Walmar looked surprised. “Me? Don’t be stupid. I’ve been helping out at the school this morning. You can check. We heard an ambulance bell earlier but assumed that someone must be ill and was taken to hospital. I just found out what really happened before talking to you.”
“Sorry,” said Andy, “but you can’t blame us for being suspicious.”
“That’s okay,” said Walmar.
“By the way, where is your crewman?” Andy asked Walmar.
“He’s away until tonight. He left on Sunday,” Walmar told him.
“I’d better be getting back,” said Andy. “Thanks.” He climbed into the Landrover and drove off.
Walmar felt a little stunned. He walked around the sheds and up the lane to the back of his own shed. He saw the old crab pot that he had used to hide a key to the back door. All the local fishermen knew it was there but it was hardly ever used. Walmar wondered who could have done it. Berin wasn’t due back until this evening but could he have come back earlier? No-one local would have done such an attack. A couple of the younger men resented Yvonne’s interest in Jamie but they wouldn’t attack another man for that. Now it meant that the police would be back. The airman would report it to the officers. What would that mean? If there was a serious investigation could he be in danger of losing everything that he held dear here? Walmar was worried. He needed to think this through but the key was whether Berin was involved. Walmar thought back to Berin being upset at Jamie taking a photo of them both on the boat and how he wanted to get the film and destroy it. He sighed and turned for home.
Corporal Hill arrived back at the unit and reported to Squadron Leader Dawson. He told the CO what they had found. “All right. Thank you, Corporal. I think it would take too long to get an aerial check done. The nearest RAF helicopter is at Waddington. By then the suspect could be off the beach and have disappeared. I’ll take it from here. Write up a report as soon as possible and let me have it. That will be all.” The Unit CO nodded as he finished speaking. Corporal Hill came to attention, saluted and then left his office. Squadron. Leader. Dawson picked up the telephone and asked for a number at Air Ministry. He was put through to Group Captain Clarkson and then engaged the scrambler. Dawson told Clarkson what the Corporal Hill had found out. He also explained that too much time had elapsed to be able to check on the person who had walked up the beach and that by now they would have left it and be hard to find. “Thanks, Dawson. I’ll pass it on to Hamilton. Let MI5 follow it through now. Keep me posted on any developments.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Squadron Leader Dawson and then hung up the telephone. Group Captain Clarkson then Rang Air Vice-Marshall Denby with the latest information. Denby then rang Hamilton at MI5 and brought him up to date.
He said to Hamilton, “It is interesting that that man Enderby is reported to be out of the village at the same time that the driver from Jennings Industries is killed in Coventry. That doesn’t prove anything, of course, but it needs to be considered.”
“I agree, sir,” said Hamilton. “We’ll check on it as best as we are able.” They hung up.
Yvonne was dozing in front of the fire when the telephone rang. She roused herself and picked up the handset. It was Bob from The Hound and Pheasant. “What news have you got, Bob?” Yvonne asked.
“Well, it’s not so good at the moment,” replied Bob. “I telephoned the sick quarters at the RAF station and was told that Jamie had been transferred to the RAF hospital at Nocton Hall. He had a fractured shoulder, was unconscious and suffering from concussion.”
“Nocton Hall?” queried Yvonne. “Why has he been sent to an RAF hospital?”
“Well, lass, it seems that he’s still in the RAF but I can’t tell you any more than that. At least he will be safe where they have taken him.”
“Thanks, Bob,” said Yvonne and hung up. She went back to the armchair and sat down. If Jamie was still in the RAF what was he doing working at The Hound and Pheasant as a cellarman. Bob was right. Jamie wouldn’t just fall off the wharf or one of the boats. Something bad had happened. She wondered what the connection was between him and Andy Hill. Were they just mountaineering friends or was there more to it? Yvonne sighed and thought of her feelings for Jamie. She knew she wanted to be with him. It was the first time she had felt like this about a man since her husband died. Yvonne decided that she would stick by Jamie so the next thing to do was to find out whether she could visit him at RAF Nocton Hall. It was now about seeing that he got well again and she knew he would need her support.
Berin had walked off the beach and into Humberston where he was able to get a bus into Grimsby. He was now waiting for a train that would take him to Lincoln. From there he would travel to Louth and then to Parfleet St Peter. No doubt he would be asked where he had been. He hadn’t told Walmar where he was going so no-one knew except himself. The bus driver from Louth might remember him being on an earlier bus but since it was the busy period he may not remember. Berin decided that he would have to just take one step at a time on this.
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