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The traffic on the Strand began to move. Macadam eased his way into it.
The sign above the devastated window read: H AIL C ARION.
Qui
The target of the bomb blast was the Daily Clarion. Qui
Le
Qui
For Qui
It was strange, he had to admit, how the confusion and destruction focused his mind. The air was filled with shouts. Men ran in every direction, with the purposeless energy of panic. But Qui
Qui
Le
The newspaperman’s mouth dropped open. A faint, pathetic croak escaped, as if the explosion had blown away his faculty of speech.
Qui
Qui
‘You’re going to be all right,’ he told him. He could hear the sirens of the London Fire Brigade approaching. He trusted that an ambulance would come too.
‘I can’t see,’ said Bittlestone. ‘My eyes … There’s something in my eyes … It’s so … it’s so bloody painful.’
Qui
‘You’re going to be fine.’
‘There was no smoke!’ cried Bittlestone, as if this was the most outrageous aspect of the attack.
Qui
‘A flash. And then boom! And then the glass blew out in the blast. Have I got glass in my eyes?’ Bittlestone began to shake violently. He was in deep shock.
‘There’ll be an ambulance here soon. We’ll have you sorted out in no time, Mr Bittlestone.’
‘Who’s that? I can’t see you. Who is it?’
‘It’s DI Qui
‘Inspector Qui
‘I was just passing, sir. Lucky for you, I was.’
They were joined by Le
Qui
‘Who has done this?’
‘We don’t know yet, sir. We’ve only just got here. Can you think of any reason why your paper should have been targeted like this? Could it be because of a stance you have taken? On the Irish question, for example?’
‘You think the Tories have done this? Would they stoop so low?’
‘There has been talk of civil war, sir. What has your position on Germany been?’
‘We have been for the dreadnought programme. We have urged war preparation. At the same time as encouraging dialogue.’
‘You have wanted it both ways, sir.’
‘But neither way merits this, surely?’
‘Sir, what is your relationship to Oskar Hartma
‘Hartma
‘You were at the premiere the other night. You seemed to be on good terms with Waechter and the other film people.’
‘What has that got to do with this?’
‘That’s what I’m trying to discover, sir.’
‘I don’t understand. Hartma
‘I understand that Mr Waechter ca
‘You’re clutching at straws, Qui
The Englishman who naturally came to Qui
‘Yes … Why do you ask?’
Grant-Sissons was an inventor. Presumably he also knew how to construct a home-made explosive device.
‘One last question, Mr Le
Le
‘And what did the package contain, may I ask?’
‘A playing card.’
‘A playing card? A single playing card?’
‘Yes.’
Dunwich had been sent a billiard ball. What was the message behind these missives? That the sender was playing some kind of game? ‘And was there anything unusual about this card?’
‘It was the Jack of Hearts, I seem to remember. And, well, here’s a thing … The eye …’
‘The eye?’
‘The eye had been poked out.’
‘I see,’ said Qui
‘Well, I don’t!’ answered Le
The angry clang of a fire engine alarm cut off any further discussion. Qui
Two men, wearing helmets with protective masks which covered their whole faces, marched into the wrecked building with their axes at the ready.
The energy seemed to go out of the whole crew when it became clear that there was no fire to put out. A second engine arrived. The disappointing news was passed on to the firemen who jumped down from that. The faces of all the firemen made it clear they felt cheated.
Qui
‘Blimey, you fellers were quick on the scene.’
‘We happened to be on the Strand when we heard the explosion.’
‘Did you see anything?’
‘No. But I spoke to one of the witnesses. That man on the floor there. A reporter by the name of Bittlestone. It appears that he has been blinded.’