13

‘What is it?’ Anne asked. ‘What’s happened?’

He knew she was thinking about the baby. That was all she had been thinking about for days. He glared at her for a moment, too wound up to say a word.

‘It’s unspeakable,’ he spluttered at last. ‘They could have caused a serious accident. Jesus, someone could have been killed.’

‘David, what are you talking about?’

He sat down, feeling shaken, his anger giving way to what he could only assume to be some kind of delayed shock.

‘I’ll put the kettle on and then you’re going to tell me what’s happened,’ Anne fussed.

He shook his head. ‘No, no, not tea. Pour me a whisky.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Are you deaf? I said pour me a whisky.’

Anne hurried to fetch his drink and he took a gulp before speaking. Holding the tumbler in the air, he gazed at the amber liquid through the glass.

‘What’s happened?’ Anne prompted him.

‘I’m telling you, they could have killed someone.’

‘Who?’

‘That loud-mouthed hooligan who follows me around heckling me whenever I speak in public. You know who I mean?’

‘Yes.’ Remembering the man who had threatened her husband in the library car park, Anne nodded. ‘Yes, I know who you mean. So what did he get up to this time?’

‘That imbecile and his bloody henchmen! I was driving through the car park and they must have followed me. Before I knew what was happening, he threw eggs at my car!’

‘What?’ Finally Anne was startled out of her preoccupation with Jessica and Daisy and listening to him. ‘You mean while you were driving?’

‘Yes, the car was moving. I could have been killed. I could have killed someone else.’ He shook his head in disgust and finished his whisky. ‘If I wasn’t a steady driver, there would have been a collision!’

He held out his empty glass and waggled it at her. Without remonstrating, she refilled it with a generous second slug.

‘David, you have to tell the police. That man must be stopped. The police will speak to him, give him a warning, and he’ll back off. This has gone too far.’

David nodded. ‘Yes, they can see the evidence for themselves. If I call them before I get the car washed they’ll see the mess that idiot’s made of my car.’

‘And you can show them that letter,’ Anne reminded him.

David sniffed and threw his shoulders back, feeling revitalised. ‘Good thinking. Have you still got it?’

For answer, Anne stood up and left the room, returning a few minutes later with the letter. David made a call to the police station and barely ten minutes later a constable arrived. She listened intently to David’s account of recent events.

‘Have you been drinking, sir?’ she asked when David finished speaking.

He sniffed, muttering about the ineptitude of a police force that sent a junior officer to hear his report.

‘Had you been drinking before the incident took place?’ she repeated patiently.

‘Listen, Constable, I had a drink when I got home, yes. You can see that for yourself,’ he added, indicating the empty tumbler on the coffee table. ‘But I hadn’t been drinking before I got home, and certainly not while I was driving, if that’s what you’re trying to imply.’

Anne looked tense, worried by the hostile turn the conversation appeared to be taking.

‘Officer,’ she said, ‘my husband arrived home very shaken by what happened to him while he was in the car, so he had a whisky. But he hadn’t been drinking before he got home. You can see from the letter we showed you that my husband is being targeted by some maniac. He needs your protection.’

‘This is a politically motivated campaign to frighten me into resigning from the council,’ David stormed. ‘But I can tell you right now, anyone deluded enough to think they can bully me into stepping down couldn’t be more wrong. Now, this has gone far enough. I want the police to warn this imbecile to keep away from me. If necessary, I’ll apply for an injunction to stop his shenanigans, but hopefully a stern word from one of your senior officers will put an end to this tomfoolery without the need for any action from me. Surely even a junior officer like you must appreciate that I’m a very busy man. I don’t have time for this kind of foolishness. Please tell your chief constable that I expect this to be sorted out without any further shillyshallying.’

The constable nodded. ‘This letter you received was sent anonymously, but we’ll have it checked for prints.’

She picked the letter up carefully by one corner and dropped it into an evidence bag.

‘Shouldn’t you be wearing gloves?’ Anne asked.

‘Be quiet,’ David snapped at her. ‘The woman knows what she’s doing. They’re going to have the letter forensically examined by – by a forensic team.’

‘And you’re certain you could identify the man who threw eggs at your car, sir?’

David nodded. ‘Oh yes, I saw him clearly. He darted out from between two parked cars as I was driving past so I got a clear view of him, and that’s when he chucked a handful of eggs at me. I can’t have been doing more than five miles an hour because I was in the car park, probably three miles an hour at most. He made no attempt to hide and I’d have no hesitation in identifying him.’

‘Did you manage to get a picture of him while you were both in the car park?’

‘Don’t be stupid. I was driving. A few of the eggs hit my windscreen and it took all my concentration not to swerve into another vehicle. Fortunately there were no other cars driving around the car park or there would almost certainly have been a collision. As it was, I barely managed to avoid hitting any parked cars. It really was a dangerous attack, and potentially lethal.’

‘You didn’t take a photograph of the incident at the time?’

‘No, of course not. I didn’t stop. I thought I should get away from there. Listen, Officer, I’m not the one who should be gathering evidence, that’s your job. Now, I want this man locked up before he causes a serious accident.’

The police officer put her notebook away. ‘There should be CCTV in the car park to confirm your account, and your description of your attacker.’

‘Is that really necessary?’ Anne asked. ‘Surely you can take my husband’s word for what happened. He’s a councillor.’

‘The leader of the council,’ David added loudly.

The constable appeared to be on the point of responding but she said nothing, and merely lowered her head. David could almost hear her thinking that being a politician was no guarantee of honesty. Meanwhile he was growing increasingly tetchy.

‘So,’ he barked, ‘what exactly are you going to do about this? I want to be kept fully informed of your actions.’

‘Of course, sir,’ the officer replied. ‘I assure you we take complaints like this very seriously, and we will do everything in our power to assist in resolving this conflict.’

‘Conflict? What conflict? I made it perfectly clear that this was an unprovoked attack. Now, what are you, personally, going to do about it, right now?’ he insisted.

‘Leave it with me, sir,’ the constable replied evenly. ‘I’ll make a report and make sure you are kept informed.’

With that, she turned to leave.

‘Is that it?’ Anne blurted out. ‘Someone’s threatening to kill my husband and you’re going to write a report about it?’

‘That man nearly killed me today,’ David said, his face now bright red. ‘As for resolving the conflict, don’t you understand, this was a completely one-sided attack on an innocent victim? I’d take care how you represent it in your report, Officer. Members of the public are entitled to drive around the streets unmolested. It’s your job to protect the public from violent hooligans.’

‘What would you like us to do?’ the policewoman asked quietly. ‘I assure you, sir, we’ll do our utmost to track down whoever did this. It shouldn’t be difficult, given your very detailed description of him. And once you have identified him, we’ll have words with him and make sure he leaves you alone in future.’

‘That man sent me a death threat and then tried to cause an accident which could easily have been fatal. I want him charged with attempted murder and, in the meantime, you need to give me police protection. I won’t settle for anything less.’

‘You do know my husband’s the leader of the council?’ Anne said.

‘We will speak to your attacker as soon as we have evidence that indicates who was involved.’

‘What if something happens to me before you’ve had a chance to establish his identity? He’s a lunatic. What if I’m attacked again before you speak to him?’

‘Are you planning on going out tonight, sir?’

David shook his head. ‘Only to the car wash,’ he replied.

‘I suggest you leave that until the morning, sir, as you’ve been drinking,’ the constable said.

‘I can’t leave that shit all over my car overnight,’ David replied. ‘The sooner it’s washed off, the better. It’s probably already drying on the paintwork. I only left it this long so you could see for yourself what happened.’

After the policewoman left, David snatched up his car keys.

‘Don’t you think you ought to wait until tomorrow?’ Anne asked anxiously. ‘You heard what the police officer said.’

About to respond, David drew in a deep breath, feeling a horrible lightheaded sensation, which he put down to stress. It was all the fault of that maniac who was hounding him. David would never have admitted as much to anyone else, but he was frightened by the threats he had received. Of course he knew that his enemy’s aggression was nothing more sinister than a lot of hot air, but it was unnerving all the same. In a way he was almost pleased about the letter he had received. It was extremely unpleasant, but at least now the police would have to do something about it. He imagined the chief constable speaking sternly to the tall ungainly campaigner, the imbecile who thought he could do whatever he liked with impunity. Well, he was about to learn that there were laws protecting the rights of responsible citizens, and sending hate mail was a serious crime, especially when it threatened the life of an important public figure. The wooziness faded and he glared at Anne.

‘I’ll get my car cleaned when I damn well like. Can you believe it? They sent a constable to take my statement. A woman at that, and barely out of school. I’ve a good mind to call and speak to the chief constable about it.’

Still grumbling, he stomped out of the house. Glancing through the window, Anne saw that it was nearly dusk. The street lamps were lit.