Red Hawk Rising

came up between his legs with force and collided with his testicles. Enderby gasped and doubled up in agony. A chop by Andy to the nape of Enderby’s neck and the man fell over unconscious. The blow had not been hard enough to kill him. Andy quickly took the gun from the unconscious man and turned to see the other unfolding situation. As ‘Document Case’ was about to take hold of the gun there was a spurt of dust and the gun spun away. Andy had brought up and sighted the gun he had picked up and fired off a shot. He then shouted to the man not to move. Ed ran forward and pushed his gun into the surprised man’s mouth, flicking the safety catch on at the same time. “Quick,” Ed called out, “we have to keep him from closing his mouth and biting on his cyanide capsule.” Andy ran forward, dropped the gun into John Douglas’ lap and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. He grabbed ‘Document Case’ by the hair and pulled his head back. The man opened his mouth with a yelp of pain. Ed removed the gun and Andy quickly pulled the handkerchief across the man’s open mouth using both hands to prevent him closing his mouth again. He tied the two ends in a knot at the back of the neck.

“Sorry it’s not a clean hanky, mate,” he said, “but I guess you don’t care anyway.”

A vehicle turned into the entrance to Long’s Close and stopped. It was the requested back-up. “Quick, bring a first aid kit,” Ed called out.

Someone came running up with one and Andy pointed to John Douglas. “He has been shot and will need an ambulance. This prisoner also needs treatment to a shattered wrist. That man over there needs to be secured before he fully recovers.” A second person handcuffed Enderby as he stirred and pulled him up into a sitting position. As he was being treated, John Douglas told them to pick up and secure the fallen document case. It contained evidence. Andy went across and picked up the document case. He opened it and took out an envelope. In the envelope was a copy of the report he and John Douglas had prepared.

He looked at the identifier and called out, “John, it’s Emerson’s copy.”

John winced as he was being bandaged up and then said, “I wonder what the tie-up is between him and St John.” Turning to Ed, John said, “Thanks for saving my life with that shot. It was good shooting.”

“You’re welcome,” was the grinned reply. The prisoners were put into separate vehicles. Andy gave the report copy to Tim to take with him. Tim got into the van with Ed and Andy stayed with John Douglas. The two vehicles drove off as the ambulance arrived. Andy was told to return with John for de-briefing. He nodded his agreement as the ambulance men started seeing to John’s shoulder wound.

Back at MI5 Headquarters, both Emerson and St John were being interviewed in separate interview rooms. It was alleged that Emerson took secret papers out of Air Ministry and this was a chargeable offence. He denied the charges. It was alleged that he had handed them to Miss St John hidden in a magazine. In the other room, Miss St John was accused of acting on Emerson’s behalf and passing secret documents to the enemy. She denied it, saying that Emerson gave her the magazine and asked her to read a particular article and comment on it.

When the two vans arrived at MI5 HQ, ‘Document Case’ was taken to a well-equipped medical centre and put into a dentist chair and his arms secured. He received treatment for his wrist, a doctor removing the bullet fragments and a nurse dressing it. Then his mouth was clamped open and the handkerchief removed. An inspection revealed the hollow tooth with the cyanide pill. It was removed and the tooth filled expertly. Then the man was taken to an interview room. Enderby was already in another one, the cyanide pill in his hollow tooth having also been removed. The contents of his pockets revealed nothing to identify him. Enderby claimed to be an Andrew Bolton from Epsom in Surrey. He gave an address and that was all. He refused to answer any other questions.

Once John Douglas’s wound had been dressed, he was put into the ambulance and taken to the hospital. Andy went with him. At the hospital, John Douglas was ‘prepped’ and then taken to theatre to have the bullet removed. Ed turned up at the hospital accompanied by two other officers. Brief introductions all round and then Ed said, “C’mon Andy. These men will keep watch over John until he can be released. Come back with me and de-brief.” They headed out to the vehicle and drove across to MI5 HQ for de-briefing. During the de-briefing, Corporal Andy Hill was able to describe the different actions of Emerson and St. John that led to the events of the evening. He was then driven to RAF Stanmore Park and allowed to head for his billet.

The next morning, Corporal Andy Hill caught the train to Westminster and walked across to Kingsway. He checked into Air Ministry and went to the office. Getting his working files from the safe room, Andy wondered what the day’s events would bring. No doubt John Douglas would be reported in sick but he wondered if there was enough evidence on the others to hold them.

At 09.00 hours, Griffiths walked in and across to his office. He looked around and noted the empty desks before going into his office. Five minutes later his telephone rang and AVM Denby spoke to him. “Ah! Griffiths, come up to my office. There have been some developments which affect the staffing of your section.” Griffiths put the telephone down and headed out into the corridor. Fifteen minutes later he