BIGGLES SEES TOO MUCH

by Captain W. E. Johns

9. A LONG WAIT (Pages 79 – 87)

Julius Brunner comes to the door and asks Stephen what brings him there at that hour. Stephen says “I have reason to think those two men staying with me at Polcarron are police spies”. (Surely Julius must know this, as they have already tried to kill Biggles with a bomb – unless Julius wasn’t in any way involved in that). Julius asks Stephen in, but Stephen declines. He tells Julius the police have been speaking to his barman. “I’ll see to it he doesn’t do any more blabbing”. Julius says he thinks there are more than two men as he has another one inside. Stephen warns Julius to “get rid of everybody” as the house might be raided and he asks how many clients Julius has inside. Julius answers two. Bates will take the two to Portwin Cove. Stephen asks where he will put them and the answer is “The usual place, till I’m ready to take them across to the island. They can wait there. They’ll be safe enough”. Stephen says Julius shouldn’t bother with them. “I’d turn ‘em loose, now; let ‘em go where the hell they like (which is stronger language than that used in the earlier Biggles books). Julius says they have paid five hundred pounds for their tickets and if word got around they weren’t to be trusted, that would ruin the whole business. Stephen asks what Julius is going to do with the cop he is holding. Julius says “Let him go”. “He doesn’t know what happened to him. I’ll tell him he had an accident, or a heart attack, and was brought here to be taken care of”. Stephen advises “I’d silence him for good. He might talk”. Julius says that would cause suspicion to fall on the house, whereas letting him go shows they have nothing to hide. Stephen Brunner gets back in his car and drives off. Biggles, who had backed into a thorny rose briar, waits a minute or two, then moves to the hedge by the drive to think things over. Shortly afterwards, Bates leaves with two men in the Daimler, presumably the two clients that were referred to. Biggles hopes that Julius means what he says about letting Ginger go, but Julius might have second thoughts, influenced by his brother. Biggles is torn by indecision as to what to do, knowing that if anything happened to Ginger, he would never forgive himself if he failed to make an effort to rescue him. Biggles settles down to wait and see what happens. At around four in the morning the Daimler returns. Daylight arrives and at nearly eight o’clock in the morning, Ginger comes out of the front door and walks down the drive. On the other side of the hedge, Biggles talks to him. “I’m here. Keep walking. I’ll stay on the other side of the hedge and meet you at the gates. I don’t want to be seen from the house”. At the gates, Ginger tells Biggles there is nothing wrong with him, other than a splitting headache. Ginger had been told that he had had a heart attack, but Ginger knows he was doped. Ginger explains how he ended up inside the Grange. Biggles explains how he found the clue from the book of matches. They walk towards the village in the hope of finding Bertie there, but they soon see the car driving towards them with Bertie driving and Algy as a passenger. Biggles and Ginger get in the car and Biggles tell Bertie to get well clear of Penlock. “It isn’t a healthy spot for us at the moment”.