Read Online The Men Behind by Michael Pearce - Free Book Online Page A

again.
     
    “It was a bomb,” said Owen. “I heard it.”
    The three of them were sitting in Garvin’s office—Garvin himself, McPhee, the Assistant Commander, and Owen.
    “It had been planted at the back of the café. Probably left under a table or chair. It would have been easy. There weren’t many people there that early in the morning.”
    “How many?”
    “Two definitely. That’s all Ali, the owner of the café, remembers. There could have been more. Others had been in and out.”
    “It could have been worse, then.”
    “Yes. A lot worse. If it had gone off half an hour later the café would have been full.”
    “Why would anyone want to do it?” asked McPhee. “It’s monstrous. All those youngsters!”
    “No idea. You wonder if you’re dealing with a lunatic.” Garvin turned to Owen.
    “Presumably you’ve got people on it?”
    “Yes. I’ve got them all on it. I hope to Christ nothing else turns up for a day or two.”
    “What about Fairclough?” asked McPhee.
    Owen shrugged.
    “The Parquet are supposed to be handling it. Not very well, though. They’d prefer to steer clear.”
    “It’s the possible Faircloughs I’m worried about,” said Garvin.
    “A note’s come round from the CG asking people to lie low,” said McPhee. “That might help a bit.”
    “Do you think the two are connected? The Fairclough business and this bombing?” asked Garvin.
    “No. I’d reckoned that the Fairclough business was the work of a specialist group. Specializing in civil servants. The students don’t fit into that.”
    “Maybe they’re not so specialized.”
    “Bombing is a specialist thing too. I reckon we’ve got two groups,” said Owen.
    Garvin sighed. “We’ll have the whole bloody lot taking a hand if we don’t look out,” he said.
    “Or if the Khedive doesn’t make up his bloody mind soon,” said Owen.
    He felt aggrieved. He had warned Garvin at the Reception and Garvin had more or less turned his back. Now this had happened. If the Khedive had made up his mind earlier it probably wouldn’t.
    “I don’t think that’s much to do with it,” said Garvin. “Two groups operating simultaneously would stretch us,” said McPhee. “There’s all the general policing as well.”
    “You’ll have to look after that,” said Garvin. “And you’ll have to look after the bombers,” he said to Owen. “And the Fairclough business, of course.”
    “It’s a lot,” said McPhee, looking at Owen. “I’ve got some men moving the rubble. Would you like me to carry on with that? We won’t find anybody alive now but we’ll know how many dead there were.”
    “Thanks,” said Owen. “That would be a help. I’ll be going through the witnesses.”
    “Have you cleared it with the Parquet?” asked Garvin.
    “The Parquet can go hang,” said Owen. “This is plainly political.”
    “I suppose it must be,” said McPhee. “But why students?”
    “Any bombing is political,” said Owen, “because you’re almost bound to hit other people, people who’ve got nothing to do with it.”
    “It’s terrorist, all right,” said Garvin. “Part of the general picture. The trouble is, it means we’ve got on to a new stage. Your people haven’t picked up anything, have they?”
    “In the bazaars? No, no talk of bombs. I saw Nuri Pasha the other day, though, and he said there had been rumors.”
    “There’ll be more rumors now. That won’t make things any easier.” He frowned. “I don’t like bombing,” he said. “It’s hard to handle. And this will have an effect on people. Worse than that following business, even. They’re going to need reassuring.”
    He looked at Owen.
    “Are you sure you don’t want to think again? About bringing in the Army, I mean?”
    “Quite sure,” said Owen.
     
    The lemonade-seller was only too willing to tell all he knew; which wasn’t much.
    “I had stopped to relieve myself,” he explained, “when I heard a mighty roar. I ran around the corner