conversation. Dr. Wolfe had left the camp at nine o’clock in the evening. His car had gone over the cliff at Rackthorn Point shortly afterward. Finish. Peter could think of nothing else to say; of no question he could ask to which any helpful answer could be given. He was on the point of rising to his feet when the Colonel spoke again.
He said, “There is something I must say to you before you go,” and paused.
During their brief conversation Peter’s opinion of the Colonel had been changing. He knew, of course, that he was not dealing with a fool. He now realised that the Colonel’s stiffness and taciturnity were not the result of official obstruction or hostility. Colonel Hollingum was worried. He was anxious to put something across, and was uncertain how to go abou”I wonder if you realise that your car was picked up on our early warning system when it turned off the main road. It was recognised as coming from Key’s Garage, and we were finding out about you from Bill Key before you had got out of the car. The few minutes we kept you waiting outside the gate were spent in telephoning the writer of that letter. Fortunately, we caught him at his desk in the Ministry. If we had failed in either instance, you wouldn’t have been allowed inside the gate.”
“I realise you have to be careful,” said Peter.
The Colonel went on as though he had not heard him. “There is an infantry platoon on permanent duty here. One section is on red alert. The other three sections are ten minutes’ notice. We have an open radio-telephone link with Western Command, and another with Whitehall. I mention these precautions to give you some idea of the priority accorded to the work which is going on here. Whether I approve of that work or not, it is my job to see that it goes on uninterrupted. You understand me?”
Peter nodded.
“You mentioned the fact that Dr. Wolfe reported on his own work, in writing, at the end of the second and fourth years. Those reports did not go to me. They went to the Joint Services Scientific Advisory Committee, which, in turn, reports directly to the Cabinet. I know roughly what was in them, but not the details. Nor, of course, do I know the policy decisions which were based on them. I expect it was thought better that I should be kept in the dark.”
The Colonel smiled briefly, and Peter caught sight of a human being behind the official mask.
“It can be very trying work. During the time I have been here, we have lost three scientists. The first disappeared five years ago, when he was on leave. When I say disappeared, I mean that, literally. He might be anywhere, above the earth or under it. He has not been seen or heard of since. The second one failed to turn up for breakfast one morning, and I went over to his quarters to look for him. He was in his bath. He had cut his own throat the night before. It was not a pleasant sight.”
Peter nodded again. The room seemed to have become stuffy and airless.
“I am telling you these things so that you will listen very carefully to the advice I have to give you. Go back to London. Write your report. Say that it is quite impossible to decide whether Dr. Wolfe took his own life or whether it was an accident. Whatever the truth of the matter, one fact is certain. He is dead.”
6
By the time Peter got back to the hotel, lunch was under way. Anna was alone. Detecting the faintest hint of an invitation which might or might not have been there, Peter walked across to her table.
Anna said, “Come and keep me company. Kevin has gone to Cryde to see if he can hire a Land-Rover. He’s tired of pushing us out of goyals. How have you been spending the morning?”
“I’ve been changing cars, too. I’ve got one more suited to my length of leg. Then I went over to the Research Station.”
“Did they let you in?”
“After checking everything down to the date of my birth and my size in shoes and gloves.”
“It’s a terrible place. In Old Testament
He said, “There is something I must say to you before you go,” and paused.
During their brief conversation Peter’s opinion of the Colonel had been changing. He knew, of course, that he was not dealing with a fool. He now realised that the Colonel’s stiffness and taciturnity were not the result of official obstruction or hostility. Colonel Hollingum was worried. He was anxious to put something across, and was uncertain how to go abou”I wonder if you realise that your car was picked up on our early warning system when it turned off the main road. It was recognised as coming from Key’s Garage, and we were finding out about you from Bill Key before you had got out of the car. The few minutes we kept you waiting outside the gate were spent in telephoning the writer of that letter. Fortunately, we caught him at his desk in the Ministry. If we had failed in either instance, you wouldn’t have been allowed inside the gate.”
“I realise you have to be careful,” said Peter.
The Colonel went on as though he had not heard him. “There is an infantry platoon on permanent duty here. One section is on red alert. The other three sections are ten minutes’ notice. We have an open radio-telephone link with Western Command, and another with Whitehall. I mention these precautions to give you some idea of the priority accorded to the work which is going on here. Whether I approve of that work or not, it is my job to see that it goes on uninterrupted. You understand me?”
Peter nodded.
“You mentioned the fact that Dr. Wolfe reported on his own work, in writing, at the end of the second and fourth years. Those reports did not go to me. They went to the Joint Services Scientific Advisory Committee, which, in turn, reports directly to the Cabinet. I know roughly what was in them, but not the details. Nor, of course, do I know the policy decisions which were based on them. I expect it was thought better that I should be kept in the dark.”
The Colonel smiled briefly, and Peter caught sight of a human being behind the official mask.
“It can be very trying work. During the time I have been here, we have lost three scientists. The first disappeared five years ago, when he was on leave. When I say disappeared, I mean that, literally. He might be anywhere, above the earth or under it. He has not been seen or heard of since. The second one failed to turn up for breakfast one morning, and I went over to his quarters to look for him. He was in his bath. He had cut his own throat the night before. It was not a pleasant sight.”
Peter nodded again. The room seemed to have become stuffy and airless.
“I am telling you these things so that you will listen very carefully to the advice I have to give you. Go back to London. Write your report. Say that it is quite impossible to decide whether Dr. Wolfe took his own life or whether it was an accident. Whatever the truth of the matter, one fact is certain. He is dead.”
6
By the time Peter got back to the hotel, lunch was under way. Anna was alone. Detecting the faintest hint of an invitation which might or might not have been there, Peter walked across to her table.
Anna said, “Come and keep me company. Kevin has gone to Cryde to see if he can hire a Land-Rover. He’s tired of pushing us out of goyals. How have you been spending the morning?”
“I’ve been changing cars, too. I’ve got one more suited to my length of leg. Then I went over to the Research Station.”
“Did they let you in?”
“After checking everything down to the date of my birth and my size in shoes and gloves.”
“It’s a terrible place. In Old Testament
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