The Burning Man Read online

  ‘How’re my two officers?’ Carter said, walking over to the medic.

  ‘They’ll be fine,’ he said. ‘The lady has severe bruising to the ribs. Nothing broken. She’ll be sore for a while, and her face will be a bit black and blue. She’ll be ugly for a few weeks. Just keep her away from the public for a while because that face might scare them,’ he laughed. ‘Other than that, she’s fine. There won’t be any lasting damage. As for your mate, he has a cut on the head. He’ll be back at work tomorrow.’ He looked at Carter. ‘Okay, let’s take a look at you, shall we?’

  After the paramedics had given Carter the once-over, and he’d refused to go to the hospital, the driver was about to get up into the cab when shouting and yelling started coming from the back of the other ambulance. All of a sudden, the back doors were thrown open, and PC Best came out, fell to the ground and lay there. The medic who was in there with them could be seen laying slumped across the bed.

  Kelly leapt out from the back of the ambulance and started to run to towards the farmhouse. He was holding something in his hand. Kirby saw what it was.

  ‘He’s got the remote,’ she yelled out.’

  Coming around the front of the ambulance, Kelly ran smack into PC Cotton, catching him off balance and knocking him to the ground. He recovered, and quickly getting to his feet, gave chase. With both ambulance crews watching, from behind the cover of their vehicles, Carter also gave chase, but his injured leg slowed him down. He called out to Kelly to stop, telling him there was no place to run to.

  ‘Stop him, for Christ sake,’ yelled Lynch, as PC Cotton ran past. Don’t let him get to the house.’ Lynch started to run. Cotton began to gain ground on Kelly as the pair raced across the courtyard. What happened next was quick, precise and unpredicted. Kelly came to an immediate halt, and spinning around, hit Cotton on the jaw sending him crashing to the ground. Holding up the remote detonator, he yelled out for them all to stop.

  ‘Come any closer, and I will set it off. There’s enough explosive in that cellar to blow us all to kingdom come. Now, all of you back off.’ Carter and Lynch did as they were told.

  ‘You too,’ he said to Cotton, as he started to get up from the ground.

  Putting distance between them. Kelly started to walk to the door of the farmhouse.

  ‘Eades has to die,’ he called out. ‘He killed my brother.’

  ‘My god,’ exclaimed Carter. ‘He doesn’t know we’ve found the cellar. He thinks Eades is still in there.’

  ‘Martin. You’re sick, you need help. Put down that remote and give yourself up, pleaded Lynch.

  ‘On the count of three, he will be no more. My brother will be avenged.’

  ‘Don’t do it, Martin. Eades is not in the cellar. He’s back there in the other ambulance,’ said Carter, pointing to it.

  ‘No, he’s not. He’s where I left him. One…’

  ‘If you don’t believe me, Martin, come and see for yourself.’

  ‘He’s here with me. Two…’

  ‘Martin. Please think about it. This is not the way it has to end.’

  ‘Three…’ He raised it above his head.

  Carter yelled. ‘Everybody. Get down.’. They all threw themselves to the ground, waiting for the explosion.

  Silence. No bang. No earthquake. No explosion.

  Carter slowly raised his head. The others lifted theirs. They could see that Kelly was vigorously stabbing his finger on the remote button. It was not working.

  Seeing his chance, Carter shouted over at the two PCs. ‘He can’t detonate it. It’s not working. Grab him. Quick. Get the bastard!’

  The two PCs got to their feet and sprinted towards Kelly. Seeing them coming, Kelly made a dash for the house. He got to the front door with Cotton and Best close behind. Kelly dived in, slammed, and locked it. Best slammed his boot against the door, but it held firm.

  ‘Round to the back,’ called Lynch, as he came up behind them.

  Carter, who was not far behind, suddenly stopped and realised what Kelly intended. He remembered what he had seen in that box down in the cellar. Fuse caps. All it needed was just one match to set it off.

  ‘No,’ he ordered. ‘Forget it. I’m not taking any chances. I think he’s going to set it off with blasting caps. Move well back. Get back,’ he yelled.

  They all turned and started to run back to the shelter of the ambulances. As they got there, suddenly there was a blinding flash, like sheet-lightning, and a giant ball of fire belched upward. There was a tremendous roar, and the ground beneath their feet trembled and shook. A fist of orange flame punched its way out of the house and up to the heavens. The whole back end of the house appeared to be sucked up with it. All the windows on the ground floor suddenly shattered and blew outwards sending glass and tongues of flame shooting out across the courtyard.

  The force from the blast was so strong that it knocked Hollingsworth and the ambulance driver to the ground. The air suddenly became filled with bits of flying debris. Like a violent hailstorm, pieces of glass, bricks, and tiles cascaded down on them landing over the parked cars. Bits and pieces from inside the kitchen became shrapnel and glass hissed through the air like someone swinging a scythe. One part of roof tile went straight through the windscreen of the ambulance and ended up in the passenger’s seat.

  As the noise gradually subsided, the dust cloud slowly moved away down the drive towards the tunnel. Hollingsworth, with his ears still ringing, staggered slowly to his feet, and looked around. The others on the other side of the ambulance had escaped most of the blast but not all the falling debris. Red brick dust clung to their clothing and coated their hair.

  ‘Is everyone okay? asked Carter, helping the medic up onto his feet.

  ‘Holy shit,’ said the second medic, coming out from the back of the ambulance. He stood on the step and stared at the ruined farmhouse. It looked as if some giant had bitten a great chunk from out of the side of the house and roof. ‘What the fuck just happened?’

  Hollingsworth looked shocked as he stood there with small bits of dirt in his hair. He looked at the assembled faces around him, then at the remote that was still clutched tightly in his hand that he’d picked up on the way back. He held it out for Carter and Richardson to see.

  Carter took it from him. ‘It’s the remote controller?’ He slipped it into his pocket. And then, in his best Michael Caine voice, Carter quietly said. ‘You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off.’

  With confusion showing on his face, Hollingsworth looked up at the DCI.

  ‘The Italian Job,’ Carter said earnestly.

  Still looking stunned and shocked, Hollingsworth replied. ‘The what?’

  ‘Never mind,’ answered Carter.

  ‘I think the stuff in the cellar was unstable,’ said Carter. ‘It looked to me as if it was sweating.’

  A thought suddenly struck Carter. While the others were looking over at the remains of the shattered farmhouse, he took the remote from his pocket, turned it over and opened the back, then it then put it back into his pocket again. He said to himself. ‘The stupid sod.’

  There was silence as they all stood looking at the smoking remains of what was once the kitchen. Carter said, ‘So much for all the evidence we had. It’s all gone up in smoke.’

  ‘Geez, what a mess. Glad we weren’t in there,’ said PC Best, looking across at the smoking heap of bricks and timber.

  Jill Richardson stood brushing down her jeans and picking bits out of her hair then shook her head, dislodging some more bits.

  After a few seconds, Carter looked at his watch, sighed and said, ‘Let’s get finished up here, get everyone off to the hospital and get back to the station. You two stay here and get the place locked down,’ he said, addressing PCs Cotton and Best. ‘There’s still work to be done. Forensics will need to come in, and if there’s time after that we’ll adjourn to the Bear. I think we all deserve a few beers after this lot. It might even ease my aches and pains. First round’s on me.’

/>   Chapter 25

  Sunday 12:30 p.m.

  The day started off with the promise of rain, but for once the weathermen had got it wrong. Under a cloudless blue sky, the sun shone out bright and warm. Dressed up in an apron and a chef’s hat, Luke Hollingsworth flipped over the meat causing a tantalising aroma of steak and onions to drift on the afternoon air to every corner of the garden.

  ‘Food up in about ten minutes,’ he called out.

  Helen Walters came over and handed him a beer. ‘Get this down your neck.’

  ‘Cheers. How are you feeling, Helen?’ he said, as he piled the last of the pork sausages onto the tray.

  ‘I’m great thanks, Luke. In fact, I wanted to talk to you. There’s a great movie next Saturday night at Canterbury. I wonder if you’d like to go and see it with me?’

  ‘Err, yes. I’d like that. Hey. Maybe we could make an evening of it and go for a meal as well. What do you think?’

  ‘Sounds great. If you like Italian food, there’s a new restaurant opened down on the Burgate. I hear it’s delicious.’

  He smiled. ‘I’ll eat anything. Here, give me a hand to put these on the table.’ He handed Helen a tray, then picked up the one full of steaks. ‘Grub up everyone. Come and get it.’

  Once they were all seated around the table, Ted Baxter stood up and called for silence. ‘We have come here today to celebrate Christine’s birthday. Not only that — it’s the first time she has set eyes on some of your ugly mugs, so I hope, Christine, it hasn’t been too traumatic for you.’

  ‘You ain’t no oil painting yourself,’ called out Mike Reid from down the end of the table.

  Baxter looked up and down the table then back to her. ‘So, would you all charge your glasses and join me in wishing Christine a happy birthday.’

  They all stood up. A chorus of “Happy Birthdays” burst out. Wine glasses were drained, and beer bottles up-ended.

  Everyone sat except Carter, who remained on his feet. He looked down at her. ‘I have one more present for you. I wanted to wait until last to give it to you.’ Suddenly, a hush spread around the table. ‘I have stood before countless numbers of villains pointing all sorts of thing at me from knives to shotguns, and I must admit that they have scared me. But what I am about to say and do scares me even more. In fact, it scares the shit out of me’ He looked straight at her and, in a nervous halting voice said, ‘You’re my one stable force. My one stability in a world filled with violence and chaos.’

  She gave him a strange look. He continued. ‘I need that in my life. I love coming home to you.’ He paused. ‘What I’m trying to say, in my stupid way, is that maybe a bit more stability in both of our lives could fix any doubts we have.’ He took the little box from his trouser pocket, held it out to her and opened it. ‘Happy Birthday.’

  She brought both hands up to her mouth and sat there trying to remember how to breathe. Unable to speak, she stood there stunned

  ‘Will you marry me?’ he asked.

  All those around the table suddenly started to applaud, whistle and stamp their feet. A tear appeared in the corner of one eye and ran down her cheek, then, regaining her speech, she stood up, put her arms around his neck and said in his ear, ‘I think, Bob Carter, you already know what the answer’s going to be. Do I have to say it?’ He pulled back slightly and nodded his head.

  ‘In that case,’ she said. ‘Yes. I will.’

  They all crowded around offering their congratulations with hugs, kisses, handshakes, and pats on the back.

  Sitting back at the table, Marcia Kirby leaned over to Jill Richardson. ‘No wonder he’s been acting kinda strange lately. And here’s me thinking it was brain damage caused by that explosion when all it was, was plain old-fashioned love!’ She started to laugh.

  Standing out in the garden, later that afternoon, Janice Watkins said, ‘Some speech you gave. Bob. Congratulations. She’s a nice girl, and thanks for the invite. It’s good to meet wives and girlfriends. It’s like having an extended family.’

  ‘Our best family tradition is saving one another, but I guess that’s what coppers do,’ said Carter.

  She looked around. ‘You’ve got a great team here, Bob. Don’t lose them. They respect and look up to you.’ She took a sip of her wine. ‘Here, sit on the bench for a minute’. They both sat. ‘I was going to tell you next week, Bob, but I might as well let you now know.’

  She looked into his face. ‘I have now been officially told I’ve got the job of Divisional Commander. It’s been decided that I will stay on here at Kingsport. Kingsport is going to be the central hub. The whole of the station’s going to be upgraded and extended.

  There’re big changes in the wind, Bob, and that in turn will affect you and your team. You’ll hear officially very soon, so for the time being, keep this under your hat. Assistant Chief Constable Bishop is taking over the top job. They’re bringing in an outsider to take over from him.’

  ‘So, Chief Constable Radcliff is finally retiring, is he?’ he said.

  ‘Yes. Thirty years on the job,’ she answered. ‘Bishop wants your area of responsibility to be widened to take in the whole of the three amalgamated divisions.’

  ‘A bigger area.’ He took a swig of beer from the bottle and thought about it. After a few moments, he said, ‘If it means me taking on a desk job, then you can expect my resignation on your desk first thing Monday morning.’

  ‘No, Bob, it won’t. You carry on doing what you do best. Catch villains.’

  ‘In that case, my team and I will keep on doing just that. I’m happy to take it all on from the Medway, all the way to the Dungeness lighthouse.’

  ‘I had a feeling you’d say that. Oh, by the way, Bishop read your report and the statement made by Eades. He was very impressed by the whole investigation. He told me to pass on his congratulations to you all. Those two should go down for a long time. It was also good to see that the Spanish arrested Rafael Garcia. It all came together in the end. From what they say, he had quite a few things going. Extortion, drug running, money laundering. According to DCI Carver, it could be years before they run everything down.’ She smiled. ‘He was a bit pissed that you didn’t let him in from the start.’

  ‘I’m sure he’ll get over it,’ he answered.

  ‘I think it’s time we went and joined the other before Christine thinks I’m trying to steal you away from her. Oh, one other thing. You can tell him yourself. That incident with Superman and the shotgun. Luke Hollingsworth it up for a commendation.’

  As they walked back across the lawn and over to the patio, Watkins looked over at the flower bed and said, ‘I think you should seriously think about getting rid of that gardener. Better still, send him on a course for rose pruning.’

  Carter thought it best not to say anything. He just politely nodded.

  She carried on talking. ‘I saw the post-mortem report on Martin Kelly’s brother, Michael. Injected with Fentanyl. It looks as if Eades got his revenge after all.’

  ‘Copycat if ever there was one. Eades was lucky he didn’t end up getting jabbed himself. He’ll have a long time behind bars to think about that one. I still can’t work out which one’s the worst — Kelly or Eades? In the beginning, the bugger certainly played me for a sucker, that’s for sure. He had me fooled,’ said Carter, slowly shaking his head. ‘He should have been on the stage. He would have made a bloody good actor.’

  ‘So, Kelly set out to deliberately destroy the lab. Get rid of the evidence and kill Eades and Sergeant Kirby in the process?’

  Carter looked over to where Luke Hollingsworth sat talking to Amanda, Ted Baxter’s wife.

  ‘Yes, I do. Kelly freely admitted that to Marcia. My number one priority at the time was to get everyone out of that basement as fast as I could. I did see a timer. It looked complicated. I guess that he set it up so that it could be switched on using the remote. There was other stuff attached to it, but I never stopped to check it out. Let the bomb squad deal with it — that was my thinking.’
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  Janice Watkins shook her head and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. ‘Why no batteries in the remote? That’s the question I keep asking myself. Why would an experienced bomber like Kelly forget to put in the batteries? Strange, don’t you think?’ she said, frowning.

  ‘Aye. As you say, strange, very strange. Only Kelly can answer that, and he’s dead. Fancy going to all that trouble to set up a sophisticated explosive device and then forgetting to put the bloody batteries in; ironic when you come to think of it. I’m just glad we had no serious injuries. At least no-one can blame us for blowing it up, can they?’ he said.

  He looked over to where Luke Hollingsworth now sat with his arm around Helen Walters. He was drinking beer and munching on a steak sandwich.

  ‘It’s just as well because I don’t think the Disciplinary Board would take too kindly to us doing something like that.’ Watkins said.

  Carter smiled to himself. ‘Yep, you’re dead right. Come on,’ he said, looking at her empty glass. ‘It’s time we opened another bottle of champagne.’