Page 74 of Fire Must Burn

He dropped a coin into the slot, then dialled a number, using his body to conceal the telephone from her as he did so. He waited for it to ring. A voice answered at the other end.

‘I have her with me, sir,’ he said. ‘I’m putting her on now.’

He stepped out of the box and handed her the telephone. She stepped inside and closed the folding door. He walked away as she did.

‘Sparks here,’ she said.

‘Did he agree to Miss Lowle’s visit?’ the Brigadier asked immediately.

‘Not yet,’ said Sparks. ‘I did broach the subject, but he’s in fairly bad shape at the moment. He wants a few days before he sees her.’

‘A pity,’ said the Brigadier. ‘Morphine can be very helpful in these situations. Did he say anything else useful?’

‘No. He doesn’t have any idea about who did this. Sir, if we didn’t do it, then maybe someone from the other side did, which would mean Tony isn’t working for them. Have you considered that?’

‘Of course, I have,’ said the Brigadier. ‘Why do you think I stationed a man in the hospital?’

‘Am I supposed to believe that’s for his protection, not to see who might try to contact him?’

‘It’s for both,’ said the Brigadier. ‘Another possibility to be considered is that Danforth had been a double agent, but quit. They might consider him either a loose end or a loose cannon.’

‘Then wouldn’t he come to us to tell us?’

‘And risk life in prison? Hardly.’

‘He could trade information for his safety.’

‘We would be amenable to that discussion, Sparks,’ said theBrigadier. ‘But I still think he’s in league with them. Now more than ever.’

‘Why so?’

‘We found some coded messages in his flat,’ said the Brigadier. ‘Not in his handwriting. Our cypher team is going at them, but it appears to be a book code, and those are difficult to crack without the source. Miss Lowle suggested we try the copy of Thucydides that he purchased at Maggs Brothers, which was a smart idea, but it wasn’t that, nor was it the language book he bought with it. Even so, there’s no good reason for him to be in possession of those messages.’

‘Won’t he notice they’re missing when he gets out?’

‘We don’t anticipate his release from medical treatment for some time, Sparks. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. In the meanwhile, will you be visiting him again?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Get him to agree to Miss Lowle’s visit.’

‘I’ll do my best, sir.’

He hung up.

He never asked me to try and get the information from him, she thought.

He doesn’t trust me. Or he thinks I’m compromised.

Maybe I am.

She rang her office.

‘Saundra, it’s Iris,’ she said. ‘Could you put Gwen on?’

A moment later, her partner came on the line.

‘How is Tony?’ she asked.