Our man in Camelot

''They'? But of course you're not a career officer, are you. A three-year volunteer?'

'That's right.'

'Which gives you a choice of foreign postings. And you chose England.'

'We all make mistakes.'

Anthony Price - Our man in camelot

Roskill smiled. 'And you're a dentist. Which makes you the very man I want to see, actually.'

'Don't tell me you've got toothache,' Mosby started to smile back, then noticed that RoskiU's smile had gone. 'You have to be joking.'

'I wish I was.' Roskill sighed. 'Truth is, if I hadn't had to come down here I should have seen my own dentist by now.'

Mosby blinked with surprise. 'Well, there's nothing I can do about it—I didn't bring my chair with me.'

'Ah, but you can put my mind at rest—that's the least you can do. And knowing what's wrong will take some of the pain away.'

It had to be some sort of test, thought Mosby. But why should they want to test him? The Special Branch man had already examined his ID card.

Then professional curiosity welled up inside him. This was one thing he could do, anyway. 'You've got a problem?'

'Not at the moment. But last night after dinner—I'd just finished eating as a matter of fact—it was excruciating. Knocked me sideways for a few minutes, but then it went away. And then this morning, just as I was finishing breakfast—same thing: fearful pain.' He looked at Mosby expectantly.

'And at lunchtime?'

'Well, nothing really. But I only had a salad—I didn't want a third go of it, I tell you.'

'You had coffee?'

'Coffee?' Roskill frowned. 'Yes, I did.'

'But it was lukewarm, I guess.'

'That's right.' Roskill stared at him. 'How did you know?'

'And the other two times it was hot, eh? When you had the pain, that is?' Mosby nodded. 'Come on over to the window and I'll just have a look.'

He led the way to the French windows. The man on the mower was still hard at work. So was the man with the dog.

'Now, just open wide.'

'Don't you want me to tell you where it hurt?'

'If it's what I think it is I'll find it. Just open wide.'

He peered into the Englishman's mouth. Someone had worked hard on it over the years, but then that figured: the English dentists were paid for what they did, not what they prevented. He worked his way around the jaw, for one happy minute far from reality.

'Okay… Well, you've got a semi-erupted wisdom tooth at the back there, with a large gum flap. But that's not your problem just at this moment.'

'So what is my problem?'

'Posterior left six—the first molar. You're starting an abscess. There's a swelling on the gum, the inflammation's plain to see. Your dentist'll deal with it in no time.'

'How?'

'He'll extract the tooth, and then you'll be okay. No problem.'

'No problem. I see.' Roskill grimaced. 'And that was what the coffee grounds told you?'

'Sure, because I've come across it before. People like to drink their coffee when it's hot. And with an abscess you get small amounts of gas formed, so the heat from the coffee causes the gas to expand and you get terrible pressure on the inflamed nerves. Like you said, it'll knock you sideways until it cools Anthony Price - Our man in camelot

down again.' He looked at Roskill candidly. 'So n6w you know I'm a dentist.'

'You're cold-blooded enough for one, I'll say that.'

'But there must be easier ways of checking up on me than finding a—a whatever you are—with toothache to diagnose.'

'Of course. We could have gone straight through to your commanding officer at Wodden. 'We have this man who says he's one of your officers, General. Height five foot ten, brown hair, born in Richmond, Virginia—''

'You've made your point.' Mosby raised a hand in surrender. 'Except I never told you where I was born.'

'Oh, we've done a little checking here and there.'

I'll bet, thought Mosby. But that sort of checking must have started earlier than this morning, and possibly even earlier than yesterday, allowing for the Atlantic time difference. In fact it could only mean that they'd started running the check almost as soon as he'd made contact with Audley.

'And did you turn up anything interesting?'

Roskill shook his head slowly. 'I'm bound to admit we didn't. Your life is an open book, Captain Sheldon, and a