A Line in the Sand (49 page)

"W

et there."

"G

ere had once been ambition in Mr. Hackett's ministry, but that

Th

was

ng gone. He existed now in this coastal parish, believing his

lo

congregation and his community were beneath his talents, on a diet of

gs, hurried funerals and a continuing~nxiety about the

godless weddin

intenance of the fabric of his church.

ma

His welcomin1 smile, his

proffered friendship were shams. He was lonely, he was better; his away and the fiction that explained her absence involved

wife lived

her

need to care for an elderly, bedridden mother, but she had left him.

He

lived out his life in the village, kept trouble from his door and

the

bishop off his back, and waited for retirement, blessed release. The ambition of the Reverend Alastair Hackett, then an inner-city curate on

a fast-promotion track, had ended twenty-seven years earlier in the north Welsh mountains when he had taken a party of deprived children, with volunteer helpers, from their Manchester tower blocks for a

camping holiday. It was the sort of expedition blessed by bishops, the

of

sort

trip that was good for advancement.." and an eleven-year-old 323

here was no

boy had died in a fall. Such a long time ago, but t

rgiveness in the file that passed from bishop to bishop each time

fo

he

d for subsequent promotion. The file held the muted

had applie

the

criticism, unspecified but hinted at, of the police evidence at

bsequent inquest why had the child been alone, why had the child

su

not

en better supervised?

be

had never recovered, and the bitterness lingered still.

His career

Its

target was sometimes the bishops, who did not seem to understand the lems of watching over eighteen hooligan youngsters, but most

prob

on detestation.

particularly the police. That bitterness verged

en

Wh

cumstances of the accident to

he should have been explaining the cir

s

hi

bishop, and comforting the bereaved

ents,

par

he had been incarcerated

a bare interview room in the police station at Conway, treated

in

like

felon, quizzed relentlessly by men seeming determined to find

a

nt.

inconsistencies in his accou

The career gone, ambition fallen,

he

had moved from Manchester to mid-Devon, then taken this Suffolk

parish.

ife, no fault of his own, and empty.

It was a blighted l

They were in the village. If Geoff Markham spoke, he won a grudging f he didn't speak there was silence.

response. I

e want to go up the church tower, use it as an observation point?

Did h

A grunt, a shaken head. Did he want to take a look at the house?

similar response.

Again, a

had driven, Chalmers had spread across his knees the map

While he

on

ink line marked the trail the police dogs had found, and

which a red-

the riverbank where they had lost it. By Chalmers's boots, the dogs d noisily at the car's floor mat. Markham was pretty damn

chewe

certain

maybe both, had peed during the journey.

that one,

l reeked through the car.

The smel

He stopped near to the hall, down

the road from the green. Chalmers's brow was furrowed in

ntration

conce

as he studied the detail of the map.

324

ack to

A young woman with a guidebook was sitting on a bench, her b

em. An older woman was coming out of the shop with a wheeled

th

shopping bag. He ignored the slow life of the village around him

and

busied himself with putting new batteries into the second radio then checked

e

th

transmission between the two... Shit, the stress snatched

at Markham. Hadn't rung Vicky, and he didn't know the terms of

ered him.

employment off

Hadn't spoken to Bill Davies, didn't know

whether they were still on their feet or down on the floor. Hadn't d the picture.

remembere

Chalmers eased out of the car, took a little

of the smell with him, but not enough. The mat was chewed and puddled not to notice. Markham took the picture out of his

and he seemed

briefcase, locked the door after him.

"Sorry about that sorry I didn't give it you earlier you should have efore."

had it b

now why he should be frightened into abject apologies to

He didn't k

this stinking kid. He passed over the picture. It was the first

time

he had seen anything other than hostility in Chalmers's eyes. He

had

once been

a

to boxing match, when he was at college, for a middleweight

title. He remembered the first sight of the men when they had come the ring with the hype blaring over the loudspeakers, and it

into

was

to be a grudge match.

supposed

There had been no hate in their eyes,

only respect, and the fight had started. Each had done his bloody to

damnedest

batter the other to the canvas. The bout had been brutal

d merciless, and he'd hated it.

an

ack the picture, and they walked away, following the map's

He took b

trail.

Chalmers unpicked a piece of cotton thread from a strand of

-wire

barbed

fence and said that the man wore a camouflage tunic.

topping a garden

d

Where the path narrowed, Chalmers stopped, hunched down and studie the

ide the path's mud. Half hidden by squashed nettles, a

ground bes

boot

as just visible.

print w

Chalmers said the man was size eleven, and

added casually that he was hurt, handicapped.

325

ne from the

They were beside the river. Chalmers unhooked the twi

gs'

do

throats but cooed softly to them. They stayed at his heel.

. The grey cloud was low on the reed-beds.

Ahead were the marshes

e

Th

rain spat on their faces. Chalmers gestured to his right, a

contemptuous short motion of his arm, and Markham saw the movement of

the policemen in bushes away on higher ground. The marshes stretched the mist-line and the far, dull shape of the trees.

ahead to

There

was

w thunder of the waves on shingle beyond the sea wall.

the slo

"Get lost," Chalmers growled.

"When'll I see you?"

e, when I'm ready. Go away."

"Some tim

Geoff Markham walked back down the path alongside the river. He

d

turne

once, looked round, and the path behind him was empty.

Bill Davies flushed the downstairs lavatory, and came back into the Nothing for him to do but drink coffee and ruminate on the

hall.

catastrophe of the evening before, which he'd been doing all morning.

king like chilled death when Davies had come in

Perry had been loo

first

elieve Blake and was now pacing the living room. Meryl

thing to r

was

tchen, quiet, and she'd only been out the once, to hang her

in the ki

washed dress on the line. Paget had been with her, scanning the

om

bott

fence all the time she'd pegged it up, and the rest of the clothes from

the machine. He heard a sudden clatter of sound from the kitchen

and

knew that with a numbed mind and clumsy fingers she'd dropped a plate, it.

broken

He glanced out through the window, through the new net

curtains. There was a spit of rain misting the glass but he saw the wiry man's clerical collar. He moved aside the curtain for

tall,

a

nce. Mr. Hackett's name hadn't been scratched off the

better gla

list

by the kitchen telephone.

326

It was reflex, not thought through.

He spoke on his radio to the hut, said he'd be outside, to the front of

the house.

He went out into the light rain. He ran across the green, past the new

tree and the new post, towards the clergyman.

"Excuse me."

The man stopped in mid-step, turned, the wind catching his greying hair.

"Excuse me are you Mr. Hackett?"

"He is me." A piping voice and a thin smile of greeting.

"Please, have you a moment?"

"A moment for what?"

"I'm with Frank and Meryl Perry."

The caution clouded his face.

"Which means you're a policeman, which means you're an armed

policeman.

Why would you want a moment of my time?"

Why? Because Frank Perry was told last night of his responsibility in

the death of a coach load of Iranian military scientists. Because he

had drunk two bottles of wine and been sick twice. Because he and Meryl were at home alone, and needed a friend.

hought, if you'd the time it's rough for them.

"I just t

A visit from

a

uld help."

friend wo

gyman took a step forward.

The cler

appointments. People are expecting me."

"I have

327

Bill Davies caught his arm.

"What they need, please, is for someone to show them some charity."

"Be so kind as to take your hand off me. Another time, perhaps..."

Davies's hand was shaken off, and the clergyman quickened his stride.

"You are a leader in this community, Mr. Hackett."

"I doubt it, but I do have a filled appointments diary."

"Your example is important. Please, go and ring the bell, go and smile

and make some small-talk. Better still, walk up this road with Meryl ank we'll protect you.

Perry, with Fr

Show everybody here that they

have your support."

"Another day, perhaps. But I cannot promise."

ed you."

"They ne

many who need me. I don't know your name and I do not

"There are

need

to, but we did not ask for your guns to be brought into our community.

We did not ask for our children and our women to be endangered.

We

are

not a part of whatever quarrel Frank Pejry is enmeshed in. We owe him

g.

nothin

He should go what he owes us is his departure from here.

I

have a wider responsibility to the majority. I do not condone the ostracism of this family, but I cannot condemn it. But we are a

God-fearing and law-abiding community, and I doubt that observance of

God's teaching and the rules of society have brought Perry to his

present situation. In your search for a friend to Perry, I suggest that you look elsewhere."

"Thank you, Mr. Hackett, for your Christian kindness."

ay."

"Good d

Bill Davies walked slowly back to the house.

328

The Italian owner of the restaurant, from Naples, eyed the

many-layered

stomach of the German and murmured, with quiet discretion to Fenton,

"The full menu, Mr. Fenton, not the two-course luncheon special?"

They were eased into their seats, and immediately the German ordered decisively, as if to feed himself for the rest of the week. Fenton's guest was from the BfV, attached to the embassy, an old hand at

counter-terrorism, and a friend of sorts. As was his habit, Fenton set

an agenda. He was confused, he admitted, and in search of

enlightenment. The Foreign Office preached appeasement of Iran, the Israelis demanded they be beaten with lump hammers, the Islamic

movement claimed there was American-inspired unwarranted hostility towards the Muslim world. Where lay the truth?

The German talked and ate, drank and smoked.

"So, you have one of their excrement loose on your territory otherwise it would be sandwiches and Perrier in your office. You wish to know how seriously to take that threat. My government, as you well know because you have leaked your criticisms, has taken a conciliatory

attitude towards Iran, has rescheduled debts, has given out visas, has

pushed for stronger trade links, and has still provided the venue

for

Iranian assassins to meet their targets. It won us nothing, so we have

considerable experience of their tactics. That is what I should talk about our experience of their murder tactics?"

A heaped plate of antipasti was followed by a wide, filled bowl of pasta with fungi. The German left his cigarette burning. The smoke made Fenton's eyes smart.

hey aim to be near, to kill at close quarters.

"T

But the beginning

the

is from the top in Tehran, from the peak of government,

beginning

and

the authorization for the allocation of hard-currency funding and

the

on of weapons through diplomatic pouches.

provisi

A trusted man is

appointed and he will be backed by local sympathizers, but he takes the

responsibility for success or failure. He will have no contact point with his embassy, there is the creed of deniability. He will not

329

be

helped by diplomats or intelligence officers. Our experience is

that

the trusted man is most hard to capture or kill. It is the