تماس تلفنی

chapter four

Phone Call

The phone rang again in Alan Cole’s room.

‘Hello?’ he said.

‘Alan?’

He recognized her voice at once. ‘Anna!’ he said, his heart beating fast.

‘Yes. Now listen carefully, Alan-‘

‘Oh Anna! I’ve been waiting for your call. Have you heard about - about my leg, Anna?’

‘Never mind your leg. Listen to me. I’ll say this once and once only.’

‘What? Anna, what are you-‘

‘We’ve got your daughter, Alan. Jane. That’s her name, isn’t it? Speak to your father, Jane. Now!’

Over the phone, Alan heard the high, frightened voice of his daughter. ‘Dad? I’m sorry, Dad. They say if you tell the police anything about Anna, they’ll kill me, but I don’t care, I. oh!’

Alan heard a scream, which was suddenly cut off. Then Anna’s voice again: ‘She won’t die if you keep quiet, lover boy. But if you say a word, a single word about me to the police, you’ll find her body in the river Thames. Do you understand?’

Alan tried to speak, but there was something wrong with his voice. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘But, please.’

‘No buts. If you want to see your daughter again, keep your mouth shut.’

The phone went dead. Alan Cole sat very still. There was a terrible pain in his chest, his mouth was dry and he couldn’t move. He sat like a stone.

It’s like a dream, he thought. Surely it didn’t happen. But that voice on the phone, it was Jane all right. And Anna, too. Anna!. saying that she had kidnapped Jane.

But why? What was going on?

Slowly, he tried to understand. He hadn’t told the police about Anna, because of her husband. But why was that so important?

Why has Anna kidnapped Jane?

Because Anna has a secret. Something very important that I, Alan, know about, but mustn’t tell the police. Anna will kill Jane if I tell anyone about it.

But what is this secret? What am I supposed to know?

There was a knock on the door. A nurse came in.

‘Hello, Mr Cole. A policeman to see you. Are you OK?’

‘Yes. yes, fine, thanks.’

‘You don’t look OK.’ The nurse put her hand on his head, and felt his wrist. ‘Well, you’re not too hot, and your heart’s OK.’ She smiled at the policeman. ‘Just half an hour, now. Remember, he’s had a very serious accident.’

‘I know that.’ The policeman came in and sat down, and the nurse went out, pushing the telephone table in front of her. ‘I’m Detective Hall, Mr Cole. We met before.’

‘Yes,’ Alan said. The policeman had a kind, friendly face. The kind of man you could trust. He’ll help me, Alan thought. He’s probably a father himself.

No! Fear burned Alan like a fire. I mustn’t tell him about Anna. If I do, Jane -will die.

‘You’ve probably read in the newspapers, Mr Cole, that we’ve arrested two men.’ The policeman told Alan the story about the two Irishmen in the coach factory. ‘So we know they bombed the coach, and how they did it. I suppose you’re pleased about that.’

‘Er. yes,’ Alan said quietly. ‘That’s good. But. why have you come to see me?’

‘I just need to ask you a few questions about the day before the bombing. You see, we think these men put the bomb in the coach three days before the bombing, while the coach was at the factory. So the bomb was already in the coach when it came back to the Mews.’

‘Was it?’ Alan said. He didn’t really understand what the policeman was talking about.

‘We think so, yes. And in your job, you look after the coach, don’t you?’

‘The coach, yes. And the horses. Mostly the horses.’

‘Well, did you notice anything unusual - anything at all?’

‘No, I don’t think so.’

‘Let’s take this slowly,’ the policeman said. ‘The day before the bombing, when did you leave work?’

‘At. about six o’clock. Half past, perhaps.’

‘And you didn’t go back?’

‘No,’ Alan said quietly.

Then he looked away, quickly, out of the window. He felt cold, frightened, lonely.

‘Are you sure about that, Mr Cole? You see, a guard told me you came back later, at about ten.’

‘He did? Oh, yes, of course. I went back to see a horse, Sandman. He had a bad leg.’

‘I see.’ The policeman wrote in his book. ‘Alone?’

‘I’m sorry?’

‘Were you alone, Mr Cole? When you saw the horse?’

For a moment Alan didn’t answer. A new, very unwelcome idea came to him, and he began to feel sick with fear. It wasn’t those two Irishmen, he thought, it was Anna!

She put the bomb in the coach when I was with Sandman. I was alone with the horse for at least ten minutes; she had plenty of time.

And that means she didn’t love me at all, she just used me.

I thought I was so lucky, an old man with a young pretty woman in my bed - and all the time she was laughing at me. Worse than that - she’s a murderer! She killed George and Bernard and John, and she took my leg, and now she’s going to kill Jane as well!

And I can’t say anything about it.

That’s why she phoned me. To make sure that I never tell the police.

If I tell this policeman, Jane will die.

In a strange, shaky voice, Alan said, ‘I was alone when I was with the horse, yes.’

The policeman said nothing. Alan felt his hands shaking and put them under the sheet. Why is he looking at me like that? he thought. What does he know?

‘Are you sure, Mr Cole? The guard says you have a lady friend, and sometimes she visits the horses with you. Was she with you that night?’

‘No.’

‘You’re sure about that, Mr Cole?’

‘Yes, I am. And she’s not my friend any more now - we’ve ended it.’

‘I see.’ The policeman sighed, wrote in his notebook, and stood up. ‘That’s all then, Mr Cole. The guard wasn’t sure. Probably it was a different night.’

‘Yes. I’m sure it was.’

‘Right then. Thank you for your help. Good night, Mr Cole.’ He walked to the door, and went out.

Alan watched him go, unable to say another word. He had never felt so helpless, so frightened. I have to speak, he thought, I have to do something. But I can’t.

If I speak, Jane will die.

But if I say nothing, will they ever let her go?

As the door closed, he opened his mouth and said, ‘Detective Hall.’

But the policeman walked away. He didn’t hear.

Oh God, Alan thought. What do I do now?

After the phone call Kev and Anna tied the cloth round Jane’s mouth again, and went back into her kitchen. Anna had the bag over Jane’s head too, but Jane could hear most of what they were saying. They were angry, arguing.

‘You’ve made too many mistakes with this plan, Anna,’ Kev said. ‘The Queen of England is still walking around Buckingham Palace because of you.’

Anna’s voice was high and angry. ‘Because of me? What about you? You were supposed to understand bombs and radio transmitters, and what happened? The transmitter in that camera didn’t work when I pressed the button!’

‘You probably didn’t press it hard enough,’ Kev said coldly. ‘It worked in the end, didn’t it?’

‘Yes, too late!’ Anna said. ‘That was your mistake, not mine. So now we’ve got Cole to worry about, and this girl. We’ve got to get her away from here fast.’

‘Wait until midnight, when the house is quiet.’

There was an icy fear in Jane’s stomach. They know I can hear them, and they don’t care, she thought. I’m sure Dad will keep quiet, but they can never let me go now. They’ll have to kill me, because I know too much.

If I don’t get away from them soon, I’m going to die.

Alan lay in the dark and listened to the voices in his head, arguing this way, and that way, until he thought he would go crazy.

Keep your mouth shut! If you speak, she’ll die.

But they’ll still kill her, if she’s seen their faces.

They won’t, Anna won’t. She’s a woman, she couldn’t do that! She was your lover!

Woman! She killed five people! She blew my leg off!

Those two men the police have arrested are innocent. They’ll go to prison for thirty years if I don’t speak!

I don’t know them, I don’t care about them. Jane is the only person who matters to me!

The police will think that I helped Anna put the bomb in the coach! I’ll go to prison.

That woman is laughing at me. She was laughing at me when we made love. I hate her! I hope she dies!

She won’t die, Jane will. I must keep quiet!

What can I do? If I speak, they’ll kill her. But if I don’t speak, they’ll kill her later. So I’ve got to tell the police now, it’s Jane’s only chance.

I can’t, it’s too dangerous. I can’t! I want to see my daughter!

For two hours he lay in his room and listened to the voices in his head and thought he was going crazy. His leg ached, his chest felt very hot. Twice he decided to get up and tell someone, but his body wouldn’t move.

Then, the third time, he got into his wheelchair and went out into the corridor. It was midnight.

‘Nurse!’ he said. ‘Nurse, I need a telephone, now!’

Oh God, he thought. Where is Jane now?

Jane was in the boot of a car. Her hands and feet were tied, the piece of cloth was round her mouth, and the bag was over her head, but she knew she was in a car boot because she could hear the engine, and when she tried to sit up she hit her head.

She didn’t know how long she had been there. There wasn’t much air, but she couldn’t do anything about it. She just lay there and thought: it can’t be much longer. We must get there soon and then they’ll let me out.

And then what? How long before they kill me?