by Les Rixon
He then returned to his desk to study the sheets of A4 on Smith but was interrupted by a call from a Mr. Marshall, one of the surgeons at the hospital where the injured girl had been taken. He told Inspector Wilson that the girl was making steady progress.
He went on: ‘We carried out an operation last night to remove the bullets but believe it or not, we didn’t find any. We have also taken x-rays and they don’t show any foreign bodies. I am lost for words, although the girl certainly had wounds to her shoulder. There is something else I think you should know. We took blood tests, and I have to tell you that she is almost certainly a drug addict. I will send you a full report in due course.’
Inspector Wilson thanked Marshall and said: ‘When do you think we could talk to the girl?’
‘I think tomorrow would be the earliest, provided she continues to make progress but I would like you to keep it as short as possible.’
‘I quite understand. We would almost certainly send a female office in this instance.’
Inspector Wilson called Sergeant Cook into his office and asked him to contact the Post Office to obtain details of their recent sales of small vans in the area. An hour later Sergeant Cook produced the information Inspector Wilson required. He said: ‘There was only one van sold in this area and that was to the Star Trading Company, which is situated on the London Road at East Hannisford.’
‘Right’ said Inspector Wilson ‘get someone out there and check the place over. An officer in plain clothes who went to Mrs. Riley’s house would be ideal. Now the next thing I want you to do is to get one of your bright WPC’s to visit the girl in hospital and interview her to see is she can shed any light on why a man tried to kill her.’
Two days after Inspector Wilson called a meeting of those personnel involved in the case. He began by saying: ‘Firstly I would like to thank you all for the very professional way in which you have handled this case. Now to summarise the current position, we know Eric Smith tried to kill the young lady and have enough evidence to charge him with attempted murder. He is now in custody. Early this morning we mounted a search operation at the Star Trading Company and recovered a large quantity of various drugs plus a quantity of weapons. In the living area we found three adults of foreign nationality. They have all been arrested and are also in custody. It is a major success for us all.’
The television stations and all the press carried the story but one thing which was carefully omitted was details of the secret bullet.
Three people in Hannisford were delighted to hear the news. They were Richard, Mary and Mrs. Sullivan.
About the Author
Les Rixon completed this book in his ninety first year and achieved a lifelong ambition to be a published author. He has previously written his autobiography and is currently working on two further novels.
He has lived for most of his life in Berkshire where he currently resides with his wife of sixty-two years. He has one daughter who typed the manuscript for him.
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