2 comments/ 9349 views/ 1 favorites Minerva Ch. 08 of 10 By: Denham_Forrest Clarification:- Ginormous = extremely large. * As I lay resting, I realised that it wasn't only the money that I was there for. There was Kylie to add into the equation. No, not the Minerva who'd coldly greeted me at lunch that day. The Kylie I'd walked on the cliffs, swam in the sea and lain on those rocks with out by the headland of the bay below the Cliff Head Hotel. The young woman I'd found myself falling in love with, in such a short time. You see that was the question that had forever been going around in my head. Who was she, was she Kylie I'd met, or was she Lady Minerva who I had sat and ate opposite earlier that day? The Lady Minerva who showed no sign of embarrassment when she'd seen me enter the room. Not even the slightest flush... considering what we'd done together by those rocks on the beach. Not that we'd seriously over stepped the mark, but we had... yeah well, those private moments are for Kylie and me to know about, not all and sundry. But I really couldn't understand the look in Kylie's eyes. Come on we'd gazed into each others eyes and I'd seen how they looked from across the Palm Court at the Cliff Head... Something was wrong! Suddenly I found that I was sitting bolt upright, and Bernie was staring back at me with curiosity in his eyes. "Bernie, I need to speak to her alone... in private!" "Who?" he asked. "Kylie... Lady Minerva! I need to get her alone somewhere, where we can talk. I have to know why she vanished on me." "Sorry?" Bernie asked. Although he was aware that Lady Minerva and I had met in the past. Bernie had no intimate knowledge of the circumstances of our previous meeting; well I didn't think he had at the time. I briefly filled him in. "And, she married that slimy Fabian character?" He said as I finished. It wasn't so much a question, as a comment. "Yeah, you can say that again!" "Bugger!" "Yeah bugger, alright... and I have to find out why. What was she doing, playing with my emotions or..." "Bugger... I'm sorry mate; but aren't we jumping the gun a bit. You know, she could be in on this attempted murder lark, with her uncle." "That's something else I have to find out Bernie. Is she a pawn in this game, or is she one of the players?" "Shouldn't we talk to John about it first?" It was comforting to hear Bernie saying 'we' instead of 'you'. It appeared that he and I had bonded a little in the short time I'd known him. "Probably I should, but I don't think he will go for the idea. Bernie, I'm not really here for financial gain you know. I think I'm here to find out..." "You don't have to say it lad; it is written all over your face whenever someone mentions the lady. Hey, I ain't the dumb thick cluck, everyone takes me for most of the time!" "Bernie, a tough looking bugger, you might be, but you definitely aren't dumb. Christ mate, you're one of the best actors I've ever met in my life; you should be on the telly. "And my kids would never live it down at school. Besides I don't think actors get paid the kind of dough I get my hands on. "Lets leave that side of your life out of it for now, Bernie. Now we've got to work-out how I can get Kylie alone somewhere." "I'll do some reconnoitring Gil. You keep this door locked while I'm gone." Bernie said, and then he was gone. I spent the next twenty minutes or so, going over Kylie's and my lunchtime meeting again in my mind; if you could call it a meeting? We'd barely said two words to each other, but there was something wrong about it; exactly what, I couldn't get my head around. Or maybe bring to the fore of my mind. "Well, guess who's shown up again..." Bernie said when he reappeared, "William Burgess. It looks like this Clay Shooting party this afternoon, is all his idea." "What a surprise!" I commented. "Yeah, but he's delaying things, the staff are out there with all the gear set up. Maybe he's waiting for you to show, you know... the main attraction. So's he can invite you along." "Going to be disappointed then ain't 'e! I've never handled a shotgun in my life, and I ain't about to start now. Who else is..." "Well, it looks like Fabian's going. He's all dressed-up for the part, anyway." "And Kylie?" "No I don't think so. She's in the drawing room, chatting with a couple of old biddies... or rather attempting not too; she doesn't look too enamoured with the conversation anyway. Whatever, I don't think those heels she's wearing, are suitable for a walk in the grounds, if you understand me? Or, that short dress, come to that. Mind you it shows those legs of hers off, quite nicely. But not the sort of thing for going shooting in; it's still quite cold and wet out there on the grass." At that instant there was a rap of the door. After glancing from the door back to me again, Bernie straightened his tie, checked his jacket -- he was really taking the gentleman's gentleman thing seriously -- then he went over and opened the door, very formally. "Gilroy, my boy. They told me you were here; how nice to see you again." William Burgess said as he came charging into the room. "Good afternoon, Mr Burgess..." was as much as I got out, before he went on. "William, please Gilroy. I had no idea that you and Tanya were acquainted the last time we met. Had you known her long?" "Long enough... William. Only I think I would say that Tanya knew me, far better than I ever knew her." I could see that that answer confused Burgess a little, but he very quickly recovered his poise and went on. "We are going to have a little fun shooting some clays this afternoon, Gilroy, and I was wondering whether you'd like to join us. You know... get to know some more of the family. It seems that none of them have met you before." "No, Lady Simpson and my relationship was... well, a sort of business relationship really; not so much a social one. This is the first time I've ever visited the Hall." Once again, just for an instant, Burgess looked confused. But it was only for a fleeting moment. "Well happily there's plenty to do here, to keep one occupied until the... "Mr Burgess, I'm here to attend Lady Simpson's funeral, not enjoy myself. I don't find anything to be happy about, in her demise. I definitely will not be shooting today or any other day; I've never handled a shotgun in my life. And, I doubt that I'll be doing much else than, bemoaning the loss of very good friend, and a very fine lady." "Oh Tanya, wouldn't mind Gilroy, she always was a fun loving woman. A little bohemian for some peoples tastes sometimes, I'll grant you; but she knew how to have a good time, you know!" "Well that's not me, Mr Burgess; I take her departure from this world very seriously. I nearly lost my life a few years back in a motoring accident... that was a bit of a wake-up call for me." There was just the hint of a flinch in Burgess's expression, when I referred to my accident. Not much, but maybe just enough, to confirm to me that it really hadn't been an accident... and that Burgess could well have been behind it. "So I can't talk you into joining us, then?" "No thank you, William! But, I do thank-you for inviting me. Will we see you at dinner this evening?" "Yes, I think so." "And your niece." "Oh yes, Minerva and Fabian will be there; they are in residence here at the Hall." "But you aren't?" I asked as casually as I could manage. I was wondering what excuse he'd give for not being in residence. "No, when I visited Tanya, I've always stayed at a nearby hotel; it has far better communications for my business interests. Besides, I always have a little group of dedicated staff from some my companies with me, as you will no-doubt remember. I need to be available to them all the time, well most of the day, anyway. There's far too many of them for them to all stay here." I somehow doubted that, because Tarrent Hall looked bleeding ginormous to me. But it was possible that all of the rooms weren't in a habitable condition anymore. So many of those great family houses aren't what they should be, if you understand me. As quickly as he'd come Burgess was gone again and that left Bernie and I staring at each other. We didn't speak, we didn't have too, Burgess's arrival at my room and his invitation to join the shooting party, confirmed everything we'd suspected. Bernie made another foray to ascertain that the clay pigeon party had left the house, and to locate Kylie again. She hadn't moved far, and from Spooner, Bernie had learnt that she seemed to be.... Well, as Spooner put it to Bernie. "She looks like she's trying to be seen, but not heard. I think the death of her aunt has upset her more than anyone; I think she just wants to be left alone." "That doesn't make much sense. Why not hide in her room, if she wants to be alone?" I asked. Not that Bernie knew the answer to that question; but he did agree with me. We sneaked back downstairs again and I once again took up residence in the library. The one or two relatives in there, vacating the room very smartly, after cursorily passing the time of day with me. Not everyone's favourite house guest, am I?" I commented to Bernie once they'd gone. "Are you surprised?" He winked back at me. Then he headed off in search of Lady Minerva. Somewhat surprising me, a couple of minutes later Spooner appeared and showed Lady Minerva into the room. To say she looked a little bewildered, would be putting it mildly. "Oh I'm sorry, Mr Spooner told me that Mr Mackintosh was in here and he needed to speak to me." She explained. "He probably does, Kylie... But I wish to speak to you, in private myself." There it was, what I had been looking for, I think. An instant of... I'm not sure what to call it... nonplussment, I wonder if that's even a word. But there it was, at the mention of name Kylie, Lady Minerva had looked flummoxed, maybe confused, just for an instant. Just long enough for me to believe that she was not used to being referred to as Kylie, or maybe she was not sure how she was supposed to react. But she did recover quite quickly. "Kylie, oh my Mr ja... Gilroy, I haven't been known as Kylie, since I was at school." "You were Kylie to me, Kylie... but can you recall what you called me?" She seemed to hesitate just for a moment too long, before she replied. "Of course! You like to be known by your initials GJ." She grinned. "You are sure about that, Kylie?" I enquired. "Oh yes GJ, you were adamant about it when we met at the Cliff Head Hotel." "Good, now that only leaves me with one more question?" "GJ, I'm sorry, but think that... Well maybe you read a little more into our brief encounter at the Cliff Head than I had intended. I'm so terribly sorry, if you got the wrong idea." "Oh no, Lady Minerva, I'm sure that I didn't get the wrong idea. I think I understand perfectly well now... actually. Too well, I fear!" "That's a relief, I have not been looking forward to this encounter. It's so easy for people to get..." but that was as far as I let her get. "No, I'm sure you weren't, and I really can understand your... reticence to run into me." I was choosing my words carefully. "Why do you think that is young lady? Were you worried that your briefing had not been good enough?" "Sorry?" "Look young woman, I don't know who you are. But there's one thing I do know for bloody sure, and that is that you are not Kylie!" "What are you talking about? Of course I'm her!" "Ah now, mistake number three... or maybe it was number four. God, your act's been so bad that I haven't been able to keep track half the time. But one thing that I'll stake my life on, girl... is that you are not Lady Minerva. Well not, the Lady Minerva who I met and fell in love with a couple of years ago down at the Cliff Head Hotel, you aren't. And by the way, the Lady Minerva who I now know for sure, fell in love with me." A bit of a bluff, I know; but we were both playing a bluffing game, by that point. "Where is Kylie; what have you bastards done with her? She'd better be alive, or I'll see that you never get out of prison alive, young woman!" I must have been shouting by then, because Bernie, Spooner and Marco came rushing into the room. The woman looked a little confused for a few seconds, and then for some inexplicable reason tried to make a run for the door. But that was a futile gesture, Bernie and Marco must have sussed something serious was up, and had stationed themselves to obstruct her path. They didn't actually lay hands on her; they didn't have too. They just positioned themselves strategically, and had the right air about them. One look at those two buggers when they put that act on, and no bugger tries their luck; not even a woman. I went on, hardly taking a moment to reassess the situation, now that I had back up. "Look, whoever you are, someone has had several attempts at murdering Lady Tanya Simpson in the last year or so. Now, you turn up here purporting to be Minerva and I know for sure, that you are not her." I could see expressions of understanding come on Bernie, Marco and Spooner's faces. Well at least I think they realised what I was making such a fuss about. "Well you aren't my Kylie anyway, and a DNA test will very quickly prove that... Now, whether you realise it or not young woman, you are mixed up some very nasty business here. Several murder attempts at least... and when the perpetrators go down... then you will go down with them! Either, for aiding and abetting attempted murder or conspiracy; one or the other anyway." I was pausing for effect as best I knew how, as I ranted on. "Whatever, it's life for murder you know girl... and that's a very long time to spend in Holloway. And, I'm pretty sure that I've got enough contacts on the inside, to make sure that your stay there, will even more uncomfortable than it need be." The young woman hadn't been quiet, but I'd ignored her denials. To start with, she had been trying to refute what I was saying, but the more I ranted on -- and the other three guys nodded their heads in agreement -- the less sure of herself the woman appeared to grow. Then, very suddenly, her resolve vanished and she began crying. "I knew it wouldn't work, I told them!" "Who?" I demanded. "Fabian and his father... and Mr Burgess. I know nothing about Minerva really. Well, not enough to impersonate her in front of her family. Even more so, an ex-boyfriend! All I had to go on were a few old home videos and a description of her that William Burgess supplied." "So they paid you to impersonate her?" "Yes, a few years ago I was in real trouble financially, and some guy who works for Mr Burgess offered me a lot of money; I couldn't say no." "But how did they find you, you could be Kylie's twin." "Just coincidence I think, I didn't look all that much like her at the time. I resembled her, or so they told me, but most of what you see is plastic surgery; done in California a couple of years ago." "They couldn't do anything much about your height though, could they?" "Is that how you..." "Partly. Those ruddy great heels, and blocked soles, they just don't look right to start with. Oh come, they must be crippling you?" "Not far off." she said, with -- surprisingly -- a slight smile on her face, she kicked the shoes off and sighed with relief. "Those heels and a few other things." I said, feeling relaxed a little myself by then, because she had caved. "You were in love with her weren't you?" She asked. "Yes! I think so." "Then I never stood a chance, did I? I don't think Fabian and Mr Burgess realised that you two had fallen in love. Either that, or they just don't understand..." "Most probably the latter, young lady. Now, exactly who are you, and what can you tell us about Kylie, Lady Minerva. Where is she, do you know?" "Gil!" Bernie said, attempting to interrupt us, but I put my hand up to silence him. I had a very strong suspicion that I knew what he was going to suggest and my mind didn't want to go that way. "I don't wish to even contemplate that possibility yet, Bernie. Let us let the young lady speak." But the young woman had also guessed what Bernie was going to infer. "I really do not know, Mr Jameson. She might be... but I don't think so... Well, not two months ago, anyway. I heard Mr Burgess saying something to Fabian's father about a clinic somewhere. Look, they led me to believe that Minerva had had a serious mental breakdown and that someone... I assume now, the late Lady Simpson, would somehow be able to take control of Minerva's fortune, if she found out. They told me that all I had to do was live in luxury in Argentina, pretending that I was married to Fabian, while impersonating Lady Minerva. "I was stupid, but I needed the money at the time..." "Drugs or gambling?" I asked, interrupting. "Daft I might be Mr Jameson, but I'm not that stupid. No I invested money that I didn't have in a get rich quick scheme that turned out to be a con. Unfortunately I borrowed the money I invested from the wrong sort of people. They were threatening to cut me up. "Although probably you are right really. I took a gamble by investing everything on a sure thing that turned out to be nothing of the kind. "Then that guy popped out of the woodwork and made me an offer that I really couldn't afford to refuse. But I really wasn't expecting that Fabian would... "Well, he insisted that we had to share a bedroom, with all that that implies. For appearances sake according to him, do I have to say more? It made me nothing more than an prostitute." I assume I was not the only one, to shake my head. To be honest with you, I was feeling quite sorry for the girl by then. Yeah well, I know Fabian's type; there are too many men like him out there. "I didn't like the man very much in the first place; too full of himself." She went on. I nodded in agreement again. "But once I had agreed to impersonate Minerva, I was in too deep to get out. Besides, after all that surgery... and I was stuck out the middle of nowhere, in the back of beyond of Argentina... and I couldn't understand a word of the language in the beginning. "It had all sounded so simple to start with; just pretend I'm someone else for a year or so. But it hasn't been a year, it's been... I don't know, it must be nearly four years now, and for the first four or five months of that, I was stuck in a hospital in America. Jesus, that plastic surgery was more painful than I was led to believe it was going to be." At this time we were disturbed when the Carpenter's and Ronny Mackintosh entered the room. I suppose either the room had been bugged -- or alternatively Bernie or Marco were wearing hidden radios, because they all appeared to be fully aware of what had just taken place. Helen Carpenter -- who suddenly appeared to be in charge -- did all the talking. "You have managed to get yourself into some very serious trouble young lady. But if you cooperate fully with us and the authorities, I'm sure we can minimise any legal ramifications that come your way." "I know, but I couldn't..." The girl replied nervously, but Helen didn't let her finish. "We understand, you assist us and we'll do all that we can to help you. Just don't waste our time by telling us any silly lies, you're a sideshow here." Then Helen turned to me. "Gilroy, we need to get this young woman out of here before they arrive back from their little shooting excursion and all-hell breaks loose. Marco, you'd better stay here and... I don't know. Try to bluff it out if they ask where Lady Minerva is." Then she directed at Spooner. "I suppose you can tell them that she's gone off somewhere with Gilroy. That should certainly put the wind-up the buggers." Minerva Ch. 08 of 10 Helen gave the young woman a look that I couldn't decipher, and then grinned at me and winked. Before leading the way -- via the hall's service (read servant) passageways -- out to the carriage house, where the Rolls was already waiting. Helen got into the Rolls with the young woman, Bernie and myself; the others got into John Carpenter's Range Rover. "Where are we going?" I asked. Helen gave me what I can only describe as a "Don't ask!" look, and then went on to say that there was a certain lady who wished to meet the young woman. Then she asked the impostor what her name was. The young woman who for some reason I couldn't understand at the time was crouched forward in her seat, replied "Min... Sarah." A little more prompting from Helen clarified her name further as Sarah Jessup. "Christ, that's better, those things are nearly as bad as those damned built-up shoes!" Sarah added, finally sitting up properly again, and displaying a pair of coloured contact lenses lying in her palm for our inspection. "That might go some way, to explaining the eyes." I mused. "Sorry Gilroy?" Helen asked. "Sarah's eyes looked too damned sad for Kylie. Probably because they were uncomfortable... but at the time... well, I thought maybe..." "I think I understand Gilroy." Helen smiled back at me. "Now about this clinic Sarah?" It was a futile question because Sarah did not know anything about the clinic. She was only aware that Burgess had mentioned the clinic to Fabian's father, some weeks before. The two men had rapidly changed their subject of conversation when she'd entered the room. Sarah had just assumed that Minerva was being treated there. Actually Sarah said... or claimed that originally she'd been engaged to impersonate Minerva only until she had recovered from her breakdown. Helen Carpenter went quiet after that and asked Sarah no more questions during the journey. I thought I should ask some myself, but to be honest, I couldn't think of anything to ask her. It didn't take long before the Rolls came to a halt outside the mansion I'd met Lady Tanya Simpson in, the previous day. There was no protracted journey to hide our destination that time. We piled out of the Rolls and were joined by John Carpenter and Ronny Mackintosh again, then we were quickly shown into the drawing room where Lady Tanya was waiting. "You did well JG, she certainly looks like Minerva. Maybe a little on the short side!" Sarah surprised me by holding up her pair of built up shoes for Lady Tanya to see. "Oh I see. I should imagine that they are uncomfortable to wear, young lady." "Crippling." Sarah replied casually; remarkably casually I thought. You know, I really do believe that girl was pleased... well relieved at least, that it was all over and she didn't have to pretend to be Minerva anymore. "Come closer girl, let me have a good look at you?" "Sarah Jessup, milady." Helen said, by way of introduction as Sarah having stepped closer to Lady Tanya, shook me by curtsying and bowing her head, very formally. Behaving as if the rest of us weren't there Lady Tanya, looked Sarah over very... carefully. Making a couple of little critical (and personal) comments about the differences between her and Minerva. I can't be sure but possibly to infer that she would have spotted the ruse instantly. Sarah just smiled, slightly embarrassed by the remarks I believe. Then Tanya looked over at the rest of us. "Thank you Helen. Now I would like to have a few moments alone with Sarah, if you please." "Lady Tanya..." Mackintosh went to object. On security grounds if nothing else, I suspected. But Lady Tanya flatly ignored him. "JG, you may stay, if you please." It wasn't an invitation; it was a polite request I believe. "I'm sure JG can handle anything that... goes down, Ronald!" The old lady winked at me, and then at Sarah. "Now please leave us alone the rest of you, and ask them to bring some tea in if you will. Tea is always good in these situations." Surrendering the fight, the other three quietly left the room. Lady Tanya wordlessly directed Sarah to the inquisition chair, I'd occupied the previous day; and equally by gesture, requested that I take another seat and remain silent. Lady Tanya certainly had a strange way of communicating her wishes sometimes; perhaps it was because she was so used to being waited on hand-and-foot. A cursory wave of the hand, and you somehow knew, what she required of you. Strangely -- I thought at first -- she didn't dive in and start questioning Sarah. For a short while Lady Tanya, made insignificant conversation about the weather with her. It took me a moment or two to realise that Lady Tanya, was putting the girl at her ease, or attempting too anyway. Then skilfully she steered the conversation around to Sarah's childhood, general health, education and younger life, eventually leading up to the circumstance of her impersonation of Minerva. It was a rather long and protracted conversation; I won't bother boring you with the details about all that, because it's pretty unimportant to anyone except Sarah. However I must add that Lady Tanya's questioning was very cleverly done. Not the bull-in-the-china-shop approach I would probably have taken. I'm sure we learnt more than my questioning would have achieved, in a million years. And so did the Carpenter's and Ronald Mackintosh. I discovered later that the room was wired and they had listened in. Eventually Lady Tanya brought the interview to an end, with the words. "Now Sarah, Mr Mackintosh is my legal representative on this earth... and as of this moment, he is going to be yours as well, aren't you Ronald?" That statement brought Mackintosh, the Carpenter's and Bernie back into the room, post-haste. And that of course, was when I realised that the room had to be wired. Lady Tanya then went on to repeat to Sarah that she would be 'well served' to be scrupulously open and honest with Ronny and the Carpenter's. But cautioned her that later, when the police questioned her, she was only to answer any questions that they asked her, under Ronny's close guidance. "Poor girl, I'm sure she's just a pawn in this game. She does remind me of Minerva though, I'd hate to see her waste her young life, locked up in jail." Lady Tanya commented to the Carpenter's and I, after Ronny and Sarah left, to go to the local police station. "I've already got my people looking into this clinic connection." John Carpenter informed us, but then went on to say that he feared it could take some time to discover were it was, and if Minerva was... well being unnecessarily held against her will, there. Lady Tanya commented that we needed to locate the place first; we could worry about the latter later. After that there was a rather strange interlude, where the four of us sat around drinking tea by the bucketful. Actually that's a bit of a misnomer, because Lady T's cups could never be described as buckets. But numerous fresh pots of tea kept arriving. John Carpenter received several telephone calls, mostly from his... operatives I suppose you'd call them, reporting in. He informed us that Fabian had been detained by the police, but that Burgess had... well he'd pulled a fast one and legged it. Somehow he must have got wind of what had happened. Shortly after they'd returned from the shoot, while Fabian was still looking for Sarah, Burgess had quietly slipped away; actually last seen heading in the general direction of the coach-house where all the vehicles were parked. Shortly after that, his car had raced down the drive at high speed, running down a police officer and a couple of John Carpenter's crew in the process who had attempted to stop it. It then had managed to negotiate the main gate and get out onto the road. Where it was pursued by a couple police cars, that were supposed to have been blocking the end of the drive. Burgess's car only got a mile or so before crashed into a hedge and overturned. But then the police discovered that Burgess had not been behind the wheel or even in the vehicle; the driver turned out to be one of his employees. But unfortunately, the diversion had done its job. While everyone had been concentrating on that ruddy fleeing car, and the injured, Burgess had managed to vanish into thin air. Although I would have though that an impossible task, what with all those security guys kicking around! John informed us that a cordon had been thrown around the mansion, and its grounds were being extensively searched for any sign of the man. The next few hours were more than a little fraught for everyone. Lady Tanya handled it, by giving me a long and detailed dissertation on her life, and then another about Minerva's life as a child. John Carpenter managed to extract himself quite early, by saying that he was going off to join the hunt for William Burgess. That left Helen, Bernie and me to... well, placate, or reassure, the obviously worried Lady Tanya. Bit of a turn around really, I'd been the one who had been worried on our previous meeting. I think that my discovery that the Minerva who had arrived back in the UK, was in fact an impostor. Had Tanya's mind -- not daring to ask out loud -- that same question that had been bugging me and most probably everyone else as well. "Was Minerva actually still alive?" On a lighter note, I learnt that had Lady T was disappointed to have lost-out on her big thespian moment. I gathered that she'd been looking forward to doing a 'rising from the dead' act out of her coffin, on the morning of her supposed funeral. My spotting that Sarah Jessup was an impostor, had kinda put the kibosh on that little plan. Mind you, I think Helen was pleased that it had been me who dropped the spanner in the works and not one of John's and her employees. John Carpenter had not returned before we all went to bed that night. My gear was of course still at Lady Tanya's stately home, but there was no way that I was going back there in a hurry. Well not until they'd located and arrested William Burgess -- and all of his cronies - anyway. I should imagine that other people were worried about him as well, because some of Lady T's 'close security' guys searched the house very thoroughly before we all retired for the night. The following morning John Carpenter did turn-up while we were at breakfast. Looking pretty worn-out -- from lack of sleep -- he informed us that it looked like William Burgess had got clean away from Tarrent Hall during the night. An unconscious police officer -- with serious head injuries and minus most of his uniform -- had been found in the grounds during the night. Police officers from all over the county had been coming and going all night as well. Eventually -- after Tarrent Hall and all it's associated buildings and grounds, had been searched several times -- it was conceded that Burgess must have got through the cordon placed around the place, wearing the officer's clothing. However, almost all of Burgess's staff and business associates had been detained by the police, either at Tarrent Hall or at the hotel where he'd been residing. The problem was, there were so many of them and the police had to question them all. Extra CID officers had being called in from far and wide to help, according to John. Unfortunately the police would not let John Carpenter or any of his guys near the detained... suspects. Although from what John said, I gathered that Ronnie Mackintosh was getting a little more cooperation from the police than he was. Maybe the police were embarrassed that they'd insisted that only their own officers and not John's men manned the outer containment cordon. John's guys had been set to work searching the grounds instead; camouflaged as some of them were, we'd have thought they'd have been the obvious choice for... yeah well, no point crying over spilt milk, or laying the blame, is there? End of Chapter eight