Scotch Mist Read Free Page A

along the autobahn suggested you were planning to resume circuit racing.’
    Her blue eyes sparkled with amusement. ‘You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Come out with me one weekend and I’ll show you real speed.’
    â€˜No, thanks.’
    â€˜Chicken?’
    â€˜No, ma’am, I just don’t intend to give the Polizei the huge pleasure of nicking a British military policeman for breaking their law.’
    Herr Blomfeld arrived at their table to ask if they wished for another carafe of wine, but Clare’s mobile rang so he deferentially retired again. His disapproval of diners who chatted on their designer telephones during a meal did not extend to this pair he knew well. A doctor and a detective had to be on call wherever they were. The German merely deplored so many meals half eaten due to emergencies.
    As Max watched Clare’s expression he guessed they would have to leave, then his own mobile rang and he knew why. Swiftly settling their bill they went out to Clare’s car, she concerned with the casualties waiting in her surgery and Max sharing Tom’s anger over what had occurred. It had clearly not been a prank. There had been past occasions when squaddies had secretly inserted a firework or two in the bonfire, or a few empty aerosol cans for a laugh, but what Tom had described sounded far more serious. Too serious for George Maddox’s team. SIB would have to shoulder the burden of bringing the perpetrator to book.
    The base was home to battalions of the West Wiltshire Regiment and the Royal Cumberland Rifles, as well as to small specialized units of Royal Engineers, Royal Signals, the Intelligence Corps, the Army Air Corps and several others. In addition, a battalion of a unique Scottish regiment was due to march in today. That would add to the difficulty SIB would have to overcome. As a collector of old black and white war films, Max often thought of the cinematic phrase ‘a cast of thousands’ whenever a case was not clear cut.
    On reaching their apartments they parted, for Clare to collect her medical bag and replace her spangled top for a plain T-shirt. Max exchanged his smart jacket and tailored slacks for wool trousers and a padded waterproof anorak, before making a large flask of coffee. It promised to be a long, chilly night.
    When he left his apartment Clare’s car was no longer beside his own. He hoped she would not be caught speeding in her anxiety to reach the base. She was a very competent doctor who was still fighting strong resistance to a female MO. Had she been middle-aged and motherly the troops would have more easily confessed their problems to her, but she was in her late twenties, blonde and easy on the eye. The natural instinct in young, red-blooded males was to peacock before someone like Clare, not to appear in any way less than fully virile.
    Max drove thoughtfully, knowing haste was not necessary in his own case. Tom, with Piercey, Connie and Heather, was already on the spot and had actually witnessed the explosion. In addition, Maddox’s men had patrolled the area prior to the arrival of spectators, and they would have details of all the activity by those preparing the fireworks display.
    Even as he reviewed all that, Max wondered how someone had managed to bypass police scrutiny to sabotage the bonfire with such explosive material. Maddox must be a very unhappy man right now. However, until they could establish what that material had been, no blame could reasonably be laid.
    At the main gate the barrier was down, and Max was obliged to produce identification despite being well known to the guard.
    â€˜Top security in force, sir. There’s been an incident. The base is sealed until further notice.’
    Privately congratulating Tom on his swift action, Max was nevertheless disturbed by the possibility that there had been some kind of enemy attack here. Had this important base been penetrated by a terrorist? Every six months