The Video Tape Ch. 07

"Wouldn't it be nice if we could do just that," I replied, "but somehow I don't think it is ever going to happen."

"I'm sorry, Mr Bartholomew, but it's the best advice I can give you. Try to stay away from the courts when they are being tried if you can. At the moment we are pretty sure they don't know about your involvement in their arrest. It's safer for you and your wife if that's the way things remain."

"Did you find out why that second tape was sent to me?"

"We're not sure. Old man Garfield has been ill for sometime. He was the boss-man at one time. We think it could have been that there was a change of leadership in the gang some time back and the old man held a grudge. Then he found out he was dying and there is a possibility that he's been helped along the way, we can't be sure. Maybe something will turn up in the autopsy, but I doubt it.

"Honestly I think old man Garfield wanted you to do exactly what you did do and go to the police. The evidence in that safe was very selective there wasn't much on the old man himself, mainly the other men.

"We found a copy of the instructions he'd given his nephew to follow. He'd given him strict orders on what hotel to stay at and even on what rank he was to find the taxi on, to deliver the tape to you. It seems pretty obvious to us that the old man had intended that the police trace Peter quite easily. Then after the old boy died, Peter was to fly from Dublin to London using the same alias as he had the first time. We believe the old man was expecting us to follow Peter Garfield then and that's when he thought we'd get our hands on all that evidence."

"But surely by doing that, he would have implicated his nephew." I said.

"There's no honour among thieves, Mr Bartholomew. I can only assume that his nephew had upset the old boy sometime in the past. Now its up to you. I'd suggest you let justice take its course from now on and leave everything to us.

"By the way, you might like to inform Mr Connolly that, providing he keeps his nose clean, we are no longer interested in the whereabouts of Sean MacBride; Mr Connolly will understand what I'm talking about. Tell him what happened all those years ago is water under the bridge as far as we are concerned. The decision has been made that it would not be in the public interest to charge anyone over the event."

"I don't understand?"

"Don't worry, Mr Connelly will. Just make sure you tell him what I told you. Sean MacBride is one person we don't want to see or hear of again."

I suddenly realised the car had stopped beside my own car in the company car park.

"Well, good night and good bye, Mr Bartholomew. It's been so nice meeting you." The man said, holding his hand out for me to shake as at the same time the driver got out and then came around to open the door for me. "And remember, leave the rest of this to the professionals."

I stood there and watched the black Jaguar drive out of the car park followed by Inspector Morris's car. The inspector gave me a knowing look from the passenger seat as his car left.

Out of context here, the fourth man, Harcourt, had done a complete vanishing act and was never found whilst he was alive. Several years later, he turned up dead or more likely executed in Argentina. I learned of his death in an English language Argentinean newspaper that arrived out of the blue, in the post one day.

++++++++++++++++++++

I was late home to dinner that evening - Emily had collected the children from school - everyone else was eating when I entered the house. Both Emily and Stella were very curious as to where I had been, but I didn't want to discuss it over the dinner table in front of the children.

After dinner whilst Stella's husband kept the children busy in the lounge, I went though most of the afternoon's events with Emily and Stella in the kitchen.

"So they are not going to be charged for what they did to me?" Emily said when I had finished.

"No, I'm afraid not, Emily."

"Probably for the best, since the press might have gotten interested," Emily said almost nonchalantly.

"Who was this man?" Stella asked.

"I haven't got the faintest idea. He must work for the government but he made it plain that he wasn't going to tell me. But he did give me this," I said, pulling the file the man had given me out of my briefcase. "He said we might want to burn it together."

Emily looked through the file and I could see her face getting angry. Then she slammed the file shut and demanded that I get the Bar-B-Q lighting fluid before storming out of the back door. I looked at Stella for a moment but she nodded that I should do as Emily asked.

"Have you read this?" Emily demanded when I arrived at the Bar-B-Q.

"No, I haven't had the time," I replied.

"Good," she replied, then taking the lighting fluid from my hand she poured it on the file that was lying in the Bar-B-Q.

"Well, light it then!" she demanded.

So I set the papers alight and we watched the file burn to ashes. Emily cleaned out the Bar-B-Q afterwards and she was to never mention the incident or the file again.

But someone else was to tell me what that file contained, a year or so later.