felt I had to get away from the hospital in any way I could. Since then I have calmed down a bit and Alec here has talked some sense in to me and persuaded me that we needed to talk to you.”
“We'll come to the car later,” said Fleet. “In the meantime we had better see if we can find out a bit more about your threats. With your permission we will h ave a look at the company's phone records to see if we can identify the caller who made the phone threat and also pay a visit to Mr Plavsic. We will follow up with the local police and see what they have on the ownership of the Volvo you describe as in your crash. In the meantime Mr Bell , can you see if that threatening letter can be found, perhaps the rubbish has not been thrown out. Over and above that there is not a lot we can do unless more evidence surfaces or something else happens. In the meantime I would suggest you are both careful and report anything to us that seems suspicious. Inspector Lloyd here will be in charge of this, so talk directly to him.”
We exchanged cards with Lloyd and after thanking Fleet for her time and seeing them so promptly we left.
Out in the street I said, “We didn't get much out of that, did we?”
“What did you expect? The whole story does sound a bit unreal.”
“What!”
“Don't over react.”
“It’s not you who they keep beating up!”
“We both know that there is a problem Martin, but we didn't really have much for them to act upon, lets see if they turn up anything new. In the meantime I have a mountain of stuff on my desk and I suspect you do as well, so lets get back to the office.”
I had a meeting of the technical department heads that afternoon which went on all afternoon. Afterwards I was sitting in my office making a few meeting notes when Alec popped his head around the door.
“Just been talking to Lisa, she asked if you would be free to come over to dinner this evening?”
“Would love too, although I won't stay late. I think a reasonably early night is called for.”
We left about half an hour later. I followed Alec's 7 series BMW in my little hire car that I had arranged to be delivered earlier in the afternoon. A small sporty hatch back that was probably a lot more sensible than a Range Rover in the dense evening traffic. Alec lived in a penthouse apartment in Clifton village, an affluent suburb of Bristol, and only a short walk to the gorge and downs. After guiding me in to a vacant visitors spot in the secure car park beneath the block we went up to the flat.
“Look, no need to tell Lisa the gory bits yet, no need to alarm her, OK?”
I nodded.
Lisa met us at the door and greeted me by grabbing me and giving me a big hug.
“Haven't seen you for ages Martin, how are you?” I winced and it was all I could do to contain a scream as the hug generated a shooting pain up my right side.
“Oh, sorry Martin, I forgot, is it bad?”
“No not really, I have always been a coward when it comes to pain.”
“Come and sit down,” she said. “Alec get him a Scotch, I think he needs one.”
“That sounds a great idea but only if you two are having something as well.”
Alec went across to his drinks cabinet to do the necessary and handed me a glass of his best malt, no water no ice, neat, just as he knew I take it. “Lisa what would you like, a white wine?”
“Yes please darling,” she said as she gave him a peck on the cheek, “there is a bottle open in the fridge” and went out to the kitchen followed by Alec.
He returned a few minutes later and we went and sat out on the balcony. It was a pleasant evening now, not exactly balmy but tolerable and with the fresh air and the view I started to relax for the first time in several days. The lights of the sprawling city spread out to the left and open country to the centre and right.
“You have a great flat,”
“Yes, we like it, although with the float coming up I haven't seen much of it in the last few weeks, it has
“We'll come to the car later,” said Fleet. “In the meantime we had better see if we can find out a bit more about your threats. With your permission we will h ave a look at the company's phone records to see if we can identify the caller who made the phone threat and also pay a visit to Mr Plavsic. We will follow up with the local police and see what they have on the ownership of the Volvo you describe as in your crash. In the meantime Mr Bell , can you see if that threatening letter can be found, perhaps the rubbish has not been thrown out. Over and above that there is not a lot we can do unless more evidence surfaces or something else happens. In the meantime I would suggest you are both careful and report anything to us that seems suspicious. Inspector Lloyd here will be in charge of this, so talk directly to him.”
We exchanged cards with Lloyd and after thanking Fleet for her time and seeing them so promptly we left.
Out in the street I said, “We didn't get much out of that, did we?”
“What did you expect? The whole story does sound a bit unreal.”
“What!”
“Don't over react.”
“It’s not you who they keep beating up!”
“We both know that there is a problem Martin, but we didn't really have much for them to act upon, lets see if they turn up anything new. In the meantime I have a mountain of stuff on my desk and I suspect you do as well, so lets get back to the office.”
I had a meeting of the technical department heads that afternoon which went on all afternoon. Afterwards I was sitting in my office making a few meeting notes when Alec popped his head around the door.
“Just been talking to Lisa, she asked if you would be free to come over to dinner this evening?”
“Would love too, although I won't stay late. I think a reasonably early night is called for.”
We left about half an hour later. I followed Alec's 7 series BMW in my little hire car that I had arranged to be delivered earlier in the afternoon. A small sporty hatch back that was probably a lot more sensible than a Range Rover in the dense evening traffic. Alec lived in a penthouse apartment in Clifton village, an affluent suburb of Bristol, and only a short walk to the gorge and downs. After guiding me in to a vacant visitors spot in the secure car park beneath the block we went up to the flat.
“Look, no need to tell Lisa the gory bits yet, no need to alarm her, OK?”
I nodded.
Lisa met us at the door and greeted me by grabbing me and giving me a big hug.
“Haven't seen you for ages Martin, how are you?” I winced and it was all I could do to contain a scream as the hug generated a shooting pain up my right side.
“Oh, sorry Martin, I forgot, is it bad?”
“No not really, I have always been a coward when it comes to pain.”
“Come and sit down,” she said. “Alec get him a Scotch, I think he needs one.”
“That sounds a great idea but only if you two are having something as well.”
Alec went across to his drinks cabinet to do the necessary and handed me a glass of his best malt, no water no ice, neat, just as he knew I take it. “Lisa what would you like, a white wine?”
“Yes please darling,” she said as she gave him a peck on the cheek, “there is a bottle open in the fridge” and went out to the kitchen followed by Alec.
He returned a few minutes later and we went and sat out on the balcony. It was a pleasant evening now, not exactly balmy but tolerable and with the fresh air and the view I started to relax for the first time in several days. The lights of the sprawling city spread out to the left and open country to the centre and right.
“You have a great flat,”
“Yes, we like it, although with the float coming up I haven't seen much of it in the last few weeks, it has
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