As he was reflecting on this, the bar door opened and Bill Enderby walked in. Rice knew him from the photograph he had been given. He watched intently to see what reactions people would have. Enderby walked up to the bar, nodding to locals that caught his eye. He ordered a pint of Hewitt’s bitter. “When did you get back, Bill?” asked the publican. “You missed all the excitement this morning.”
“Yes, Walmar was telling me about it. Not very nice, was it,” he replied.
“Yvonne saved the young fella. She’s pretty upset about it, her being keen on him too,” came the comment.
“Not good for the village. I guess we all might have to be more careful round here,” Bill Enderby responded. He took his beer to a table and sat down. Andy had noticed him from his position at the bar and heard part of the conversation. Cmdr. Rice watched the airman watching Enderby and Enderby not being fully relaxed. Rice felt that there was a little tension there.
After about five minutes, Andy went across to Yvonne’s table, nodded a greeting to the locals and told Yvonne that he was sorry to hear what had happened. “We’re glad that you saw Jamie when you did,” he said. “Let us know if we can help in any way. Jamie was a good friend.”
“Thanks, Andy,” she replied. “I’ll come over soon and tell you about it.”
“Thanks,” he said. “We’ll just wait at the bar.” Then he went back and joined his friends. The fishermen had been watching and listening intently.
After Andy left, Tim said, “Not a bad bloke for a member of the RAF.”
“No,” said Yvonne, “he’s pretty good.” After about ten minutes, Yvonne got up and went to the bar. She ordered herself a drink and asked if she could join the three airmen for a few minutes. Lance pulled up a stool for her to sit on and insisted on paying for her drink. She thanked him and then told them her part in the morning’s saga. Yvonne also said that she knew of Andy’s visit in uniform that morning and what he had told Walmar. “It couldn’t have been Walmar because he was at the school when it all happened,” Yvonne said. “Bill Enderby was away until this evening so it couldn’t have been him and I didn’t see any strangers around the village this morning. Nor did anyone else.”
“Well, someone attacked Jamie,” Andy said. “We’ll look forward to finding out. How about you, Yvonne? Are you going to be okay?”
She replied, “Yes, I’ll be fine. I’ll be even better when I can go and visit Jamie.”
“The attack couldn’t be linked to you, could it?” asked Andy. “Because you and Jamie are going out together?”
“I don’t think so,” she said. Then Yvonne added, “I’d better go back and join the local lads. Keep in touch, please.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll do that,” said Dan. Yvonne slid off the stool and went back to the table with the local fishermen. Commander Rice watched all this with interest. He couldn’t hear the conversation between Yvonne and the airmen but he would make sure that he was told. His meal finished, Rice decided that he couldn’t learn more there this evening and decided to drive back to the hotel in Louth. He would do more formal questioning tomorrow. Driving back, Rice wondered about Enderby and whether he could have come back to the village early in the morning and then slipped away. Surely, in a village this size, someone should have seen him arrive. He would make enquiries tomorrow.
As Rice had left the pub, the conversation had died down a little, the locals looking at the stranger and wondering who he was and why he had been to their village. Berin, alias Bill Enderby, paid closer attention. The man’s bearing, his dress and his hairstyle suggested a military person. The logical choice was that he was RAF but there was a slight gait to his walk that would suggest a naval background. Berin decided that he needed to prepare for a sudden departure. Finishing his beer, he said goodnight to the locals and headed back to Walmar’s shed. Inside the flat, Berin went about packing his belongings into a duffle bag.
Chapter 13
At RAF Nocton Hall, Jamie Rogerson regained consciousness. The duty nurse had been checking his pulse and taking his temperature when it happened. Jamie opened his eyes and saw the nurse. At the same time, he was aware of his head throbbing painfully and a pain in his shoulder. He tried to move his arm but found it was strapped to his body. “Lie still, Corporal. It will hurt less if you do,” said the nurse. ‘Corporal’ — he hadn’t been called that for weeks. His mouth was dry and he felt very thirsty.
“Can I have a drink, Nurse?” he asked.
“In a moment,” she said. The nurse entered the readings on his chart and then pressed the buzzer to alert the sister. Jamie tried to look around and saw that he was in a room and he was connected to a drip and a monitor. The nurse read the question in his eyes. “You’re at RAF Nocton Hall, near Lincoln,” she said. “You’ve been unconscious for a few hours.” He nodded. She lifted a glass of water to his lips and Jamie took a few sips. He nodded his thanks and the nurse put the glass back on the locker. As she was doing this, the duty sister came into the room and saw Jamie conscious. Flying
