass, shamefaced. ‘I never thought I’d be so scared, you know, not of anything. To tell the truth I’ve been having nightmares, and I’d far rather forget the whole thing.’
‘That’s not surprising,’ Deepbriar said. ‘It was enough to give anybody bad dreams, and that’s a fact. Still, finding out who did it and why, well, I’m sure that would make you feel better.’
‘But it’s all over isn’t it? It’s not likely to happen again?’ Spraggs’s face looked drawn, and suddenly much older than his twenty two years.
‘I honestly don’t know,’ Deepbriar said. ‘Because we’ve no idea what’s behind it. I’d rather get the case solved and make sure. I don’t like to think we’ve got villains getting away with a thing like that in Minecliff.’
‘You said your bosses weren’t interested.’ Spraggs protested.
‘No, but I am.’ It was frustrating, having no official backup. For some reason the snatch of conversation he’d overheard at Falbrough police station that morning came to his mind. Like Emily another woman had been driven to report her husband missing. Then a thought struck him. The man’s name was the same as Joe’s. ‘My Joseph’, she’d said. He immediately dismissed the wild idea that the man’s disappearance might be somehow connected to young Spraggs, Joe was a very common name. They were dealing with fact, not fiction.
Deepbriar sighed. ‘I don’t know, Joe, I suppose we could just let the matter drop. The trouble is, if something similar does happen again, maybe the victim won’t just turn up unhurt. Suppose the person who did it has a grudge against you? It could be your Emily they pick on next time.’
At that Joe straightened his shoulders. ‘You’ve got me there.’ He was silent for a moment, staring at nothing, looking back into the past, then he seemed to shake himself and he nodded decisively, meeting Deepbriar’s eyes. ‘All right then, I did see one of the men, though not very well. He looked tall, and broad too. Big all over. And I could see a sort of outline of hair around his head. I think it was a bit long, as if he was overdue to get it cut.’
‘Not bald then,’ Peter Brook put in. He aimed a sidelong glance at Deepbriar. ‘And nothing like wireless aerials sticking out of his skull.’
With a grin, Joe Spraggs punched Brook lightly on the shoulder. ‘No, and before you ask, he only had one head.’
‘Did you see anything else? What he was wearing?’
Joe shook his
‘Joe being kidnapped could still be something to do with Wriggle.’ The younger man looked thoughtful. ‘He’s a mean old beggar, and there’s a lot of bad feeling in the building trade at the moment. Or maybe he’s trodden on Sylvester Rudge’s toes somehow, and this was by way of a warning. Bit drastic though, drugs and kidnapping.’ He looked up as his friend returned. ‘You know Joe, we can’t help wondering if you really were carried off by those little green Martians.’
Joe didn’t return the smile. He shook his head. ‘They were human right enough,’ he said.
Chapter Seven
----
‘W hat makes you so sure the people who locked you up were human?’ Peter Brook asked. ‘No, seriously,’ he went on, as Joe began to protest, ‘I don’t believe the flying saucer story, I can’t see little green men putting something in your cup of tea, but your reasons could help us work out who these men were.’
Deepbriar looked at Brook with new respect. He’d always known the young man was bright, and winning a scholarship to Cambridge had proved it; that was just the sort of thing Mitch O’Hara or Dick Bland came up with.
‘I don’t remember much,’ Joe said. ‘Though I can’t stop thinking about it.’ He stared down into his glass, shamefaced. ‘I never thought I’d be so scared, you know, not of anything. To tell the truth I’ve been having nightmares, and I’d far rather forget the whole thing.’
‘That’s not surprising,’ Deepbriar said. ‘It was enough to give anybody bad dreams, and that’s a fact. Still, finding out who did it and why, well, I’m sure that would make you feel better.’
‘But it’s all over isn’t it? It’s not likely to happen again?’ Spraggs’s face looked drawn, and suddenly much older than his twenty two years.
‘I honestly don’t know,’ Deepbriar said. ‘Because we’ve no idea what’s behind it. I’d rather get the case solved and make sure. I don’t like to think we’ve got villains getting away with a thing like that in Minecliff.’
‘You said your bosses weren’t interested.’ Spraggs protested.
‘No, but I am.’ It was frustrating, having no official backup. For some reason the snatch of conversation he’d overheard at Falbrough police station that morning came to his mind. Like Emily another woman had been driven to report her husband missing. Then a thought struck him. The man’s name was the same as Joe’s. ‘My Joseph’, she’d said. He immediately dismissed the wild idea that the man’s disappearance might be somehow connected to young Spraggs, Joe was a very common name. They were dealing with fact, not fiction.
Deepbriar sighed. ‘I don’t know, Joe, I suppose we could just let the matter drop. The trouble is, if something similar does happen again, maybe the victim won’t just turn up unhurt. Suppose the person who did it has a grudge against you? It could be your Emily they pick on next time.’
At that Joe straightened his shoulders. ‘You’ve got me there.’ He was silent for a moment, staring at nothing, looking back into the past, then he seemed to shake himself and he nodded decisively, meeting Deepbriar’s eyes. ‘All right then, I did see one of the men, though not very well. He looked tall, and broad too. Big all over. And I could see a sort of outline of hair around his head. I think it was a bit long, as if he was overdue to get it cut.’
‘Not bald then,’ Peter Brook put in. He aimed a sidelong glance at Deepbriar. ‘And nothing like wireless aerials sticking out of his skull.’
With a grin, Joe Spraggs punched Brook lightly on the shoulder. ‘No, and before you ask, he only had one head.’
‘Did you see anything else? What he was wearing?’
Joe shook his
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