Chapter 28

Martin and Dan barely spoke about the situation with Bertie for the next two weeks. They had been horrified by their discovery at the farmhouse and the thought that Bertie had been involved. Had he stabbed them himself or sent one of his thugs to do it? They didn't think for an instant that it was nothing to do with him.

The weekend brought a visit to Sam's father for Sunday lunch. They had spent quite a bit of time with him, which was understandable after what had happened. Dan felt terrible every time he saw him knowing that he had talked about the party with the man who had delivered the gas canister.

The butler let them into the house on their arrival and Eric spent a few minutes in the company of his grandchildren. He obviously had something on his mind and he asked to see Dan in the library. Once inside with the doors closed Eric sat at his desk with his head in his hands.

In this uptight world Dan wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to react. His father-in-law was clearly in distress.

"Talk to me Eric."

He opted for a plain sentence which would allow Eric to focus on something and hopefully form an answer.

"It's happened again." Eric said.

"More people have been killed by one of those gas canisters."

It was Dan's turn to bury his head in his hands. Seconds later he bent over as if tying his shoe. He was actually getting some blood to his head because he thought he might pass out. He managed to ask what had happened and then listened to the details of the latest attack which was being blamed on rebels.

"A labour zone area outside of a town to the north has been hit. A crowd had gathered to watch a football match. The workers from two large farms had been playing each other in an annual game. It was always a popular event with hundreds turning out to cheer on their side. Families were there to enjoy themselves with picnics.

A bar had been set up in a marquee with homemade ales and ciders available. A crowd of, mainly, men had been inside and this was the place which was targeted. A man wearing a gas mask had pushed into the throng and tossed a canister onto the ground. People had stared at him because of what he was wearing on his face, but they had not suspected what it signified.

The tent was open at the front so the gas dispersed fairly quickly, but not without taking a toll. Eight men died the horrible choking death. Rebels within the crowds had started rumours about a new weapon the OWG had developed. They had heard that they were working on a way to kill many people whilst leaving buildings intact. This must be what they had been told about.

The anger in the community has been immense and police have been sent in to subdue the mob. They couldn't break them up with tear gas, that would have caused panic and incensed them further. The authorities had been made to mostly stand back and let them get on with their demonstration. They had of course stopped them from getting into the leadership town."

"The rebels killed their own people to make a point." Dan observed. "What is the government going to do?"

Eric said that a number of emergency meetings had been held and efforts to find those responsible were being stepped up. There were a number of other canisters missing from the army base.

"It's going to get much worse before things get better."

Dan asked him what that meant and listened with horror as his father-in-law explained. There was a possibility that they could attack again. The police and the army would be arresting and detaining large numbers of people. They would be interrogating them to get the answers that they wanted. There would be a great deal of panic and turmoil until the culprits had been found. The OWG would not, could not, be subtle with their investigations. They had to demonstrate their power.

There was a serious chance that the situation could escalate. More arrests and heavy handedness from the authorities might prompt a further use of the gas. Everyone was on high alert as they searched for an agitator who they only knew as Rebel A. This man must be stopped at all costs.

"The rebels have killed people but what do they want? Have they made any demands?"

Eric looked thoughtful. He seemed to be weighing up how much he should tell his son in law.

"They have asked for things to change but the OWG will not respond to blackmail. Any chance that they may have had for reform has been scuppered by these actions."

Bertie had got the whole movement into a right mess. This is exactly why using violence would not work with the OWG. Dan knew that what Bertie had done would make the government dig their heels in and therefore put any chance for change back years. He had killed people, there would be a brutal crackdown in response and nothing would improve for those he professed to champion.

The worry now was what would he do next? If he did not get what he wanted, would Bertie escalate his action and use the gas canisters on more people? Dan was facing the possibility that he would have to reveal what he knew about the rebel who was directing this campaign of violence.

He needed to talk to Martin before he did anything. If he was going to go to the police that was his decision. What he said when he was interviewed might affect others, so he had to get his story straight before he did something rash and got people into trouble. Thinking about what to say kept him awake all night.

Martin was reeling from what Dan had told him about the football match. He was still trying to process that and then Dan started talking about going to the police.

"Wait, just wait. Let's sit down and think about this for a minute."

Dan shook his head in response. "I've made up my mind about handing myself in. All I have to do now is sort out what I am going to say."

Dan did not want to incriminate Martin or the rest of their group so they worked on a story which would keep them out of it. As they began to craft the details there appeared to be a chance that Dan could get away without too much trouble too. They tested all the elements of the tale and agreed on the facts.

"I'll say that I was looking for Bertie because Phyllis had not seen him for eight years. She didn't ask me to make enquiries, but I'd wanted to see if I could find anything out. Bertie had said that he hoped to go to Marlborough when he started his next academic year after his 16th birthday. This was where the search started.

I had mentioned Bertie's name during the visit to Marlborough college and a note had been slipped into my pocket telling me to go to the farmhouse on a specific date. During a test drive, I asked you to drop me near the farmhouse. I told you that I was having an affair and that was where I was meeting the woman. You had gone off and then came back later to pick me up."

So far so good. He had a reason to search for Bertie and to then want to meet him. He had also thought of a way to protect Martin by saying that he only dropped Dan off near the farmhouse and knew nothing of his true purpose. It could all get very complicated so he would change most aspects of who did what and when.

"I'll say that I met Bertie and then, interested in what he had to say, asked about why he had run away from school. This was the first time I'd been to the farm and at that stage, had no intention of ever going there again.

I had wanted to tell Phyllis that I'd found her son. Bertie had said no and alluded to being in some sort of rebel group. He asked me to go back and meet him and his friends and I had said yes, hoping that I'd have another chance at persuading Bertie to contact his mother. That's when I found myself at one of their meetings.

The promotion of my father-in-law had been mentioned in the newspaper and Bertie had read about it. He had asked me whether I had to partake in any government events and I had mentioned the party. Later at the meeting I was told by Bertie about the gas canisters that the army had developed, but I thought that it was a vicious rumour and couldn't be true.

I'd not known what to make of the men I'd had met at the farmhouse. Their views were radical and they had been a bit fanatical. It was clear that there would not be a meeting between mother and son so I'd had given up the endeavour at that point. I decided not to return to the meeting place and not to see Bertie again.

At the party when the window had broken and the canister had been thrown in, I'd immediately thought of what Bertie had said. I was glad that I'd been able to save a number of people because I knew about the poison gas. My father-in-law told me about the latest gas assault at the football match and that the rebels had more canisters. I knew that I had to go in and tell them all I knew."

Dan would at this stage talk about how he had nearly got involved in something bad, but had managed to extricate himself. He knew that he would be under suspicion because he had met this man, but that could not prevent him coming forward with this information. He was doing the honourable thing.

He would not be mentioning the bodies at the farmhouse. During their investigations the police would find them. He and Martin ran through the story several times and tried to think of other questions that may be asked. Dan wanted to be prepared and not caught out when the police questioned him.

The sequence of events that they had come up with actually sounded plausible and Dan was hopeful that he could get out of this whole mess without going to prison. Convincing the police was one thing. He also had to tell his family what had happened and he knew that Sam would blame him for her mother's death. She didn't seem to like him very much anyway so this would not make a great deal of difference to their relationship. He was worried about her taking his children away.