Darkest Hour

'Sir. I thought you said I would be present when you spoke with Sergeant Tanner.'

Barclay waved a hand. 'An oversight, Peploe. Anyway, you're here now.'

'Your sergeant has been telling us that it was primarily concern for our welfare that made him shoot at us,' said Lyell.

Tanner felt himself redden, his anger mounting. 'With respect, sir, that's not what I said.'

'Sergeant, you've said your piece,' snapped Barclay. 'You may have been within your rights but you clearly acted impulsively and without due consideration, putting the lives of several pilots at risk and severely damaging Squadron Leader Lyell's car in the process.'

'Sir,' interrupted Peploe, 'I gave Sergeant Tanner specific orders not to let anyone else through the checkpoint under any circumstances. If anyone is to blame for this it's me.'

Barclay sighed. 'I appreciate your loyalty to your platoon sergeant, Peploe, but I really think it's for Tanner here to defend himself.'

'An NCO in front of four officers, sir?'

Barclay shifted in his seat. 'We're just trying to get to the facts, Peploe. Any one of the pilots could have been seriously hurt, if not killed. And then there's Squadron Leader Lyell's car.'

'Then why don't we take this matter to the station commander, sir?'

Lyell glared at him.

'No need to do that just yet, Peploe,' said Barclay, glancing anxiously at his brother-in-law.

Tanner smiled to himself. Good on you, Mr Peploe.

'The fact is, sir,' continued Peploe, 'that, with due respect to Squadron Leader Lyell, a far more serious incident took place last night. Two men were killed and it was nothing less than murder.'

At this, Blackstone looked up and Tanner caught his eye. So I was right, thought Tanner. He does know. It was now his turn to smile.

'What do you mean, murder?' demanded Barclay.

'The third man survived,' said Peploe.

'Why didn't you tell me this earlier?'

'I was about to, sir, but you might recall that the telephone rang and you ordered me to leave.'

'Have you spoken to the Snowdrops?'

'No, sir. I took Torwinski straight to hospital and they hadn't arrived by that time. I haven't seen any civilian police and nor have they asked to see me. I assumed I should speak to you or the station commander first.'

Tanner watched Blackstone intently for any reaction to this news. Was there alarm in his expression? He couldn't be sure.

'And this survivor claimed what, precisely?' asked Barclay.

Peploe told him.

'Good God, man!' The captain laughed. 'You believe that?'

'Yes, sir, I do,' said Peploe. 'It was also clear that a fourth had jumped from the cab a short distance before the checkpoint. From the driver's side, I should add. You could see where he'd landed on the verge.'

'It sounds most unlikely to me, Lieutenant,' said Squadron Leader Lyell.

'Why, sir? It doesn't seem so to me at all. It's a lot more probable than some recently arrived Poles trying to peddle black-market fuel in a country that's new to them and where they hardly speak the language.'

'Where is this fellow now?' asked Barclay.

'In Ramsgate Hospital,' Peploe told him.

Tanner had been keeping his eye on Blackstone, and at this revelation the CSM caught his gaze and, this time, held it. The threat was unmistakable.

'It seems to me, sir,' said Wrightson to Barclay, 'that we should at least talk to this man. How badly injured is he, Lieutenant?'

'He should make a full recovery, sir.'

At that moment, the telephone rang. With a look of pained exasperation, Barclay picked up the receiver. 'Yes?' he snapped.

Tanner watched the OC's expression change. The bluster and impatience drained from his face, replaced by stunned shock.

'Right,' he said. 'Right, sir. I understand, sir . . . Yes, sir.' Slowly he put the receiver down. 'It's happened,' he said. 'The Germans have invaded Belgium. And we're on standby to join the rest of the battalion. Twelve hours' notice. It seems we'll soon be going off to war.'

Chapter 4

If he was completely honest with himself, Sturmbannfuhrer Otto Timpke had probably had too much to drink the previous night. He prided himself on never losing control, but the news that the division was at long last on standby to move to the front had been worth celebrating. When the boss had suggested they might like to dine out