The Lethal Target(16)

‘I don’t,’ said Jake. ‘I just said “green” to give you an example of what I meant. For all I know the door’s red or yellow.’ He frowned. ‘Out of curiosity, what colour is the door?’

‘Green, sir,’ said the sergeant.

Jake smiled.

‘Lucky guess,’ he said.

The sergeant didn’t smile back. Inwardly, Jake kicked himself. I’ve made him suspicious about what we’re doing here, he thought. Let’s hope they don’t start digging too deeply into ‘Helen Cooper’.

The interview carried on, mostly going over the same ground. He’s asking me the same questions in a different way, seeing if I trip myself up, thought Jake. Luckily, Jake could repeat the fact about their discovery of Dougie McLain’s body over and over again without a problem. He just told the sergeant what they’d seen, and what they’d done. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the sergeant said: ‘Thank you sir. That’ll be all for the moment.’

‘Fine,’ said Jake. ‘I’ll go and get . . .’ He was about to say ‘Lauren’, when he stopped himself just in time, and said, ‘Miss Cooper for you.’

‘No need,’ said the sergeant. ‘The constable will tell her we’re ready for her.’

In other words, they don’t want us talking together before they get a chance to question her as well, thought Jake. They’re still set on checking if our stories match up.

Jake left the lounge and strolled towards the back door of the guest house. In the small back garden there was a seat he could relax in without bumping into people like Muir, or Mr and Mrs Gordon. As he neared the open back door, he could hear angry voices just outside. Rona and Robbie.

‘We know who did it!’ he heard Rona say, blazing fury in her voice.

‘We have to let the police do their job,’ Robbie cautioned her.

Suddenly Jake felt an overpowering urge to talk to them, sweep away the pretence and tell them he knew what this was all about. He was sure they must know that Dougie MacClain had been a Watcher, and that was why he had been killed: because he had been trying to protect the hidden book. If that was the case, then Jake and Lauren would need the knowledge these kids were sure to have if they were to stop the Russians, and get the book for themselves. He took a deep breath, then stepped outside, into the paved area at the back of the house. Rona and Robbie were sitting on upturned crates, and they looked at him suspiciously. He could see that Rona had been crying.

‘I’m so sorry about what happened to your uncle,’ said Jake.

‘He didn’t fall!’ burst out Rona angrily.

‘Ssh, Rona,’ said Robbie warningly.

‘He didn’t!’ insisted Rona, and Jake could see the tears still shining angrily in her eyes. ‘He knew every inch of those cliffs. He was pushed!’

‘Rona!’ snapped Robbie, firmer this time, and he shot an angry warning look at Jake.

‘I understand,’ Jake nodded sympathetically. And then he added in a quiet voice: ‘He was a Watcher, wasn’t he?’

For a split second both Robbie and Rona gaped at him, shock clearly shown on their faces. And then Robbie stood up, his face grim and hard.

‘Are you saying he was some kind of peeping Tom?’ he demanded angrily. And he advanced towards Jake, his fists clenched.

‘I’m talking about the hidden books of Malichea,’ said Jake softly.

Robbie stopped, and now he looked bewildered. Then he recovered himself.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he muttered gruffly.

‘But your sister does,’ said Jake gently, turning towards Rona.

‘You leave her alone!’ shouted Robbie, and this time his fists came up, ready to throw a punch at Jake.

‘You can attack me, but it doesn’t alter the fact that your uncle was a Watcher whose job was to protect the book that’s hidden here and stop it being dug up. My guess is, he tried to stop it in some way, and someone caught him and killed him.’

‘The Russians!’ sobbed Rona. ‘They did it! But we can’t prove it. And no one can touch them because they’ve got diplomatic immunity.’ And she began crying again.

Robbie looked at his sister, his whole body language showing he was uncomfortable with all this.

‘You shouldn’t be saying this, Rona,’ he said awkwardly.

‘Why not?’ demanded Rona, suddenly looking up, her eyes blazing angrily. ‘He knows about the book. And Uncle Dougie’s dead, and being silent isn’t going to bring him back!’

Suddenly the realisation hit Jake, and he said: ‘You’re Watchers as well!’