Read Online Darkest Hour by James Holland - Free Book Online

you're drunk. But I stopped
them because they were approaching from a direction that was out of bounds and
because they failed to halt at the checkpoint.'
    There was a knock at the door.
    'Come!' called Barclay, and Lieutenant Peploe entered.
    'Ah, Peploe,' said Barclay.
    'Sir. I thought you said I would be present when you
spoke with Sergeant Tanner.'
    Barclay waved a hand. 'An oversight, Peploe. Anyway,
you're here now.'
    'Your sergeant has been telling us that it was
primarily concern for our welfare that made him shoot at us,' said Lyell.
    Tanner felt himself redden, his anger mounting. 'With
respect, sir, that's not what I said.'
    'Sergeant, you've said your piece,' snapped Barclay.
'You may have been within your rights but you clearly acted impulsively and
without due consideration, putting the lives of several pilots at risk and
severely damaging Squadron Leader Lyell's car in the process.'
    'Sir,' interrupted Peploe, 'I gave Sergeant Tanner
specific orders not to let anyone else through the checkpoint under any
circumstances. If anyone is to blame for this it's me.'
    Barclay sighed. 'I appreciate your loyalty to your
platoon sergeant, Peploe, but I really think it's for Tanner here to defend
himself.'
    'An NCO in front of four officers, sir?'
    Barclay shifted in his seat. 'We're just trying to get
to the facts, Peploe. Any one of the pilots could have been seriously hurt, if
not killed. And then there's Squadron Leader Lyell's car.'
    'Then why don't we take this matter to the station
commander, sir?'
    Lyell glared at him.
    'No need to do that just yet, Peploe,' said Barclay,
glancing anxiously at his brother-in-law.
    Tanner smiled to himself. Good on you, Mr
Peploe.
    'The fact is, sir,' continued Peploe, 'that, with due
respect to Squadron Leader Lyell, a far more serious incident took place last
night. Two men were killed and it was nothing less than murder.'
    At this, Blackstone looked up and Tanner caught his
eye. So I was right , thought Tanner. He does know. It was now his turn to smile.
    'What do you mean, murder?' demanded Barclay.
    'The third man survived,' said Peploe.
    'Why didn't you tell me this earlier?'
    'I was about to, sir, but you might recall that the
telephone rang and you ordered me to leave.'
    'Have you spoken to the Snowdrops?'
    'No, sir. I took Torwinski straight to hospital and
they hadn't arrived by that time. I haven't seen any civilian police and nor
have they asked to see me. I assumed I should speak to you or the station
commander first.'
    Tanner watched Blackstone intently for any reaction to
this news. Was there alarm in his expression? He couldn't be sure.
    'And this survivor claimed what, precisely?' asked
Barclay.
    Peploe told him.
    'Good God, man!' The captain laughed. 'You believe
that?'
    'Yes, sir, I do,' said Peploe. 'It was also clear that
a fourth had jumped from the cab a short distance before the checkpoint. From
the driver's side, I should add. You could see where he'd landed on the verge.'
    'It sounds most unlikely to me, Lieutenant,' said
Squadron Leader Lyell.
    'Why, sir? It doesn't seem so to me at all. It's a lot
more probable than some recently arrived Poles trying to peddle black-market
fuel in a country that's new to them and where they hardly speak the language.'
    'Where is this fellow now?' asked Barclay.
    'In Ramsgate Hospital,' Peploe told him.
    Tanner had been keeping his eye on Blackstone, and at
this revelation the CSM caught his gaze and, this time, held it. The threat was
unmistakable.
    'It seems to me, sir,' said Wrightson to Barclay,
'that we should at least talk to this man. How badly injured is he,
Lieutenant?'
    'He should make a full recovery, sir.'
    At that moment, the telephone rang. With a look of
pained exasperation, Barclay picked up the receiver. 'Yes?' he snapped.
    Tanner watched the OC's expression change. The bluster
and impatience drained from his face, replaced by stunned shock.
    'Right,' he said. 'Right, sir. I understand, sir . . .
Yes, sir.'