Assassins

by Jim Eldridge

  Danvers and Alder moved their glances around the room, looking for any signs of new wiring similar to that spotted by Stark outside the building, but everything seemed to be in order.

  The man at the microphone looked at the large clock on the wall. As the second hand touched the hour, he pointed at a technician in a long white coat, standing by a machine with a large flared horn coming out of it, with a rotating wax cylinder beneath the horn. The technician moved a switch, and immediately the strains of the national anthem, played by a military band, filled the room.

  Automatically, everyone in the room stood to attention, with the exception of the King, who was concentrating on the single sheet of paper he held in his hand.

  The music died away, and the man at the microphone announced, ‘The Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company is proud to present this wireless broadcast by His Majesty, King George the Fifth.’

  The man stepped away from the red X on the floor, and his place was taken by the King.

  ‘People of Britain,’ began the King. ‘This is your King, George the Fifth, speaking to you through the medium of wireless.

  ‘Not very long ago our country, along with the other countries of the Empire and our allies elsewhere, were engaged in a terrible conflict, which was described as the war to end wars. Unfortunately, we are still suffering the consequences of that dreadful war.

  ‘Many returned from the battlefront to find that things were more difficult for them than they had been before 1914. I have been told that many, who had made great sacrifices, feel let down by the authorities since the end of the war. I understand their grievances.

  ‘I have also been told that very recently a movement has sprung up formed of former servicemen, who have been led to believe that, by committing acts of violence and murder, their situation will change for the better. I regret to inform those former servicemen that they have been duped by persons with an ulterior political motive.

  ‘As someone who served in the armed forces myself, it saddens me to learn of this. Before I became King, I spent many years in the Royal Navy. My son, Prince Albert, served during the recent war as a sub-lieutenant on HMS Collingwood at the Battle of Jutland. From my personal experiences, I know the British serving man to be the finest in the world.

  ‘I therefore appeal to these men to stand aside from this course of action. Committing acts of violence and murder on the streets of our country for political reasons is not the British way.

  ‘I have asked my government to look into the social issues that lie at the heart of this discontent and see if answers cannot be found, so that any social injustices are rectified.

  ‘After the dreadful years of the war, it is my belief that better times lie ahead for this great country of ours. But those better times will not happen if we allow our society to be torn apart by violent revolution, as we have seen happen elsewhere.

  ‘I thank you for listening, and wish you all well for the future.’

  With that, he stepped back from the microphone, his place taken once more by the bespectacled man.

  ‘You have been listening to a wireless broadcast by His Majesty, King George the Fifth.’

  Once again, he pointed at the man in the white coat, and from the large horn above the rotating wax cylinder came the strains of the national anthem.

  Stark ran to where Adams was standing guard over the bodies. ‘Anyone been nosing around?’ he asked.

  ‘No, sir,’ replied the constable. ‘One Special Branch officer came over to make sure they were dead, then he went back to where the others were taking care of the one who’d been shot. Inspector Rogers.’

  Stark looked down at the two dead bodies. They’d been on the run, staying away from places where they were known. So where would they stash something as important as the membership cards? Nowhere. Those cards were far too precious. They were the key to their revolution.

  He knelt down and began to go through their pockets, first Richards’, then Pike’s. He found what he was looking for in the large inside pocket of Naomi Pike’s coat. A bundle of index cards, held together with a rubber band. The missing membership cards.

  FORTY-SIX

  The journey back to London was made in a mood of elation and self-congratulation, although the police car was uncomfortable with six officers cramped in the back instead of four.

  ‘Where are Rushmore and Whittaker?’ demanded Alder when he saw that one of their cars had gone.

  ‘They’ve gone back to London on my instructions,’ said Stark.

  Alder caught the tone in Stark’s voice, and nodded. ‘Very good, sir,’ he said.

  ‘You had one over on Special Branch, sir,’ said Danvers. ‘If the King had listened to them, he’d have been killed as he walked through that main entrance.’

  ‘It was just a case of thinking like them,’ said Stark. ‘They had to be able to see their target to make sure that he was hit when the charge went off. They couldn’t do that inside the building without putting themselves at risk. Harker isn’t the sort of man who’d take a chance on being killed himself. So the main entrance seemed the most likely. Luckily, it was just a small charge, enough to bring down the lintel and collapse the wall above; otherwise we’d have been blown to smithereens.’ He gave Danvers and Alder a look of disapproval. ‘I’m not happy about you letting the King go into that building. There was still the risk of a marksman inside.’

  ‘We couldn’t stop him, sir,’ said Alder. ‘He sat in the car for a bit, then he suddenly said, “The people are expecting me to give a broadcast.”’

  ‘We tried to persuade him not to go,’ added Danvers, ‘but he looked at us and said, “I haven’t come all the way here just to turn round and go away again.”’ He looked at Stark with helpless appeal. ‘What could we do? He’s the King!’

  ‘And very brave, sir,’ said Alder. ‘Not many people would have carried on with it the way he did.’

  ‘What was the broadcast like?’ asked Stark.

  ‘Astounding!’ said Danvers enthusiastically. ‘His voice was as steady as anything. You’d never have known that someone had tried to blow him up, and shoot him, just a couple of minutes before!’

  The rest of the journey back to London was a hubbub of chatter about the day, reliving the explosion, the shootings, the broadcast. They arrived back at Buckingham Palace in convoy. When the rear door of the royal car opened, and Stark realized that the King was heading towards their car, Stark ushered his men out of the car and lined them up.

  ‘Good work,’ nodded the King.

  To Stark’s surprise, George V saluted. Immediately, Stark and the rest of his team returned it with their own smart salutes.

  As the King disappeared into the Palace, surrounded by a bevy of Special Branch officers, Adams gave a sigh and said, ‘Best day of my life!’

  ‘I wouldn’t let your old woman hear you say that,’ commented Alder.

  ‘Stark!’

  The shout made them all turn, and they saw the bulky figure of Winston Churchill heading towards them, a broad smile on his face.

  ‘Excellent work, Chief Inspector!’ he boomed as he reached them. He grabbed Stark’s hand and pumped it energetically. ‘A telephone call alerted me to the explosion.’ He looked at the rest of the team and gave them his confident smile. ‘Excellent work by all of you! Bravery above the call of duty! The country’s proud of you!’ He looked at Stark again. ‘What did you think of the speech?’

  ‘I’m afraid I didn’t hear it, sir,’ said Stark. ‘I was … otherwise engaged at the time.’

  ‘Sergeant Alder and I were with the King during the broadcast, sir,’ said Danvers. ‘We both thought it was excellent.’

  ‘Good, good,’ grinned Churchill. He winked at them. ‘Far be it for me to boast, but I had quite a bit of a hand in that. I know what makes the troops sit up!’ He looked towards the Palace. ‘I’m here to update the King on the Irish talks. Better go! Well done, again!’

  With that, he bustled away.

&nb
sp; ‘Now if there were more politicians like him, we wouldn’t have half the trouble we’ve got,’ said Forsythe approvingly as they watched him go.

  The power of the chancer, thought Stark. That man could sell snow to Eskimos.

  Sergeant Alder looked at Stark. ‘To Scotland Yard, sir?’

  ‘No, Maida Vale,’ said Stark. He motioned them away from the vehicle so they would be out of earshot of anyone else, then told them in a low voice, ‘That’s where Rushmore and Whittaker went. They took Dan Harker with them.’

  ‘Harker!’ exclaimed Danvers.

  Stark nodded. ‘Officially, it’s better if none of you know, just in case there are repercussions. Special Branch won’t be happy once they find out about it.’ He looked at Danvers. ‘So, Sergeant. Once the rest of us have been dropped off at Maida Vale, you take the car back to Scotland Yard and start preparing a report for the chief superintendent. Put in everything, except the bit about Harker, although we’ll have to add that at some point. I’ll join you at the Yard later.’

  Stark sat across the table from Harker. They were in one of the interview rooms at Maida Vale police station. Constable Forsythe stood immediately behind the prisoner.

  ‘So, you tried to blow up the King,’ said Stark.

  Harker shook his head. ‘It was Richards who set off the charge. I tried to stop him!’

  ‘You were the one who laid the explosives.’

  ‘He made me do it. At gunpoint. After what happened to Alf, I had no choice.’

  ‘What happened to Alf?’

  ‘Richards shot him. Richards wanted Alf to shoot the King. Alf said no. He said no old soldier would do it, either. Not kill the King. So Richards pulled out a gun and shot him. Said he was a traitor and he couldn’t be trusted.’

  ‘Why didn’t you go to Special Branch? They’d have protected you. You could have told them what was being planned.’

  ‘Because, after what happened with Alf, Richards was keeping a close eye on me. Wouldn’t let me out of his sight.’

  ‘He must’ve done to give you time to make the bomb.’

  ‘He was with me the whole time. Said he wanted to watch me. He wanted to learn how to do it.’

  ‘How were you able to put the charge in place?’

  ‘Simple. Told them at the factory I was maintenance and needed to replace a wire to a light.’

  ‘What happened to Alf’s body?’

  ‘We dumped it in one of the pits in Stepney gasworks.’

  The door opening made Stark turn. Chief Superintendent Benson was standing in the doorway, a grim expression on his face. ‘Stark,’ he said, ‘I need you outside.’

  ‘Keep an eye on him,’ Stark said to Forsythe.

  He stepped out into the corridor, and came face to face with Chief Inspector Burns and Rogers, who had his arm in a sling. The inspector looked pale. He also looked very angry.

  ‘Thought you’d hide him, did you, Stark?’ snarled Rogers. ‘Well, we checked with the motor pool! Once we realized that one of the cars had left early, we knew something was up.’

  ‘You didn’t report that you had Harker!’ Burns growled at Stark.

  ‘The report on today’s events is still being compiled,’ said Stark. ‘Harker’s transfer here will be included.’

  ‘Hand him over to them, Stark,’ said Benson. ‘He’s their man.’

  ‘He’s not theirs,’ snorted Stark. ‘He’s anybody’s who’d pay him. He knew about the plot to kill the King, but he didn’t go to Special Branch with it.’

  ‘He’s still our man,’ repeated Burns.

  ‘Hand him over, Stark,’ said Benson. ‘They have priority.’

  ‘Not yet,’ said Stark.

  ‘Your questioning of him is over!’ snarled Rogers. ‘We’re taking him now.’

  ‘First, he’s going to show me where they dumped Alf Rennick’s body.’

  ‘Why are you so concerned about a common criminal?’ demanded Burns.

  ‘He wasn’t a common criminal. He was a patriot. He died because he refused to take part in the plot to kill the King, unlike friend Harker. And I owe it to his family to see they get his body back.’

  ‘Save your sympathy, Stark!’ snapped Burns. He turned to Benson. ‘Chief Superintendent, bring our man out. We’re taking him.’

  ‘If you do that before he’s shown us where they dumped Alf Rennick’s body, I shall resign,’ snapped Stark.

  ‘Resign, then!’ snapped Burns.

  ‘And I shall tell the newspapers why,’ continued Stark. ‘It might make interesting reading for the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary, not to mention the King and his family.’

  The three men stared at him, incredulous and uncomprehending.

  ‘You’re bluffing!’ scoffed Rogers.

  ‘No, I’m deadly serious,’ said Stark.

  There was a pause, then Burns warned him, ‘You’re on very thin ice, Stark. It could be you in that room, as a threat to national security.’

  ‘Which would make the story even more interesting reading,’ said Stark doggedly.

  Burns and Rogers exchanged querying looks, then Rogers burst out, ‘Oh, for God’s sake, let him have Rennick’s body if it’s so important to him!’

  ‘Thank you,’ said Stark.

  ‘Don’t thank me!’ glowered Rogers. ‘I shall have you for this, Stark. At the earliest opportunity. Your days in the force are numbered.’

  Stark looked at Benson, who averted his eyes, embarrassed.

  ‘You can take Harker,’ Benson muttered.

  Stepney gasworks looked like a wasteland, with four huge gasometers sprouting up from the cinder and gravel and towering over it. Harker clambered out of the car, handcuffed to Stark. Burns had suggested that Harker travelled in the Special Branch car, with Stark following in a police car, but Stark knew that there was a good chance of them simply driving off with him if that was the case.

  Harker walked to where there was a series of large pits sunk into the ground, each filled with dark, thick, stagnant water.

  ‘That one,’ he said, pointing to the second pit from the end.

  Stark nodded to the uniformed officers who’d accompanied them and had taken grappling hooks from the police car. They dropped the hooks into the water and began to drag them from side to side. It was at the third pass they stopped as the hooks snagged on something.

  ‘We’ve got something, sir,’ said one.

  They hauled on the ropes, and gradually a bicycle emerged from the swampy depths. They hauled the bicycle out and laid it on the ground.

  ‘This was the one!’ insisted Harker. ‘He couldn’t have got out and walked away!’

  Stark nodded at the police officers again, and once more they dropped the hooks in and dragged them across the pit. This time, when they snagged on something hidden, it needed more effort to haul the ropes in and up. Stark stepped forward and took one of the ropes in his hands, lending his strength to their efforts, pulling along with them. Gradually, something began to emerge, breaking the surface of the dank water. It looked like a bundle of rags, but as it came out Stark saw an arm, then a leg. They pulled even harder, and soon the body of a small, thin man was laid out on his back beside the pit, dark water pouring away from him.

  ‘Rennick?’ asked Burns.

  Stark nodded, his eyes on Alf’s face. His eyes were still open, staring. ‘Turn him over,’ he ordered.

  The police constables did so, and Stark saw the bullet hole in the back of Alf’s skull.

  ‘I didn’t do it!’ babbled Harker. ‘It was Richards!’

  ‘You’ve got what you wanted, Stark,’ said Burns. ‘We’ll take our man now.’

  Stark unlocked the handcuffs and Harker moved to join Burns and Rogers, rubbing his wrists. The two Special Branch men put Harker in their car and pulled the doors shut, and the car moved off.

  ‘What do you want done with him, sir?’ asked one of the constables, gesturing at Alf’s body.

  ‘Take him to the mortuary at Scotland Yar
d,’ said Stark. ‘I’ll advise the family.’

  Danvers was hard at work writing his report when Stark walked into the office. ‘The chief superintendent came in looking for you soon after I got back, sir,’ he said apologetically. ‘I couldn’t phone you at Maida Vale and tip you off, because officially I didn’t know anything. And I thought if I left a message, it might make things worse.’

  ‘You did the right thing, Sergeant,’ said Stark. He took the bundle of membership cards from his pocket and put them on the desk by Danvers. ‘The membership cards.’

  Danvers stared at them, then at Stark. ‘Do Special Branch know about them?’ he asked.

  ‘No,’ said Stark. ‘As far as everyone else is concerned, they’re still missing.’ He removed the rubber band and took out two of the cards, which he handed to Danvers. One was for Dan Harker, the other for Alf Rennick.

  ‘You’ll notice that they both have a letter A in the corner.

  ‘A for assassin?’ suggested Danvers.

  ‘That’s my thought. At a quick glance, there are about fifty others marked the same way.’ He tapped the bundle of cards. ‘Send out an order for all those with an A on their card to be brought in.’

  ‘Arrest them?’

  ‘No, just bring them in and have them kept overnight. Just in case the King’s broadcast didn’t persuade them. Tomorrow, we’ll talk to them. Get their stories. Sort out the potentially dangerous ones. Some will be like Alf. I want to stop them turning into Harker. And after you’ve given the orders to bring them in, Sergeant, I suggest you go home.’

  Henry and Sarah were in the kitchen with Stephen when he arrived home.

  ‘We heard the broadcast!’ Stephen told him excitedly. ‘Mr Hickok has a wireless receiver and he brought it into school so we could listen!’

  ‘Great!’ smiled Stark, and he sank down on to a chair.

  ‘Tiring day?’ asked his father.

  Stark nodded.

  ‘The later edition of the papers say there was trouble at the place,’ continued Henry. ‘Explosions. Shootings. They say people were killed.’

  Stark hesitated, then nodded again.

  ‘But you’re all right?’ Henry asked.