A Touch of Frost

Wednesday day shift (6)

The time had wormed its way around to three o’clock. None of them had eaten, so they took a meal break at a little back-street cafe. The food wasn’t up to much, but it was a happy time for Webster, who found he was hitting it off with Susan Harvey.

It was ten past four as they climbed back into the car. Webster, hoping the woman detective would sit next to him, was disappointed when she and Frost settled themselves down in the back seat. “The cop shop please, driver,” said Frost grandly, ‘and go the pretty way round via the gasworks.” Webster acknowledged the order with a petulant grunt. Frost’s pathetic attempts at humour had long worn paper-thin as far as he was concerned.

“Control to all units in the Denton area.”

Webster turned up the volume.

“Armed robbery at Glickman’s pawnbrokers, 23 North Street. Owner reported shot. Charlie Alpha in attendance but assistance urgently required.”

Frost leaned over to snatch up the handset. “Hello, Control. Frost here. We’re within two minutes of North Street. On our way. Over.”

Webster slammed the car around corners and in and out of back streets as he tried to meet the inspector’s rash and impossible estimate of two minutes. Frost and the girl were sent sliding from one side of the car to the other, their movements echoed by Frost’s spare pair of Wellington boots on the back ledge. Reaching the High Street, they slowed down to let Susan off, then roared away to North Street, a side-turning off Bath Road.

“Left here,” barked Frost. The Cortina nosed into North Street and pulled up abruptly behind area car Charlie Alpha.

The monotonous shrill of an alarm bell cut through the air. A small crowd of sightseers was being pushed away from the entrance to a shuttered shop by a uniformed police constable. Above the shop door a stout iron bracket supported the universal pawnbrokers’ trademark, three brass balls. A fading painted wooden sign announced s. glickman, jeweller and pawnbroker. The premises had a shabby, down-at-heel appearance and didn’t look nearly prosperous enough to warrant the attention of an armed robber.

They darted from the car to the shop, the uniformed man giving a nod of recognition to the inspector. Inside, their feet scrunched over shards of broken glass that powdered the carpet.

It was a tiny, dingy shop. A couple of paces and they were at a glass-fronted counter, its shelves stripped bare of the jewellery it once held. On the wall, to the left of the counter, a shattered glass showcase containing a mess of broken glass, cheap watches, and cigarette lighters. The wall showcase to the right of the counter contained nine-carat gold chains and pendants and appeared to be untouched.

The fat man in the shiny blue-serge suit dabbing blood from his face was Sammy Glickman, the owner. Balding, middle-aged, tiny shifty eyes behind thick-lensed glasses, and a few more chins than the usual allowance, Glickman was slumped on a chair in front of his counter. A police officer, PC Keith Sutton, was questioning him, jotting down his replies.

The sound of the alarm bell was magnified in the enclosed space of the shop. “Can’t someone turn that bloody thing off?” pleaded Frost.

Holding his now crimson and soggy handkerchief tightly against his forehead, the pawnbroker fished a bunch of keys from his pocket, sorted one out, and offered it to Webster. “There’s a switch under the counter… left-hand side.”

Webster killed the alarm. It died immediately but the ghost echo of its high-pitched ringing still scratched at their ears.

The shop was too small to hold four men comfortably, so Frost instructed Webster to go with the other officer and start knocking at doors to find out if anyone saw anything. “Have a look in the road for a licence plate,” he called. “You never know your luck.”

There was now room to move and Frost was able to get close enough to the pawnbroker to examine his injuries. The forehead wound was little more than a deep cut. “The radio reported you were shot, Sammy,” said Frost, sounding disappointed. “I was expecting to find you with your head blown off.”

“Another couple of inches and it could have been, Mr. Frost,” Glickman replied.

“I’ve sent for an ambulance, Inspector,” said Sutton, ‘but it’s not very serious.”

The eyes behind the thick lenses focused indignantly on the constable. “Not very serious? I’m bleeding like a stuck pig. It’s a miracle I’m still alive. He fired straight at me.”

“He missed you, though, didn’t he?” observed Frost, moving behind the counter to poke at the damaged showcase. “And you’re hardly a small target.” Amongst the fragments of shattered glass and the cigarette lighters he spotted some flattened lead pellets. He picked one up with his finger and thumb and displayed it to the constable.

“Yes, sir, I did notice,” said Sutton, sniffing. These damn plainclothes men seemed to think the uniformed branch was blind. “Shotgun pellets. The man fired a warning shot as he was leaving. A splinter of flying glass caused the damage to Mr. Glickman’s forehead.”

“It could have gone in my eye,” moaned Glickman. “Blinded me for life.”

“It could have gone up your arse,” snapped Frost, ‘but it didn’t, so let’s stick to what actually happened.” He dug out his cigarettes and offered the packet around, then had a nose around the shop, pulling at drawers, prodding at showcases. He opened a door behind the counter, and his nose wrinkled at the musty smell of old clothes. Clicking on the light, he faced dusty shelves piled with brown-paper parcels, old suitcases, and hangers full of outdated garments. He returned to the shop, where he examined the security bars and locks fitted to the inside of the main door and shop window. “He got nothing from the window display, then?” he asked.

“Only from the counter,” said Sutton. “Mr. Glickman said he was in and out in a flash.”

Frost nodded, then sat on the corner of the counter, swinging his leg.

“Right, Mr. Glickman. Tell me what happened.”

“What’s there to tell?” asked Glickman. “I’m in my shop, the bell on the door rings, telling me a customer has come in. I raise my head to greet him and I’m looking straight down the barrel of a shotgun. Behind it is this great hulking brute of a man wearing a stocking mask.”

As Glickman was talking, Frost studied the pattern of the shotgun pellet pockmarks on the wall. The spread seemed fairly concentrated and not widespread as would be the case if the gun barrel had been sawn off.

“This gun, Sammy. Was the barrel full-size or had it been sawn off?”

Glickman shrugged. “When a man pokes something like that at you, Mr.

Frost, you don’t get down and measure it.”

“That’s what the girl who was raped said,” murmured Frost.

PC Sutton’s shoulders shook as he tried not to laugh. “It’s pretty certain the barrel wasn’t sawn off, Inspector the damage is too localized. Someone from Forensic should be here soon. They’ll be able to tell us.”

“Yes, they’re such clever bastards,” commented Frost, who had little time for the geniuses of the forensic section. He nodded for Sammy to continue.

“He don’t say a dicky bird, just prods me in the gut with the shooter and indicates I should come around the front and lay facedown on the floor. I don’t need to be told twice. Down I go and I hear him sliding back the counter doors and scooping the cream of my stock into a plastic bag.”

“What sort of stuff, Sammy?”

“Rings, bracelets, brooches, all exquisite items twenty thousand quid’s worth.”

Frost snorted out a lungful of smoke. “Twenty thousand! Do me a favour, Sammy. We’re the police, not the insurance company.”

“All right,” said Sammy reluctantly, ‘perhaps it might have been nearer six thousand. Anyway, he then rams the gun in the back of my neck and says I’m not to move a muscle for ten minutes, otherwise he’ll blow my head off. So I lie there all still, but as soon as I hear the door close, I’m up in a flash and I’m out the street yelling, “Stop, thief”.” He dabbed his forehead again and was disappointed to see that the flow of blood had stopped. “Picture the scene, Air Frost. I’m out in that street yelling, “Stop thief,” and who’s there to hear me? Not a bloody soul! The only person in the street is the robber, climbing into his motor and yanking the stocking mask off his head.”

Frost slid down from the counter. “You saw him with the mask off? Did you see his face?”

“It was the only bloody face in the street. Of course I saw it.”

“Would you recognize him again?”

Glickman folded the handkerchief carefully and put it in his pocket. ‘listen, Mr. Frost, when a man robs me of thirty thousand pounds’ worth of prime stock, I promise you his face becomes memorable.”

“I suppose you didn’t get the registration number of the car?” asked Frost, not too hopefully.

“Of course I got the bloody registration number. It was a red Vauxhall Cavalier, registration number CBZ2303. They’re nice little motors my brother-in-law has one.”

Frost couldn’t believe his luck. Licence plates falling off Jags, and now an armed robber seen without his mask, his car details noted. He instructed Sutton to buzz Control and get the car’s particulars circulated.

“Already done, sir,” said Sutton flatly. He didn’t need to be told to do something as basic as that.

“And you’ve warned Control that the man is armed and dangerous?”

“Of course, sir.” Or as basic as that, either.

Glickman, piqued that he was no longer the centre of attraction, said peevishly, “Do you want to know what else happened, or am I of no further interest now I’ve done half your work for you?”

Frost hitched himself back up on the counter and waved for Sammy to go on.

“Like I said, I’m screaming to an empty street. He must have got fed up with me yelling at him because he swings his shooter round and fires point-blank range. But he misses me and hits that showcase.”

Frost looked at the showcase and lined up the angles. “Either he was a rotten shot, Sammy, or he only meant to frighten you.”

“He certainly frightened me, Inspector. I’ll be putting the biological washing powder to the test tonight, I promise you. Anyway, I fling myself facedown on the pavement until I hear the car roaring off. Then everyone comes running out to see what’s up. When I’m screaming, “Stop thief,” and being fired at, the street is empty. The minute he’s gone they’re standing eight deep on the pavement.”

The shop door opened and Webster, with the other uniformed man, returned to report that they hadn’t come up with a single witness who had seen anything other than a red, or a blue, or a black car roaring off in the distance. Plenty of people said they had heard the gunshot but thought it was a car backfiring.

“If it was an atom bomb going off, they’d say it was a car backfiring,” muttered Glickman.

Frost’s cigarettes were passed around again, and soon the little shop was thickly hazed with smoke. “One thing for sure,” said Frost, ‘whoever did this was either a smalltime crook or a first-timer.”

“How do you make that out?” asked Webster.

“Well,” said Frost, adding a salvo of smoke rings to the already murky atmosphere, ‘if you go in for armed robbery it’s a minimum of seven years, for starters. So why risk seven years robbing a little shithouse like this when, for the same risk, you could rob a bank or a decent jeweller?”

“Thank you very much, Mr. Frost,” said Glickman, sounding offended.

“My pleasure,” replied Frost. “Secondly, he didn’t saw off the barrel as any self-respecting gunman would do. This means he couldn’t keep the gun concealed in a deep pocket. He’d either have to tuck it inside his coat as he crossed from the car to the shop or blatantly wave it about. Finally, what does he do when he gets in here? He dashes in, sweeps odds and ends of Mickey Mouse jewellery into a dustbin sack and is out again in seconds. He could have taken his time and nicked all sorts of things of value, but he was in too much of a hurry. Why?” Like a schoolmaster, he looked around for an answer.

“Because he was bloody scared?” suggested Sutton.

Frost nodded his agreement. “Exactly what I think, young Sutton. It was all so amateurish.”

“It wasn’t amateurish the way he fired that gun at me,” objected Glickman. “He missed me by inches.”

“Thirty-six bloody inches,” said Frost. He pushed himself off the counter and wandered behind it to the till. “I suppose he didn’t touch the takings?” He pressed the No Sale key and the drawer shot open.

“Only the jewellery,” said Glickman, craning his neck to keep an eye on Frost. Some policemen had very sticky fingers.

The till drawer held about seventy pounds. Not rich pickings, but it would have increased the gunman’s haul by about ten percent. Frost was pushing the drawer shut when he saw the small envelope tucked behind the bank notes. He had seen envelopes like that before. Exactly like that. Taken from a drug addict, newly purchased from a pusher and full of heroin.

Sammy Glickman had been mixed up with a lot of shady dealings in the past, but never with drugs. Frost pulled the envelope out. It was far too heavy for heroin. The flap was sealed. He stuck a finger beneath it and ripped it open, then tipped the contents into his palm. Gold. Gold coins. Five golden sovereigns each bearing the head of Queen Victoria.

“I’m waiting to hear the ding of the till drawer being closed,” called the pawnbroker anxiously, finding it difficult to see what Frost was up to through the thickening smoke screen. Frost obliged him and firmly closed the drawer with a satisfying ding. But he didn’t put the sovereigns back. He walked back around the counter and held out his hand.

“What are these, Sammy?”

The eyes behind the thick lenses blinked furiously as they focused on the coins. “I buy all sorts of precious metal… coins, lockets, gold teeth. You can see the sign outside… Best Prices Paid… there’s no crime in it.”

“I didn’t say there was, Sammy.”

Webster craned his neck so he could see what the inspector had found. At first he didn’t realize what the coins were. They looked small and insignificant, not much bigger than a new penny. Then he saw the George-and-Dragon pattern on the reverse. Of course! The stolen Queen Victoria sovereigns. “Where did you get these?” he demanded.

The pawnbroker wriggled in his chair. “I’ve been robbed, I’m wounded, I’m in a state of shock. I demand to go to hospital.”

“Where did you get them?” repeated Webster.

“I bought them this morning. It’s all legitimate.”

If it’s legitimate, then why are you looking so bloody guilty? thought Frost to himself happily. “Who did you buy them from, Sammy?”

“A young bloke about twenty-five, dark hair cut short, black leather jacket. I’ve never seen him before. What’s this all about, Mr. Frost? I’m the innocent victim of a brutal crime. I’m entitled to sympathy, not harassment.”

The summonsed ambulance pulled up outside the shop. Sammy gave a sigh of relief. It would take him to the peace and quiet of the hospital and away from these searching questions.

“Send the ambulance away,” Frost instructed the two policemen, ‘then get back on patrol. Webster and I can handle it from here.”

Glickman’s face fell. “I need hospitalisation, Mr. Frost. I’m feeling bad. It’s delayed reaction from the shock.”

“I’ll get the police surgeon to have a look at you when we lock you up,” said Frost. He said it so matter-of-factly that at first Glickman couldn’t believe what he had heard. Then he did a double take as the import struck home.

“Lock me up? What are you talking about?”

“Terribly sorry, Sammy,” said Frost, ‘but the sovereigns are stolen property. We’ll have to book you for receiving.”

Glickman’s eyes, magnified behind the lenses, opened wide with feigned amazement. “Stolen property in my shop? I can’t believe it. He said they were family heirlooms.”

“So they were,” said Frost. “Heirlooms of the family he nicked them from.”

“On my dear mother’s funeral plot, Air Frost, if I had the slightest idea they were stolen, I would never have touched them.”

“How much did you give for them?” asked Frost.

The pawnbroker’s tongue crawled around his lips which had suddenly become very dry. “Thirty pounds each… one hundred and fifty nicker the five.”

“Thirty lousy quid!” scoffed Frost. “And you didn’t know they were stolen? That’s less than half of the market value.”

“I offered him a low price, Mr. Frost, expecting he’d push it up higher. That’s business. But he said, “Provided it’s in used fivers, you’ve got yourself a deal.” So, if he was happy I was happy. I gave him the fivers, and he gave me the sovereigns all fair, square and above board.”

“Tell me the rest, Sammy.”

“The rest, Mr. Frost?”

“Thirty quid is a bulk price. He must have told you he had a lot more.”

“Really, Mr. Frost. I’d have known it wasn’t above board if he said he had a lot.”

Frost shook his head in disappointment. “OK, Sammy, we’re booking you for receiving stolen property.”

“Now hold on, Mr. Frost…” Suddenly his shoulders drooped. “All right. He said he had about fifty more. They were mine at the same price providing it was in used fivers. I didn’t have fifteen hundred quid in cash. I said I’d get it from the bank. He said he’d be back tomorrow.”

Frost grinned broadly. “Then I’ll tell you what’s going to happen, Sammy. The minute he puts his foot inside that door, you will phone the station and you will make certain he doesn’t leave your shop until the fuzz arrive. If we catch him, I’ll drop the receiving stolen property charge, if not, you’ll be eating Her Majesty’s porridge for a very long time.”

“I’ll co-operate with you in every way I can, Mr. Frost.” “I knew you would, Sammy. Now put your coat on. We’re going walkies to the cop shop.”

The pawnbroker was crestfallen. “The station. But you said…”

“To look at some mug shots,” explained Frost. “To see if you can’t pick us out the bloke with the shooter. It’s part of co-operating with us every way you can.”

Glickman sat in Frost’s office hunched over yet another book of photographs that the bearded detective constable had dumped on the desk. His head was aching and the cup of stewed tea they had reluctantly provided to help him swallow the aspirins for his headache was sending acid ripples across his stomach. He wished he’d never admitted he could identify the gunman so he could now be indoors, in his cosy little flat above the shop, filling in his insurance claim form.

He sighed at the unfairness of life and opened the latest book, screwing his eyes as the monotonous rows of criminal faces shivered in and out of focus. He had looked at so many photographs he was now beginning to doubt his ability to recognize the man with the shooter even if he saw him face to face. A cough from the bearded detective prodded him to hurry so the current album could be replaced by yet another. The world seemed to be jam-packed with photographed criminals.

A creak as the door opened slowly, and Inspector Frost backed in carrying three more lethal mugs of stewed police tea. Dumping one in front of the pawnbroker, he asked, “Any luck yet?”

Glickman’s head shook from side to side. “I’ve never seen so many ugly faces in all my life.”

“You wait till you see Mr. Mullett’s wedding photos,” said Frost.

Glickman couldn’t even manage a polite laugh. He turned the page and scowled down on rows of faces all scowling back at him. Didn’t crooks ever smile? They were probably photographed after drinking this awful tea!

It was a job to concentrate with so much going on, so many people coming into and going from Frost’s tiny office. First there was a panic about a missing girl. It appeared that a neighbouring division had picked up a schoolgirl believing her to be a teenager called Karen Dawson who Frost had advised them was missing. As far as Glickman could gather, the trouble was that Frost had already found the girl but neglected to let the other divisions know. And then a little fat detective sergeant called Arthur Hanlon had been in to report on the interviews with various down-and-outs. It seemed that Frost was interested in the last hours of someone who was found dead, smothered in sick, down a public convenience. Glickman, shuddering at all the unpleasant details, felt like being sick himself.

Hanlon was sent out to find more tramps to talk to, and no sooner was he gone than there was a commotion about a return the inspector was supposed to have sent off the previous night, but hadn’t. And between all these interruptions, Glickman was expected to concentrate on page after monotonous page of faces that were all starting to look the same. He flicked over a page with barely a glance. A sharp tap on his shoulder from the frowner with the beard.

“You didn’t look at that page,” Webster admonished sternly.

Damn police. He felt like identifying anyone, whoever it was, just to end the ordeal. He turned the page.

Frost drained his tea, wiped his mouth, and poked in a cigarette. He clicked his lighter, but it failed to flame, so he rummaged through his desk for a box of matches.

“I can do you a nice automatic gold-plated lighter with your name engraved for only 29.95,” Glickman offered. “That’s cheaper than wholesale.”

“But a damn sight dearer than a box of matches,” said Frost. “You keep your big nose stuck in that book, Sammy, and stop trying to make a profit out of poor, overworked policemen.” He slouched back and stuck his feet up on his desk, knocking his mug over in the process. The phone rang. He picked it up and listened. “I’ve already told you, the crime statistics will go off tonight, definite… unless you keep interrupting me with these stupid phone calls.” He thumped the phone down.

No sooner had Frost disposed of that call than the door opened and a tall, important-looking policeman in a tailored uniform, all teeth, moustache, and buttons, marched in. The frowner stiffened to attention. Frost swung his legs off the desk, scrabbled for a file, and pretended to be adding up columns of figures.

“I was expecting your further report on the hit-and-run investigation,” said Mullett stiffly.

“Sorry about that, Super,” said Frost. “Lots of things have happened.

We found that missing girl.”

“Yes, I heard, and apparently you failed to let other divisions know.”

“I got tied up with this armed robbery,” explained the inspector, who had hoped the Commander wouldn’t have heard about that little faux pas.

“I don’t want you to take on extra cases, Inspector,” Mullett told him. “I want you to concentrate on the hit-and-run. I get phone calls every five minutes from the House of Commons asking what progress we’re making. What about Julie King? I understand she confirms that Roger Miller was with her all night.”

“She looks the sort who would say anything, or do anything, for a couple of quid,” said Frost, failing to locate his ashtray and shaking ash over Mullett’s shoes.

Mullett stared down at his shoes and flicked them distastefully. “If, as he claims, the car was stolen from outside the girl’s flat, have you made house-to-house inquiries in the area in case anyone saw something?”

Flaming hell! thought Frost, I never gave it a thought, “The very next item on our agenda, Super,” he lied. “Just as soon as we’ve finished with this gentleman here. He’s the victim of the armed robbery.”

“The bullet missed me by inches,” said Glickman, putting in his two-penny-worth.

“And we’ve got a lead on those sovereigns,” added Frost, determined to throw in all the pluses.

Mullett drew in his breath. “All I am interested in, Frost, is the hit-and-run. I must have something positive to tell Sir Charles Miller. Put the house-to-house inquiry in hand right away.”

“Right away, sir,” Frost assured him, putting his thumb to his nose and waggling his fingers as soon as the door closed behind his Divisional Commander. Then he stood up and declaimed dramatically: “She was only a stripper’s daughter, so very good and kind No stain upon her character, but a mole on her behind.”

Webster’s scowl deepened. How childish could you get? He squinted at his wristwatch. Nearly five past seven. He smothered a yawn and felt tiredness creeping over him. Hardly any sleep last night, already on duty for ten hours solid and they still had the house-to-house inquiries about the stolen Jaguar to make. He wouldn’t see the inside of his rented room much before midnight. Later he would realize what an optimistic estimate that was.

The phone rang. Frost listened and frowned. “Thanks,” he grunted, “I expected as much.” He hung up. “The red Vauxhall Cavalier,” he told

Webster. “It was reported stolen at three o’clock this afternoon.” He stretched out his arms and yawned openly. “As soon as Sammy has identified the man with the golden gun, we’ll go home. I could do with an early night.” Webster reminded him of the house-to-house, but Frost wasn’t interested. “That can wait. We’ve got more important things to do than waste time trying to clear that little snot. No, we’ll have an early night.” He stared pointedly at Webster’s beard, then began to sing “Does Santa Claus sleep with his whiskers over or under the sheets …?”

Glickman’s shoulders quivered with suppressed laughter. He thought the inspector was a real card. The bearded one had no sense of humour and was so easily riled. Glickman’s eyes travelled over a page filled with sneering punks and scowling skin-heads. He licked his finger and turned the page.

He stared. He blinked. Then stared again.

“It’s him!”

Frost and Webster leaned over his shoulder. “This one!” insisted Glickman, jabbing a pudgy finger on the glossy black-and-white.

“Are you sure?” Frost asked doubtfully.

“I’m one hundred fifty percent sure,” claimed the pawnbroker. “You can’t get any surer than that.”

The photograph was of a rather hopeless-looking individual with tight curly hair and a mournful expression. Webster read out his details. “Stanley Eustace, aged forty-seven…”

“I know who it is,” cut in Frost, who had found his matches but seemed to have lost his cigarettes. “Useless Eustace. He’s a petty crook, shoplifting, breaking and entering, nicking cars, stripping lead from church roofs. He usually gets caught because he’s so bloody stupid. But he’s never used a shooter in his life.”

“Well, he used one this afternoon,” Glickman said positively. “Can I go home now?”

No spare cars were available, so Glickman, bitterly complaining, was left to find his own way home. Frost then asked Webster to bring the Cortina around to the front. They were off to pick up Stan Eustace.

Webster hesitated. “He’s armed and dangerous. Hadn’t we better take some reinforcements with us… and a couple of police marksmen?”

But Frost scorned this suggestion. “I know him, son. I’ve nicked him enough times. He’s harmless. The gun was only for show.”

“For show!” exclaimed Webster. “He nearly blasted that showcase from the wall.”

“Probably got his finger caught in the trigger,” said Frost airily. “You can stay in the car if you like. I’ll go in the house and drag him out.”

He was slipping on his mac when an agitated Johnny Johnson poked his head in. “Sorry to interrupt you, Inspector, but you haven’t seen Dave Shelby on your travels, have you?”

“No,” replied Frost, ‘not since he delivered sexy Sue to us at The Coconut Grove round about two o’clock. Why?”

The station sergeant rubbed a hand wearily over his face. “I’m dead worried, Jack. Since he left you he hasn’t made any routine calls, hasn’t contacted us or answered his radio. He was supposed to report to me, here, at seven he’s only doing a part-shift but he didn’t show up.”

Frost didn’t think there was any cause for concern. “He’s probably in bed with some woman somewhere and forgotten the time.”

“I’m really worried, Jack,” insisted Johnson, and he looked it. “For all Shelby’s faults he’s never once failed to report in.” He waved away Frost’s offer of a cigarette.

“Have you had a word with Mr. Allen, Sergeant?” inquired Webster.

“Shelby said he was going to see him about the anonymous phone call.”

“There’s your answer,” said Frost, tucking his scarf inside his mac. He sent Webster out to ask Allen. Within a couple of minutes Allen, accompanied by Sergeant Ingram, marched in.

“What’s this about Shelby?” snapped Allen. “I haven’t seen him all day.”

“I saw him this morning,” said Ingram, ‘but I’ve been off duty all afternoon.”

“He’s gone missing,” said Frost, giving brief details. “Johnny’s worried about him.”

“He hasn’t reported in for nearly five hours,” added the station sergeant.

“Five hours!” exclaimed Allen in disbelief. “Why have you waited five hours before telling anyone?”

The station sergeant looked embarrassed. “He was doing a job for Mr.

Frost taking a WPC over to The Coconut Grove. I thought Mr. Frost might have commandeered his services and told him not to answer his radio.” It was

Frost’s turn to look embarrassed. It wouldn’t have been the first time he had cut corners by doing that.

“For heaven’s sake,” said Allen, ‘he’s in a patrol car. You can’t lose a police officer and a patrol car.”

“I’ve asked all patrols to look out for him,” said Johnson. “No sightings yet.”

“Have you tried the hospitals?” asked Frost. The sergeant nodded.

“Then what about his home? He might have gone straight there.”

“He would have signed off first,” said Johnson.

“Try his home anyway,” ordered Allen, ‘but be tactful. We don’t want to get his wife worried.”

Anxiously watched by all the others, Johnson dialled Shelby’s house.

“No, he’s not back yet,” replied Mrs. Shelby. “I’m expecting him soon. Any message?”

“Not really,” said Johnson, trying to sound unconcerned. He’s probably on a job for Mr. Frost, but I wanted to grab him before he left. Ask him to ring me when he gets in, would you?” He replaced the receiver slowly, his head bowed. “I’m worried,” he said. “Bloody worried.”

Ingram walked across to the wall map behind Frost’s desk. “I’ve had a nasty thought,” he said, and he pointed to the wall map. “North Street is here. The armed man in the getaway car was heading off in this direction.. which would take him smack bang into Shelby’s patrol area.”

Allen squeezed past Webster to study the wall map himself. “You’re suggesting that Shelby could have spotted the getaway car and tried to intercept it?”

“It’s possible, sir,” answered Ingram, “The gunman’s armed. Shelby could have got himself into trouble.”

Allen tugged at his lip, then turned to Frost. “What do you think?”

Frost stuck his hands in his mac pocket and drew hard on his cigarette. “If Shelby spotted the car, he wouldn’t have gone after it off his own bat. He’d have radioed in.” Johnny Johnson nodded his agreement.

“But his radio might be on the blink,” said Allen, ‘which is why we didn’t get any calls earlier. He could have tried to stop the getaway car and the gunman could have turned nasty… wounded him, or taken him hostage.”

“The gunman,” interjected Frost, ‘is Useless Eustace — Stan Eustace. Glickman identified him. Stan would never hold a gun to a copper in his life.”

“And he would never have committed an armed robbery in his life,” retorted Allen with a sarcastic smile, ‘but he did this afternoon.” He looked once more at the wall map. “It’s pointless wasting time speculating. A police officer has gone missing, so we take no chances.” He moved his head to the station sergeant. “All leave is stopped, Johnny. You’d better start calling the off-duty men in. We’ll have to get a full-scale search organized.”

“While you’re getting it organized,” said Frost, edging toward the door, ‘me and Fungus Face will pay a visit to Stan Eustace’s house. If he doesn’t know he’s been identified, we might be able to pick him up with only minimum loss of life.” He beckoned for Webster to follow him and was away.

“Get the search organized,” Allen instructed Ingram. “I’ll go and break the news to Mr. Mullett.”