Rhinoceros

Epilogue

As Tweed, followed by the rest of his team, entered his office at Park Crescent, he saw two folded newspapers on his desk. Monica rushed forward to remove one of them. He sat down in his familiar seat behind his desk, glad to be home. Then he unfolded the newspaper. The headlines shrieked at him.

Four World Statesmen Die As Helicopter Crashes Gavin Thunder Among Casualties Tragedy On German Island Of Sylt

No Internet. No Phones

'So Danzer planted a bomb. Wiped out the top villains,' he said as he passed the newspaper to Paula.

'Who is Danzer?' Monica asked.

'Just someone we heard about while we were abroad. I see your screen has disappeared.'

'It started again – the missiles, the terrible noise. I fled from the room. When I came back it was still going on so I pulled the plug. I took a taxi to a firm where I know people. Couldn't use the phone. It's dead as a dodo. My friends had experienced the same thing. It's not coming back – the Internet. Don't know about the phone. So I got George from downstairs to take the computer away, to dump it. When he came back he said the dump was piled high with computers.'

'I'm glad you got out in time. I was worried about you.'

'You knew?'

'I'd heard rumours. Incidentally, Buchanan called me in Hamburg. He found the real Mrs Mordaunt had been called away to a fake emergency. He also told me they had rounded up the refugees Marler saw in Dorset – they found them scattered across Dartmoor. Now can I see that newspaper you snatched off my desk?'

'Prepare yourself for a shock.'

She brought him the other newspaper. She handed it to him, opened at an inside page. He stared at the headline, dazed, then slowly read the brief text underneath it.