Go and see him.’
The detective’s lip seemed to curl. He thought this was a clumsy subterfuge to get him off the scene, while we made off. Yet something in our bearing made him hesitate.
‘All right,’ he said at last. ‘But your friend can come with me.’
He took Alan round as surety, and Kay climbed in beside me. The driver of the police car eyed me distastefully, but he turned away long enough for me to slide the jemmy out of my pocket and under the seat.
In a moment the detective arrived back in affable conversation with Gavin. He had seen the car hire receipt. It was in Gavin’s name, and I, uninsured as I was, had really no right to be driving the car, but the detective was quite satisfied.
He compared the receipt with the number of the car he had written down in his little black book.
‘I hope you’re satisfied, Constable,’ I said sententiously. ‘You nearly made a terrible mistake.’
He apologised again and again. There were, it appeared, many dishonest people about, and one had to do one’s duty. He asked us where we were going, and as that was a question we could hardly answer, we vaguely mentioned the Edgware Road as our most rapid route north. He was now bursting with the desire to be of assistance, so he directed us there with a plethora of detail.
As we drove away we suddenly relaxed. To my astonishment, Idiscovered that I had enjoyed every minute of the excitement. This was something nearer to honourable fight than the ignoble brush with the nightwatchman, when I had lied like a petty criminal held by the ear.
But in spite of our elation as we drove away, we could not avoid a feeling of unreality. It was as though we had been picked up, put on a chessboard and moved from square to square. With the lengthened perspective of time it seems even more unreal. It was an incident completely unrelated with anything else that had happened, or was to happen. We were certain that the suspicious hotel proprietor and the detective and his driver would immediately connect the disappearance of the Stone with our untimely leave-taking of Kay’s hotel. Four young Scots in two cars were not that common. Yet not one of them made a connection between us and what they read in the papers or heard on the BBC news a few hours later. I do not know why not, yet I know the incident happened. When you set out on an adventure, happenings have a habit of happening to you. I wonder if the time will ever come when the police arrest you on even a glimmer of suspicion. I hope not. Certainly we were acting unusually, but then it was early on Christmas morning and they had no crime to charge us with. Why they didn’t connect these four youngsters with what happened an hour or two later at the Abbey is beyond any understanding.
Chapter Eleven
Ever beset by doubts, I was on edge again by the time we reached the Edgware Road. It was all a complicated trap, and they were following us about, laughing and waiting to pounce. But it was Kay who laughed, ridiculing any such idea, and at the Edgware Road we turned south, back towards the Abbey. I briefly explained what we now intended and asked if she was fit to go on. She assured me she was. I emphasised that it was a long time until dawn, and that it would be a long day after that, but her teeth flashed in a dark snarl, so I let it go. Her few hours in bed seemed to have done her good, and she was prepared for anything.
Only later did it come to me that yon was never flu. We had chilled her to the marrow. Then we three had stolen the excitement, while we left her sitting all day in a car, alone and waiting for action. When it did not come, her adrenalin ran out on her, and I was too selfish to notice. A kind word was all she needed, and I gave her none. She had always plenty for me, and in her need I failed her. Now, impelled by her enthusiasm and spirit, we went on for our next attempt.
We passed Marble Arch, drove down Park Lane and along Piccadilly to the Circus, which
The detective’s lip seemed to curl. He thought this was a clumsy subterfuge to get him off the scene, while we made off. Yet something in our bearing made him hesitate.
‘All right,’ he said at last. ‘But your friend can come with me.’
He took Alan round as surety, and Kay climbed in beside me. The driver of the police car eyed me distastefully, but he turned away long enough for me to slide the jemmy out of my pocket and under the seat.
In a moment the detective arrived back in affable conversation with Gavin. He had seen the car hire receipt. It was in Gavin’s name, and I, uninsured as I was, had really no right to be driving the car, but the detective was quite satisfied.
He compared the receipt with the number of the car he had written down in his little black book.
‘I hope you’re satisfied, Constable,’ I said sententiously. ‘You nearly made a terrible mistake.’
He apologised again and again. There were, it appeared, many dishonest people about, and one had to do one’s duty. He asked us where we were going, and as that was a question we could hardly answer, we vaguely mentioned the Edgware Road as our most rapid route north. He was now bursting with the desire to be of assistance, so he directed us there with a plethora of detail.
As we drove away we suddenly relaxed. To my astonishment, Idiscovered that I had enjoyed every minute of the excitement. This was something nearer to honourable fight than the ignoble brush with the nightwatchman, when I had lied like a petty criminal held by the ear.
But in spite of our elation as we drove away, we could not avoid a feeling of unreality. It was as though we had been picked up, put on a chessboard and moved from square to square. With the lengthened perspective of time it seems even more unreal. It was an incident completely unrelated with anything else that had happened, or was to happen. We were certain that the suspicious hotel proprietor and the detective and his driver would immediately connect the disappearance of the Stone with our untimely leave-taking of Kay’s hotel. Four young Scots in two cars were not that common. Yet not one of them made a connection between us and what they read in the papers or heard on the BBC news a few hours later. I do not know why not, yet I know the incident happened. When you set out on an adventure, happenings have a habit of happening to you. I wonder if the time will ever come when the police arrest you on even a glimmer of suspicion. I hope not. Certainly we were acting unusually, but then it was early on Christmas morning and they had no crime to charge us with. Why they didn’t connect these four youngsters with what happened an hour or two later at the Abbey is beyond any understanding.
Chapter Eleven
Ever beset by doubts, I was on edge again by the time we reached the Edgware Road. It was all a complicated trap, and they were following us about, laughing and waiting to pounce. But it was Kay who laughed, ridiculing any such idea, and at the Edgware Road we turned south, back towards the Abbey. I briefly explained what we now intended and asked if she was fit to go on. She assured me she was. I emphasised that it was a long time until dawn, and that it would be a long day after that, but her teeth flashed in a dark snarl, so I let it go. Her few hours in bed seemed to have done her good, and she was prepared for anything.
Only later did it come to me that yon was never flu. We had chilled her to the marrow. Then we three had stolen the excitement, while we left her sitting all day in a car, alone and waiting for action. When it did not come, her adrenalin ran out on her, and I was too selfish to notice. A kind word was all she needed, and I gave her none. She had always plenty for me, and in her need I failed her. Now, impelled by her enthusiasm and spirit, we went on for our next attempt.
We passed Marble Arch, drove down Park Lane and along Piccadilly to the Circus, which
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