Ruth Rendell - Road Rage (A Chief Inspector Wexford Mystery) (Chief Inspector Wexford Mysteries)

Also by Ruth Rendell

CHIEF INSPECTOR WEXFORD NOVELS

From Doon with Death

A New Lease of Death

Wolf to the Slaughter

The Best Man to Die

A Guilty Thing Surprised

No More Dying Then

Murder Being Once Done

Some Lie and Some Die

Shake Hands for Ever

A Sleeping Life

Put On by Cunning

The Speaker of Mandarin

An Unkindness of Ravens

The Veiled One

Kissing the Gunner's Daughter

Simisola

NON-FICTION

Ruth Rendell's Suffolk

Ruth Rendell's Anthology of the Murderous Mind

NOVELS

To Fear a Painted Devil

Vanity Dies Hard

The Secret House of Death

One Across, Two Down

The Face of Trespass

A Demon in My View

A Judgement in Stone Make Death Love me

The Lake of Darkness

Master of the Moor The Killing Doll

The Tree of Hands

Live Flesh

Talking to Strange Men

The Bridesmaid Going Wrong

The Crocodile Bird

The Keys to the Street

"But in being clever he may also have been unwise. How did he know about Mike Burden? How did he know of his existence?

Perhaps because Mike had had dealings with him and it's unlikely these were of a how shall I put it? - a social nature." A ripple of laughter made him pause.

"That is something we have to go into," he went on.

"No doubt Sacred Globe found his phone number in the book, but we have to investigate how he knew whom to look up.

"The hostages were taken at random. We know that. Therefore there's little point in much investigation of their backgrounds. That isn't going to help us find where they are or who has them. We have to begin from the other end, with Sacred Globe itself. That's our starting point and getting on with it is imperative.

This means contact with all the pressure groups protesting currently at the building of the bypass.

"Most of them a couple of days ago I'd have said all of them -are legitimate groups of sincere people protesting against what they see as an outrage in a peaceable way. But in these instances there are always the others, those in it for the pleasure of causing disruption, for example, the rioters who invaded Kingsmarkham one Saturday night a month ago and many of whom, perhaps like our hostage takers, were masked and seemingly unidentifiable.

"Someone in these groups, in SPECIES or KABAL, is going to be able to help us. Even someone with Sussex Wildlife or Friends of the Earth, both legitimate, concerned societies, may well have come in contact with very different elements while on other protests. These people have to be talked to and any clues they may give us quickly followed up. The tree people and those in the camps have to be talked to. They may be our most valuable sources of information.

"I've said that the hostages' backgrounds aren't apparently of much significance but, on the other hand, I would draw your attention to a connection between Tanya Paine, Contemporary Cars' receptionist, and the hostage Roxane Masood. Miss Masood and Miss Paine appear to have been acquaintances if not close friends. They knew each other, which is the principal reason for Miss Masood's calling that particular taxi firm. This may mean nothing, it's probably no more than coincidence, but it is a tiny lead that shouldn't be neglected.

"The Chief Constable is at present with the Highways Agency.

What will come of that meeting I don't know. I do know, as sure as I have any certainties about this business, that the government isn't going to say, "OK, forget about the bypass, let the hostages go and we'll build it somewhere else." Nothing like that is going to happen. That isn't to say there won't be some sort of interim compromise. We must wait and see what he has to say when he returns from his meeting.

"Meanwhile, because time is very important, we all have to get going on the lines I've just laid down. Principally, to find out who Sacred Globe are, their members, their leaders. We have to wait too for the message we are told will be sent before nightfall.

"Are there any questions?"

Nicola Weaver got to her feet.

"Is this to be classified as a terrorist incident?"

"Doubtful," Wexford said.

"Not at any rate at this stage. As far as we can tell, Sacred Globe isn't attempting to overthrow the government by force."

"Wasn't there a group or an individual who planted bombs on new housing estates?" This was Inspector Weaver again.

"I mean, bombed them to discourage new building? They're a possibility, I should think."

"What about the guy who made concrete hedgehogs and put them on motor ways This was DC Hennessy's contribution. He added, "The idea being simultaneously to avenge squashed hedgehogs and wreck cars."

"Anyone like that can be a lead," Wexford said.

Turning with a slight frown from Karen Malahyde, who had apparently been whispering information to him, Damon Slesar asked, "I understand Inspector Burden's wife is a schoolteacher at a local school. Could one of these Sacred Globe folks have been in her class at school or be a parent of such a child?"

"It's a good point," said Wexford.

"Good thinking. That way he might know whose wife she was." At once, as he uttered those words, his own wife came powerfully into his mind, seemed to stand before his eyes. He blinked, resumed, "This is another lead to look into as soon as you leave this room. Talk to Inspector Burden and find out where his wife taught up till five years ago and where she has begun teaching now. Right. That's all. I hope you're all happy to work late tonight."

It was still only four o'clock. Before nightfall, Wexford repeated to himself, before nightfall the third message would come. Now, in early September, night didn't fall until eight o'clock, if by the term one meant after sunset and when dusk has begun. In the next four hours that message might come to almost anyone. The same options as earlier applied and earlier they had been wrong.

Jenny had, with commendable presence of mind, immediately punched out the number 1471 that summons a recorded voice telling the subscriber the caller's number. But the caller had, prior to the call, put in the number that negates this procedure, so there was no result. These days any call could be traced if the caller's number was known, except that a call box was almost certainly being used and this time it would be a different one. Were they in the vicinity, he wondered, or a hundred miles away? Were the hostages together or held separately.

He asked himself, knowing he shouldn't ask, shouldn't touch it, shy away from this, whom they would kill first? If things didn't go the way they wanted and how could they? who would be first?

The only call to come in during the next hour in connection with the hostages was from Andrew Struther, son of Owen and Kitty Struther, of Savesbury House, Framhurst.

Burden was rather surprised to hear the voice of a reasonable man using reasonable words, even apologising.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I was a mite discourteous. The fact was this tale of my parents being missing seemed to me so totally incredible. However - I've phoned the Excelsior in Florence and they're not there. They've never been there. I'm not exactly worried ..."

"Perhaps you should be, Mr. Struther."

"I'm sorry, I don't entirely follow... Hasn't there simply been a mistake?"

"I think not. The best thing would be for you to come down here and we'll give you the facts as we know them. I'd have done so this morning, but you were' Burden endeavoured to be polite 'not particularly receptive."

Struther said he would come. He didn't know the whereabouts of Kingsmarkham police station and Burden had someone give him directions. Pass through Framhurst, over the crossroads, keep straight on, follow the signs for Kingsmarkham ... DCs Hennessy and Fancourt had gone to the bypass site to interview tree people at the Elder Ditches and Savesbury camps, where Burden was to join them. Detective Inspector Weaver was with the KABAL hierarchy and Karen Malahyde, with Archbold, was researching SPECIES, where their headquarters was, how many members they had nation-wide, what they did and if it ever involved breaking the law.