Where the Action Is

Chapter 13 - Progress

It was not long before the police car reached the inn. There, one of the officers got out and knocked at the door which was used by residents. Mrs Ibbotson, the innkeeper’s wife, opened the door.

‘What is it?’ she asked, seeming to wonder if she had committed a heinous crime, and was about to be transported to Wormwood Scrubs in chains.

The officer explained.

‘Oh dear! Well, you’d better bring them into the kitchen, where it’s warm,’ the inkeeper’s wife replied.

So Jack and Alan were taken into the inn kitchen. They could walk, but they had to be half-carried into the kitchen. There they sat down in front of the old kitchen range, which had a fire burning in it. Just as they got there, Mrs Blundell came into the kitchen, followed by Impie and Juliett.

‘Have you ...’, began Mrs Blundell. Then she saw Jack. ‘Jacynth Irving, where have you been? We couldn’t find you anywhere. And you’re wet! And who’s that with you? And why are the police here??

‘One question at a time!’ Mrs Ibbotson tried to calm her down. ‘I’ll tell you later.’

Then Adrian came in.

‘If you’re alright now,’ he said to Jack and Alan, ‘I really ought to be back at the Silver Star. I can’t leave Keith on his own when I’m supposed to be there as well.’

The police constable turned to him.

‘I don’t think you are needed now, Mr Leslie. We have to go back into Thelstone you can come with us.’

‘Thank you, officer, that’s kind of you.’

He turned to Mrs Ibbotson.

‘Can you keep Alan here tonight, please. I’ll come for him tomorrow, and take him home.’

‘Yes, I can do that. Leave it to me,’ said the capable hostess.

Meanwhile Mrs Blundell was trying to find out that had happened. When the police and Adrian had left, Mrs Ibbotson turned from stoking the fire in the kitchen range and told her quickly what the policeman had told her, and asked her to help get their two charges dry and warm.

And so, for the next half hour or so, they cleaned up Jack and Alan. Alan was given some of Mrs Ibbotson’s son’s clothes, and he put them on, for he was able to stand and dry himself and so on, behind a screen by the fire. Then it was Jacks turn, and afterwards they were given hot drinks, and the others asked them what had really happened. Mrs Blundell was angry with Jack, but not as much as she might have been, she was relieved that Jack was safe. However, she warned Jack not to go out again, in no uncertain terms. Juliett, Max and Impie were also warned to be careful, for they were under the protection of the people at the inn, and their guardians were liable for their safety.

Meanwhile, on the cliffs above the cave, Ed and his men waited for the smugglers to return. Two of them were inside the cave, Ed and Andy Esmond were on the top of the cliff, in radio contact with those in the cave. They did not have to wait long, before Andy saw a car coming. He told Ed, who went to the radio in the car, which was now hidden in the bushes, and warned Johnson and Fairhead that someone was coming.

‘We’ll be ready for them if they come down here!’ Fairhead answered. ‘This could be our chance to break the gang!’

However, the car went straight on down the road, without stopping. It was a false alarm. Another quarter of an hour went by before anything else happened. Then again there was the sound of a car approaching, slowing down. Ed radioed the news to the others. The car stopped, the doors opened, then slammed shut. Two men got out.

‘Here they come,’ said Ed, ‘be ready. We will follow them down. We can’t use the radio any more, they’ll hear us.’

‘Roger!’ answered Fairhead, ‘over and out!’

The men came down the path, past where Ed and Andy were now hidden. The policemen waited until they had gone past, and down the cliff, then they followed, keeping out of sight.

The two smugglers entered their cave. At first, shining their torches around, they noticed nothing amiss, then they saw that their prisoners were gone. At first look they thought they were mistaken, then they saw they were not. Their prisoners had escaped! But how could they! Confusion followed. And in the confusion the two police officers came out of hiding. For a moment they were not n oticed. Ed and Andy came in at the cave mouth, and a fight ensued.

It was a violent fight, for the two crooks were strong and used to violence. Once Ed was nearly pushed into the sea, but finally the four policemen overpowered their adversaries, and they were handcuffed. However, the smugglers still tried to fight, but were not successful because of the handcuffs, so they went sullen.

‘What charge have you against us, treating us like this?’ saked one.

‘Well, assault of police officers, kidnapping, smuggling, and a few other charges,’ answered Ed.

‘Prove it!’ The smuggler was bluffing.

Even as he had said that, PC Johnson looked up from where he had been bending over a crate in the corner of the cave.

‘Look at this, Sir,’ he said to Ed.

Ed looked. Johnson had a small box, containing a white powder. Ed sniffed it, ‘Heroin! I think this is evidence of smuggling, don’t you, Esmond?’

‘I’d say so, Sir!’ replied Andy.

And the two protesting men were led off. They made no trouble going up the cliff path, they were afraid they would fall, but when they reached the top, one tried to draw a gun, but with his hands manacled, he had trouble.

‘Search him! Get his gun!; ordered Ed.

This was done, and the men were taken to the concealed police car, into which they were bundled, with a constable each side, and they were driven off to the police station in Thelstone.

At the police station, Inspector Adams and Ed questioned the men for a long time, but they got nothing out of them. They tried to find out where the hideout was, but they got no answer that satisfied them. The men were sullen and silent. Finally, the policemen decided to leave it for a night.

‘Take them away to cool off,’ said John Adams.

So they were locked in the cells for the night.

‘Tomorrow morning,’ said John Adams, ‘we will see if those people they captured will recognise them. For tonight, they can stay where they are.’

Nothing much moe was done about them that night. The customs men were informed of the smuggled heroin, and the fact that two of the smugglers had been caught. Solicitors were got for the men.

The next morning Andy Esmond was sent in a car to the inn at Dana, to collect Alan and Jack. He was to take them to the police station to identify the men. Alan had a cold now, after sitting in cold seawater for such a long time.

When they arrived at the police station, they had to go in to an identification parade, one at a time. Jack went first, and she recognised the two men who had kidnapped her. Alan did also. There was no doubt that these were the men.

‘You’ll have to make a statement,’ said Ed Muldoon.

So, independently, they did. They had to sign their statements, and the final evidence proved that these men were the men the police wanted. Moreover, a search of their pockets had revealed that one man had some of the smuggled heroin on him.

When all the formalities were over, John Adams saw that these were indeed members of the gang. They had to be taken to the police court, to be given a sentence, or released. They had got themselves solicitors that night to defend them, but there was not much defence. Jack and Alan were not needed, for the police had sufficient evidence, and the men had only asked for the police evidence to be given. However, they stayed to hear the case.

Their case was the first that morning. Jack and Alan sat on the public bench, at the back of the court. The press had got wind of the affair, a young reporter sat at the side of the court, taking notes. The case lasted quite a while, and at the end of it, the men were remanded in custody pending further enquiries. Afterwards, the two witnesses were driven back to Dana by the police and warned to be careful, in case there was trouble.

Adrian arrived just as they got to the inn, to collect Alan. The policeman told him of all that had happened. He warned him also of the trouble there could well be.

‘Do you really want to go out to the forts?’ said the officer. ‘It may not be safe, though we’ll do our best.’

‘Yes,’ said Adrian, ‘I must. It’s my life.’

‘Very well, we will guard the place,’ replied the officer. The policeman went off, and Adrian drove Alan to his flat in Thelstone.

There were still over four days left of Adrian’s shore leave. Everything was quiet for a while. The police kept an eye on Alan and Adrian and on the Thelstone office of Radio Madeleine. However, the crooks were lying low. After the capture of their two men, they were not too sure what to do. They were sure the men would say nothing, and finally their unscrupulous leader decided to abandon them. No trail could be found to lead from these two men to the gang. These men were English, their guns had been bought, howbeit illegally, in England, they were on no files. It would go down as a case of kidnapping. The smugglers also moved their hideout.

Two daya before Adrian was to return to the fort, lights and activity were again noticed on White Sands Fort. John Adams sent out some men to investigate. A few traces of occupation were found, but nothing definite. There was good in a box on one of the towers, and this food was mostly tinned. There was some bread, but this had gone stale. Although this gave no indication as to whom it had belonged, it was obvious that the fort had been occupied, and not long ago, either.

The police held a conference at Thelstone police station. It was a problem. They were on to something big, should they call in the Yard? They were no nearer to finding Clarence’s murderer, nor the ones who attacked the policeman. He had recovered, but the attack had caused great alarm.

‘We must keep White Sands Fort under surveillance,’ said John Adams. ‘Also we should keep an eye on that inn. I do not think these men will attack the inn, being at present full of people, but we must cover everything. We promised to guard the radio fort as well. It is not yet out of danger.’

The others agreed.

‘Have we enough men?’ Ed asked him.

‘We can spare two men in a launch,’ Inspector John Adams replied. ‘They can patrol the coast, and we must ask the coastguards to keep an eye on the forts.’

‘If we have some men keeping a look out at night, we should keep the radio people safe. After all, the last attack was at night; it’s all right then, sir. They would not try anything in daylight.’

‘What about calling in the Yard?’ asked Andy Esmond. ‘Things are getting hot round here!’

‘Yes, I think we should call them in,’ said John Adams. ‘And at once, too. I asked the Chief Constable and he agrees with me.’

So the Thelstone police force called in the Yard, which duly arrived in the form of Superintendent George Richardson, a slightly obese man of about forty-five, who perpetually sucked an unlit pipe. He was a little more hostile to the offshore radio station than were the Thelstone police, and he got no further in his investigations than they had, for the smugglers had moved their hideout, and the captured men refused to talk. So the situation remained static and nothing happened for a while.