Все главы IF THE TRUTH BE TOLD: Глава 1 - Глава 10

1 I stir behind closed eyelids, my mind ceasing dream mode to bring him back to wakefulness. At first, I was slightly confused; I heard the noises of the hospital ward waking. Then, a feeling of dread crept over my face. The sound of rain falling thickly outside, the beautiful sound was passing right through the open window. I hadn't expected to be in the hospital with anaemia. My haemoglobin levels were deficient, causing dizzy spells and palpitations when I walked up a hill or an incline. However, the doctor had insisted on a blood test, and I received a phone call the same day. So here I am, in an assessment ward, waiting to be transferred, prodded, and probed until they discover the reasoning behind my sudden onset of anaemia. After an iron infusion, a porter moved me onto a ward with four other men—all with different ailments. The man was entirely hidden by the privacy curtain in the bed next to mine except for his feet. And they were the worst f

It wasn't difficult to find a sports shop that sold Northern Aspect equipment, and once I was in there, it wasn't difficult to find the bag I was after. It was the most oversized, hard-wearing kitbag they had; the Northern Aspect Headquarters model had plenty of colours to choose from; I purchased a red one.I smiled with self-satisfaction as I made my way back to Woodside Park.When I returned home, instead of DCI Burton being there to heap praise on my ability to find the right bag, I found a note, which read:Quintus,I have gone to Cheltenham and will not be back until tonight.Sandra xxxThree kisses? Didn't that mean something?Somewhat disappointed she wasn't there but pleased and proud that she had taken such a bold step so soon, I sat down and began to examine the bag.The walls were of a textile I had never seen before: strong but somewhat supple and certainly watertight. It felt like a very hard-wearing fabric -- lat

"We're sure a certain person or persons unknown murdered Tina Davis?" Sandra asked, to which I nodded my answer. "We've seen the bag, you've met Tina's landlady, and because of what we now know, we can be confident that somebody intentionally killer her. So, I'd say the likelihood that she died by suicide or accident is about the same as the prospect that she died of natural causes." I smiled grimly and let her continue. "If, as we think she was, murdered, then she was killed in the safe house on Suffolk Street or killed elsewhere, and her body was brought into the safe house, apparently by the killer or killers.""Which do you think it was, Sandra?" I inquired."Killing an MI6 agent in an MI6 safe house seems an extremely daring thing to do.""But consider the option," I replied. "How much boldness would it take to kill an MI6 woman elsewhere, then lock her body in a holdall and drop it in the bathtub of her very own flat, even if that flat were not in a safe h

"I beg your pardon," Sandra said, "I thought perhaps you had the rest of the mission laid out already.""If only!" I sighed. "If I could solve murders involving espionage by following a recipe, Sandra, even the dozy sods at Scotland Yard could do it. As a rule, I plan my assignment one move at a time," I continued. "I have a purpose in mind and an overall impression of how to get there, but any new advance can make me change my ideas. For example, I was planning to stay in London for at least another few days, but the sudden and dramatic visit from Hector Nelson has changed my mind.""How?" Sandra asked."His attendance, in camouflage, no less and that of his followers served as a warning that direct inspection in the city might involve grave danger while encouraging inadequate palpable compensation.""I see.""But the information Nelson gave us alternative lines of thought that already seemed promising to me, and these thoughts make our presence i

"Perhaps you can answer one for me, Detective Chief Inspector?""Of course!" She replied. "Ask me whatever you wish.""We haven't seen the body of Tina Davis, and I doubt whether we will," I continued, "so we cannot know exactly how progressive the state of putrefaction was when the police found the body.""No, Quintus," she replied, "all we have is the description provided by the team investigating the crime.""But we know something about the holdall," I said, "and we know Tina Davis was alive seven or eight days before they found her in it. Do you think the body could have reached an advanced state of decomposition genuinely? Or do you think someone would have required some unnatural assistance? ""It is tough for me to guess without knowing the actual cause of death," she replied. "We still don't even know whether she was dead when she was put into the bag, or ..."Her voice trailed away, but I sat in silence."Some toxins and cert