BIGGLES IN THE UNDERWORLD

by Captain W. E. Johns

15. HOT WORK IN COLD BLOOD (Pages 155 – 166)

“Had Ginger known that Biggles had followed him in one of the club Aiglets, it would have been an entirely different matter. But of course, he did not know, and had no reason even to contemplate such a possibility”. The best Ginger could hope for was Algy informing Biggles, and Biggles then driving down, which would give Lazor ample time to escape. Ginger moves quietly down the track, pausing at frequent intervals to listen for a sound that would at least give him a rough idea of Lazor’s whereabouts. He felt sure Lazor would not be able to move without a certain amount of noise. “The air was still. An owl hooted. Why, he wondered irritably, do owls always have to hoot in moments of nervous tension?” Presently Ginger hears footsteps, walking with confidence. “Then, suddenly, came shock, loud and devastating, to tighten his muscles like banjo strings. It started with a shout, sharp and peremptory, harsh with authority. It was followed instantly by a shot that cracked through the silence like a whiplash. Hard on it came a curious strangled cry. Then another shot, this time from a heavier weapon. Then another. With it was a scream. Silence returned, sullen and menacing”. Ginger stood rigid, wondering what has happened. The first shot has been a pistol shot: He thinks the two shots heard in succession was a double-barrelled shotgun. In the darkness, Ginger slowly advances. He sees a shape in the gloom and discovers it is a man’s body, either dead or unconscious. It is an elderly man with a beard; Ginger does not know him. He is dressed like a gamekeeper, with a game bag slung across his shoulder. A double-barrelled twelve-bore sporting gun lies nearby. “A gamekeeper, thought Ginger swiftly. That would account for him being out at night. To watch for poachers. Come to think of it, Ginger’s brain raced on, he and Biggles had on a previous occasion seen the man on the track, the man with a lurcher dog, whom Biggles had suspected might be a poacher. Had the gamekeeper been out hoping to catch him on the job, with a pheasant in his pocket? It seemed not unlikely”. Ginger picks up the shotgun and “broke” it. Two spent cartridges are ejected. Ginger guesses that the gamekeeper challenged Lazor who shot him and the gamekeeper fired back. “There had been another cry. What was that? Had some of the pellets struck Lazor?” Ginger wonders what to do. Lazor may be within yards of him, a gun in hand. Ginger thinks he cannot leave the body lying on the track to be run over by the first vehicle that comes along. If he is not already dead, that will kill him and there was the driver to consider as well. Ginger throws a stone into the far side of the wood, hoping to draw Lazor that way. Dry-lipped he then crawls towards the body and gets two more cartridges from the pockets of the body and reloads the shotgun. “Closing it, the spring, unavoidably, made a sharp click, which brought his heart into his mouth, as the saying is. Nothing happened. He wiped sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. With the cold barrels in his hands he felt better”. Ginger hears a car coming up the hill at high speed and so, seizing the keeper by the collar of his jacket, he drags the body as close to the bank as possible, but there is no verge. If the oncoming car keeps to the crown of the track all might be well, but the track is narrow. Ginger snatches out his handkerchief and runs out into the road, waving his arms about his head in a reckless effort to stop the car in time. The car comes to a skidding stop as Ginger jumps out of the way. The driver jumps out “You fool! What the devil do you think you’re doing?” Ginger sees it is Bertie. He tells him to get down behind the car as Lazor is close by with a gun. Bertie says he had orders from Biggles to come to the farm “hot-foot”. Bertie is able to tell Ginger that Biggles has followed him to Twotrees in one of the Podbury Aiglets. Bertie thought Lazor had crashed and Ginger tells him that “He was lucky and got away with it. He had a swipe at me with his razor when I went to help him”. “The stinking polecat” says Bertie. Ginger explains why he stopped Bertie and how he comes to have the twelve-bore. Bertie suggests they go to met Biggles and let him decide what to do. “This unfortunate chap shouldn’t take any harm for a few minutes” says Bertie. Not knowing that the phone lines are down, they think they can call the police or an ambulance from the farmhouse. They both get in the car and Bertie races up the hill. “Once clear Ginger drew a deep breath of relief as he relaxed. He had been under considerable strain for some time”.