Appendix II – What Happened Next?
How Captain W.E. Johns intended to complete the narrative of Biggles Does Some Homework will never be known, but it is a fascinating subject for conjecture. We feel sure that readers will make up their own endings to the story, but here is our attempt at an outline for the rest of the novel.
Our outline for the Continuation of the Story
Chapter 12 (Continued)
Ginger captures Joe’s rifle, and the latter is disarmed and imprisoned in Minnie’s former refuge. As Ginger knows, the taxi has been driven off and he guesses correctly that both Zolton and Corsini have departed, leaving Lotton Hall empty. Ginger and Minnie go inside to phone Biggles and search the building for evidence.
Biggles says that he has heard from Bertie, and the police are on the way. He has told Bertie to return to Lotton Hall in case he is needed, and when he arrives Ginger should wait there to assist the police. Minnie and Bertie should go in Bertie’s Jaguar to Sparham airfield to try to make contact with Algy. The latter had been assigned the task of finding out if a plane landed at an airfield in the vicinity of Lotton Hall on the night of the mail robbery. On Biggles’ return to the Yard, he found that Algy had phoned from Sparham to say that he is on to something, but he has not been heard of since.
Chapter 13
At this stage, everything seems nearly over bar the shouting — Ginger, Bertie and Minnie must guess by now, and the reader has long ago guessed, that Biggles expects Zolton or one of his gang to turn up at the Marquis to collect the heroin, where he will be arrested red-handed. But no! This is the quiet before the storm, because Biggles begins to feel uneasy and does some homework. Ginger and Minnie have told him that Zolton and Corsini have left Lotton Hall
in the taxi, but this does not mean that they will both go to the Marquis. Why should Zolton take the risk himself, when he can send Corsini on his own? The bait may have been too obvious, and Zolton may suspect a trap. Biggles feels he will have failed if Corsini is arrested but Zolton gets away. The airman finds out from Varley where the cottage in the New Forest is situated, because he suspects that Zolton’s supplies of drugs are brought there by air, and that Zolton will bolt there and escape on a supply plane if the game is up. Deciding to act on a hunch , Biggles puts Varley into protective custody, and instead of accompanying Inspector Gaskin and his men to the Marquis, the airman pilots an Air Police plane to Sparham. Has Zolton decided to fly from there to his hideout in the New Forest, and what has happened to Algy?
Chapter 14
“What happened to Algy” is now revealed. It takes him some time to find the airfield where Varley landed, and he feels considerable satisfaction when he discovers the pilot’s plane at Sparham airfield. Although he is unaware of Varley’s revelations (which have actually made his assignment unnecessary) and has never met Zolton, Algy knows that the owner of Lotton Hall must be involved in the affair, and when the gang leader arrives at Sparham in his taxi, the airman puts two and two together. Biggles’ hunch is correct, for while the unsuspecting Corsini drives away in the taxi, bound for the Marquis,
Zolton hires a plane to take him to the New Forest. He also engages a pilot — Algy! There is nowhere to land next to the cottage (Varley was ordered to drop the kitbag on open ground there, not to land with it, and the bag was used because it was white and would show up), but Zolton guides Algy to a large, secluded meadow half a mile away. Here a Land Rover awaits them, driven by another of Zolton’s men, and they are taken by a winding track to the cottage. The pretence is maintained that Algy is a free agent, and he is requested to remain in case Zolton wishes to be flown back to Sparham later on. Algy knows he is on very thin ice, but he still succeeds in spying on Zolton, and acquires invaluable information and evidence about his gang and the international organisation that supplies him with drugs. However, Zolton has given Corsini a deadline for telephoning him if all has gone well, and when the time limit is up, Algy is seized and knocked unconscious.
Chapter 15
Ginger, awaiting the police at Lotton Hall, witnesses the arrival of the Alfondari gang, bent on destroying their rivals. He manages to hide but Joe is discovered and only saves his life by revealing the existence and location of the cottage and the landing-ground in the New Forest. Taking Joe with them, the gang (eight in number) race off recklessly in their two Mercedes, hotly pursued by Ginger, who goes alone, in Varley’s Cortina.
Chapter 16
At Sparham, Biggles learns that his hunch is right. Fortunately, as Varley told him he could not land at the cottage, he has already checked for airfields in the surrounding area, while still at the Yard.
As luck would have it, his old friend, Sir Lorrington King, once known as Gimlet, owns the estate on which the cottage stands, and has his own air-strip. Biggles pauses only to leave orders and directions for Bertie and Minnie to follow him, and flies from Sparham to Gimlet’s grounds. He had intended to see if his friend was in residence on his arrival, but as soon as he lands his plane, h is out of it and running wildly for the cottage in the distance, for it is a mass of flame! At first he thinks it is deserted but then he sees a figure waving from a window. He tears inside, finds a locked door, shoots it open and rescues — Algy! The latter tells Biggles that Zolton knows that Corsini has been arrested, and has set off with his followers for his secret landing ground. The supply plane is almost due, so how can they stop Zolton now?
Chapter 17
As Biggles and Algy stand outside the blazing cottage, a sound from the past fills the air, and a Tiger Moth flies overhead. Before they can even comment on this, however, the Alfondari gang arrives. To the airmen’s relief they sweep past in their two cars, and disappear up the track. Then Ginger arrives in the Cortina, Biggles and Algy dash forward, Ginger hardly stops as he opens the door, and the three airmen are off again in pursuit of the gangsters.
Chapter 18
The Tiger Moth, with Bertie at the control, makes a perfect landing on Gimlet’s air-strip. He and Minnie have arrived in the only transport still available at Sparham. Copper, one of Gimlet’s commandos in the old days, now appears — his master is away, but he is delighted to come to the support of his old friends. But how are the three men to reach the secret airfield in time to be of use? They have no vehicle at their disposal. Minnie saves the day by leading the way along a quick, cross-country route, following a trail invisible to the others. “Will this mad chase ever end?” Minnie wonders, but soon he and his companions arrive at the secret landing-ground, where a large plane is now standing. A pitched battle is taking place between the Alfondari gang on the one hand and Zolton and the crew of the plane on the other. The Air Police are on the edge of the mêlée, and to their chagrin Zolton and his gang gain the upper hand, and the plane takes off.
Chapter 19
Minnie streaks for the plane previously flown by Algy, and is swiftly airborne. The Air Police now overpower the surviving members of the Alfondari gang, and watch their new recruit’s progress with bated breath. As Minnie says later, all he hoped to do was to follow the supply plane, but suddenly Zolton’s pilot begins firing at the young man’s unarmed machine. Minnie takes brilliant evasive action; both planes are flying low, and the gangster pilot loses his nerve and flies into a pylon. Minnie is a hero, and the Air Police have not only eliminated two gangs and their suppliers, but have irrefutable evidence which ultimately leads to the rounding up of an international drug-smuggling organisation.
Chapter 20
The loose ends are tied up. Zolton and all those on the plane with him, died in the crash; Varley continues to assist the police, and gets off lightly; Corsini, (alias Garsen) who murdered the driver of the mail van, Joe and the members of the Alfondari gang, who were arrested on the airfield, are all sentenced to their just deserts.
The last scene takes place in the Air Police office at Scotland Yard. The Air Commodore is present, Minnie is confirmed as a member of the Section, and there are congratulations all round.
&nb
sp; Appendix III – How It All Ended
(The final pages of the story as imagined by Piers Williams)
“Your great-great-grandfather did a good day’s work when he became a squaw man,” asserted Ginger.
“And so say all of us,” agreed Bertie heartily. “By the by, old boy,” he went on, turning to the last speaker, “I hear you nearly popped the question once, don’t you know? Ravishin’ island maiden saved your life, moonlight under the palm-trees, and all that.”
Ginger laughed. “Who’s been telling tales out of school? There was no romance, but I would have gone for a Burton all right if it hadn’t been for Full Moon, a wonderful girl I met in the South Seas.”
Minnie came in. “Why didn’t you fall for her?”
“I was only a kid at the time, and she had a boyfriend already, Shell-breaker. They married and I still keep up with them. I stayed with them on my holiday last year.”
“Their youngest son’s in this country now, isn’t he?” put in Biggles.
“That’s right he’s learning to fly.”
“Is he by James!” Biggles looked at the Air Commodore with a twinkle in his eye. “What about another recruit for the Air Police? A lad from the isles would bring in more new skills, and the more the merrier as far as I’m concerned.”
“Any protégé of yours would be welcome,” said Raymond seriously, “but there are no vacancies at the moment.”
“You seem to forget that I’m due to retire soon. I’ve got my eye on a little cottage in Hertford.”
“Where Marie Janis lives now,” murmured Bertie, “not to mention dear Erich close by.”
Algy shrugged his shoulders at the mention of Von Stalhein, the airmen’s former arch-enemy, but Minnie was only interested Marie. “Who’s she?” he breathed in wonderment.
“Biggles’ old flame, by Jove!”
Minnie’s eyes saucered.
Biggles continued to address Raymond. “As Algy and I are contemporaries, he’s decided to leave the Air Police when I do. We’ve talked it over, and we’d like — ”
“Not so fast!” his chief interrupted him. “Why this sudden urge to be grounded?”
Biggles raised his brows. “But it was your idea, sir! You said the time was near for me to let go of the joystick. I’d rather choose my own time and quit the cockpit now than be forced to bail out.”
“The time for you to go may be approaching — but it’s not come yet,” declared the Air Commodore roundly. “Retire when you like, by all means Bigglesworth, but not straight away — especially after your latest success. You’ve plenty of flying hours left to you yet, and that goes for Lacey too.”
A slow smile spread over Biggles’ face. “Well if you put it like that, sir — ” he glanced at Algy. “How do you feel about staying on, partner?”
“Suits me,” responded the latter, with a grin.
“Then the Air Police will remain as the old team.” Biggles looked round at a ring of beaming faces. “With one new addition, of course. Minnie has passed his probationary period with flying colours. We’ll press on in our nice new machines, and for an insignia what could be better than Minnie’s family crest — a tomahawk!”
Biggles Does Some Homework Page 11