I don't own Midsomer Murders
Detective Chief Inspector John Barnaby entered the hospital room of his sergeant Detective Sergeant Ben Jones holding a third cup of coffee. The Chief Inspector had been sitting by Jones's side for several hours even though the nurses told him to go home. Barnaby felt that he should be at his sergeant's side until he woke up. Jones made groaning noises but did not wake up. Barnaby took his seat next to him. He held his sergeant's hand hoping that Jones would sense his presence and wake up. It had been several hours since the sergeant was brought to the hospital.
"Hey buddy" Barnaby said softly "It is time to wake up and get ready for work"
Barnaby frowned when he did not get a response.
"Come on you got to wake up" he said, "You got to fight. There are people who need you and care for you"
For the second time the Chief Inspector wished it was he in that bed. It should have been him in that bed. Barnaby closed his eyes against the tears that again were threatening to spill down his checks. He blamed Jones's girlfriend Ellen Walker for what had happened but Barnaby knew he was just much to blame as she was. If only he had tried harder to keep his sergeant out of danger. If only he had done a better job protecting him. A voice startled Barnaby out of his thoughts.
"Sir" a female PC said standing the doorway "I was told I would find you here"
The Chief Inspector turned to the officer.
"What is it PC Wilkins?" he asked.
"We found another body sir" PC Wilkins said.
Barnaby got to his feet and glanced at Jones not sure if he should leave.
"I will be back my friend," he said as he left with PC Wilkins.
The local pathologist Kate Wilding looked up as Barnaby approached. She seemed to be examining a body, which looked like a young man. The young man looked like he was ripped into pieces and eaten.
"John" Kate said, "How is Ben doing?"
"It does not look good Kate" Barnaby said flatly "What if I loose him"
"You can't think that way. Ben is really tough. He will get better"
"I keep telling myself that"
Barnaby turned to the body.
"What the hell" he said.
"It looks like he was attacked and eaten" Kate said, "It appears there was more then one animal"
"So whatever they were hunted in a pack"
The Chief Inspector thought back to when his sergeant was attacked in the police stations parking lot. The animals that attacked him seemed to be in a pack. As Barnaby got a closer look he gasped.
"What is it John?" Kate asked puzzled by the Chief Inspector's reaction.
"I know this man" Barnaby said, "It is Raymond"
"Who is Raymond?"
"The young man who held me, Jones, Ellen wand Phil Walker hostage"
"Are you sure?"
"Positive"
This is also the man who Ellen had been cheating with Barnaby thought bitterly.
"Poor man" Kate said, "No one deserves this"
Barnaby snorted not wanting to feel any pity for the young man.
"Raymond was Ellen Walker's boyfriend," he said.
Kate was surprised.
"I thought Ellen was Ben's girlfriend" Kate said.
"It seems that Miss Walker was seeing Raymond at the same time she was seeing Jones" Barnaby said a little bitterly.
"How do you know?"
"I saw them together and they looked too friendly"
"Are you going to tell Ben?"
"No. I do not want to hurt him"
"John you better say something before Ben finds out from someone else"
Ellen Walker and her uncle Phil were brought into the interview room. Ellen kept staring daggers at Barnaby. She was not too happy being kept all night at the station when she should have been at her boyfriend's bedside. The Chief Inspector ignored the frosty looks.
"I want answers from both of you" he said "I want them now!"
"Don't you take that tone of voice with us Chief Inspector" Ellen sneered.
"How did those dinosaurs end up in the woods and where did they come from?"
"We are not going to tell you Chief Inspector"
"Ellen I think it would be wise if we told Barnaby the truth" Phil said.
"But uncle Phil" Ellen exclaimed.
"He had seen evidence of the dinosaurs. We might as well tell him"
Barnaby looked between Ellen and her uncle.
"Well" he said.
"In the early nineties I was involved in some rather interesting experiments" Phil Walker began "We found we could clone animals that were extinct. We started small and eventfully went bigger"
"Like dinosaurs"
"Yes. Think of it like the movie `Jurassic Park`. However something went really wrong"
"What do you mean?"
"The animals escaped and several people were killed"
Barnaby raised an eyebrow.
"What did you do?" he asked.
"We thought of we took the animals to the woods people would be safe" Phil said, " It appears we were wrong"
"You should have destroyed them before people were killed. You knew what could happen. Thanks to you my sergeant is in the hospital and he could die"
"I am so sorry Chief Inspector"
"Where did you do your experiments?"
"There is a laboratory near Badger's Drift"
Barnaby planned on investigating this laboratory.
"Can you take me there?" he asked.
"As you wish Chief Inspector" Phil said.
Phil Walker picked up the telephone and dialled a number. He had to do something about DCI Barnaby. He might discover the real reason they released the dinosaurs into the woods. Phil did not like to take drastic measures but his secret had to be protected. His only regret was DS Jones being hurt. Phil rather liked the young sergeant. He was a good influence on his niece.
"Hello" a voice said, "Is that you Phil?"
"Carl" Phil said, "We may have a big problem"
"What problem?"
"A DCI has gotten rather nosy. We need to deal with it"
"How?"
"Do I have to do all of the thinking? I will bring him to the laboratory and you do the rest"
"Do you want me to kill him boss?"
"No. I have other plans for DCI Barnaby"
Phil's eyes filled with glee when he thought of what he could do to Barnaby. He was going to have so much fun.
"What do you have in mind boss?" Carl said.
"I am not going to tell you right now Carl but I can say this much. After I am done with DCI Barnaby he will no longer be a concern"
Ellen walked down the hall to Sergeant Jones's hospital room. She gasped when entered the room. Ellen went over and sat by her boyfriend's side.
"Ben" she called taking his hand.
The sergeant slowly opened his eyes and turned in her direction.
"Ellen" Ben said his voice barley a whisper.
"How are you doing?"
"That is a rather dumb question. My insides feel like they had been ripped out"
"Sorry"
Ben noticed the tears that started down Ellen's checks.
"Hey none of that" he said.
"Ben I am so sorry you ended up in here" Ellen said, "It should not have happened"
"I was protecting you"
Ellen looked away.
"You should not have bothered" Ellen said sadly "I am not worth it"
"You are so worth it" Ben said, "I think you are the kindest person there is"
"Am I Ben? If you only knew"
"Knew what?"
Ellen looked away not sure how she should answer that. She knew her answer would cause her boyfriend pain and that was something Ellen did not want to do. Barnaby had told her she should be the one to tell Ben about her affair but Ellen felt it would not be right. Ben squeezed her hand.
"Ellen" he said, "Where is Barnaby? I know he was here earlier"
Ellen went white in the lips.
"Who cares where he is?" she snapped.
"Ellen what is going on with you two? Where is this hostility coming from?"
"He just gets on my nerves"
Ben frowned.
"I feel it is more then that" he said "Now tell me the truth. Why do you hate my boss so much?"
"Why don't you just ask him since the two of you are so close" Ellen said her voice cold.
Ben was surprised by Ellen's tone. Something was really wrong. He had sensed the hostility between Ellen and the Chief Inspector while they were out in the woods.
"I did ask him" Ben said "He will not tell me either"
"Well that is too bad" Ellen snapped.
Later Barnaby visited his sergeant and noticed two dark eyes looking at him.
"Well" Barnaby said, "Look who is awake"
Barnaby went over and sat down next to Jones relief on his face.
"It is good to see you sir" Ben said.
"I was so worried about you. I am relieved about what the doctor's just told me about your recovery"
"Sir Ellen was here"
Barnaby frowned not liking what he was hearing.
"What did she want?" Barnaby asked trying not to show his distrust for the young woman.
"She came to see how I was doing sir" Ben said.
"She should have stayed away from you after what she has done"
"What has she done for you to mistrust her sir? She would not tell me"
Barnaby remained silent. He knew what Ellen did would hurt Jones badly and it was what he wanted to avoid. The Chief Inspector wished there was a better way of letting the sergeant know. Kate had a point. It was better for Barnaby to say something then Jones finding out from a stranger.
"Jones I found out something rather disturbing about Ellen" he said.
"If this is more nonsense about Ellen being involved in something…" Ben began but was interrupted by Barnaby.
"No Jones it is something else"
"What?"
Barnaby hesitated.
"Sir if you have something important to tell me just say it" Ben pleaded.
"A few days ago I saw Ellen with another man and they looked more then friends" Barnaby said.
"What are you saying sir?"
"I am sorry Jones but Ellen had been cheating on you"
Ben was speechless as though he had not heard his boss right.
"Sir" he said, "You must have read the situation wrong"
"I am sorry" Barnaby said softly.
Ben turned away from Barnaby trying not to cry out in rage. He thought back to when he and Ellen first encountered Raymond. Raymond had said something along similar lines. Ben at the time thought he was just trying to get under his skin.
"It is Raymond am I right?" Ben said his voice growing hard.
"I afraid so Jones" Barnaby said hating to see his sergeant having his heart stomped on.
"When I get out of here I will find him and take him apart"
"I am sorry to inform you Jones that Raymond has been killed"
Ben turned to look back at Barnaby.
"Well don't expect me to feel any sympathy for him sir" he said.
"I don't blame you for hating him. Now why don't you get some rest"?
Barnaby stood up and when he reached the door Ben said:
"Sir I am glad you told me. You were right about Ellen"
"I wish I wasn't Jones" Barnaby said and with that he left the room.
The next day Barnaby met Phil. The two of them were going to drive over to the laboratory Phil had mentioned. The Chief Inspector wisely told several PC`s where he was going to be just in case something were to go wrong. Barnaby was not stupid. He knew he could easily be walking into a trap.
"Can you tell me more about the work you did at this laboratory Mr Walker" Barnaby said as they drove along.
"What do you want to know?" Phil asked.
"When was this laboratory founded?"
"It was started in the late eighties"
"For what purpose?"
"For research purposes"
"When did you start cloning?"
"In the early nineties as I said"
"What made you decide to clone dinosaurs?"
"Why not? People have been fascinated by dinosaurs forever"
Barnaby raised an eyebrow.
"If people want to see dinosaurs they can go to a museum," he said.
"Those are just bones" Phil said "We wanted to create something real"
"What you are saying is that you wanted to be God"
Phil looked at Barnaby not believing what he was hearing.
"That is not true Chief Inspector" he snapped "We did it for scientific purposes"
Barnaby just shock his head. Phil Walker was sounding very much like Doctor Frankenstein. Just like doctor Frankenstein Phil Walker created monsters.
"Are you sure you did it for scientific purposes and not for your own needs?" Barnaby said.
"Barnaby" Phil gasped, "What kind of person do you think I am?"
Ellen was surprised when she walked into Ben's hospital room and noticed the dark look he was giving her.
"Ben" she said, "Whatever is the matter?"
"I am surprised you bothered to come here," Ben said rather coldly.
"Why should I not visit you in the hospital? You are my boyfriend"
"Am I?"
Ellen stared at Ben in shock.
"Of course you are," she said sitting down on the edge of the bed and reaching for the sergeant's hand.
"If I were your boyfriend then why did you have an affair with another man?" Ben demanded.
"What?"
"You heard me"
Ellen's eyes narrowed.
"Barnaby" she sneered "He told you lies about me am I right?"
The sergeant withdrew his hand.
"He told me he saw you with someone else and you looked rather friendly" he said.
"He is lying Ben" Ellen cried "He just can not stand seeing you happy"
"DCI John Barnaby would never ever lie to me Ellen. I want the truth"
Ellen jumped up from the bed.
"The truth is I love you Ben," she said.
"If you love me Ellen you would tell me the truth" Ben said "Tell me the truth. You were fooling around behind my back"
"It is not true! Barnaby just wants to break us up"
"Don't you lie to me!"
"I am not lying!"
Ben knew by the look in Ellen's eyes that she was being dishonest with him. He knew she would say anything to get out of an unconformable situation.
"Get out" he ordered.
"What?" Ellen cried.
"I said get out. I do not want to see you ever again. I don't go out with liars"
"Ben"
"Did you not hear what I said? Get out!"
Ellen ran to the door and before she ran out of the room she screamed:
"Fuck you!"
Ben turned away from Ellen and burst into angry tears. Ellen ran down the hall and angrily punched the button to the elevator.
Barnaby pulled up in front of a large building. The building was quiet modern with a huge revolving door and large glass windows. Barnaby and Phil entered a big front lobby. A winding staircase led to the top floors and there were three elevators.
"Most of out records are down in our archives in the basement," Phil explained as he led Barnaby to one of the elevators. Phil punched the down button. Barnaby entered the elevator. He turned to Phil.
"Are you not coming with me?" he asked suspiously.
"No I think I should be better if I let you go alone" Phil said, "I wait for you"
Barnaby gave Phil a suspious look. Why is he so keen for me to go to that basement alone he thought?
"Okay but you better be here when I return" Barnaby said.
Barnaby punched the button for the basement. The elevator doors opened too what looked like a long tunnel. The Chief Inspector looked this way and that. There was no one about but Barnaby was walked down the tunnel with caution. At the end of the tunnel there was a room that looked like a cave. There were several filing cabinets lined up against the far wall. Barnaby walked over to the first one and opened it and began to look through the documents. As he was reading through the second file the Chief Inspector thought he heard a noise behind him. It sounded like footsteps.
"Hello" he called "Is someone there?"
When there were no more footsteps Barnaby continued reading the files. Suddenly he felt something on the back of his head and everything went dark.
Phil smiled as Carl brought an unconscious Barnaby into his office on the top floor of the building.
"What do you want us to do with him boss?" Carl asked.
"Take him to our little cell in the basement" Phil said "I will deal with him later"
"We should kill him Phil. He knows way to much"
Phil thought about it for a few minutes. It would be so easy to kill DCI Barnaby. The idea did appeal to him.
"Not yet" Phil said "I want to have some fun with Barnaby first"
Carl looked at Phil as though he were mad.
"Phil he is a cop" Carl said "It would be better if we got rid of him now"
"Carl trust me on this. Once I am done with Barnaby he would be begging me to kill him" Phil said an evil smile forming on his lips.
"Why did you bring him here in the first place?"
"I wanted Barnaby to see my genius before I killed him"
Carl sighed.
"You know that they would be looking for him" he said, "Do you want to risk this place being discovered?"
"No one knows we came here" Phil said, "Do not worry Carl"
"Are you sure about that Phil?"
"Positive. Now would you take him to our little cell"
Carl frowned as he took the Chief Inspector back to the basement. He felt Phil was wrong.
PC Wilkins stood near the window in the sergeant's hospital room. She had come to fill in the DS about the laboratory located near Badger's Drift.
"So the DCI thinks this is where they cloned the dinosaurs?" Ben asked.
"Yes Serge" PC Wilkins said.
"We need to check this place out. Get several PC`s together to do a search of this laboratory"
"Um sir"
"What PC Wilkins?"
"DCI Barnaby left pacific instructions that no one goes anywhere near the laboratory until he has checked it out himself"
Ben raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean until he has checked it out himself?" he asked the sudden nervous PC.
"Well sir DCI Barnaby left for Badger's Drift earlier this morning" the PC said not meeting her sergeant's stern gaze.
"He went by himself?"
"No Serge. He had Mr Walker with him"
Ben did not like this. His boss could easily be walking into danger.
"You allowed him to go alone?" he demanded of the PC who was staring at the floor.
"As I said sir he had Mr Walker with him" PC Wilkins said nervously meeting the sergeant's gaze.
"You should have had gone with him. My god what if something where to happen"
"Sir DCI Barnaby said he would call"
"I still do not like this. Send PC`s to Badger's Drift"
"But sir"
"Now PC Wilkins"
"Yes sir"
Ben's eyes filled with worry. Barnaby was at the laboratory by himself and with Phil. What is Phil was involved somehow. He could hurt or even kill the Chief Inspector.
Barnaby regained consciousness and noticed he was in some kind of cell in the basement. He angrily grabbed the bars of his cell and called out down the dark tunnel.
"Phil Walker you son of a bitch!"
Phil came down the tunnel and stood in front of Barnaby with a cruel smile on his face.
"How do you like your little prison Chief Inspector?" he asked and gave a cruel laugh.
"You let me out of here"
"You are in no position to give orders Barnaby. I am in charge here"
"Why are you doing this?"
Phil gave another little laugh.
"You were getting to close to the truth" he said "I can't let you tell the world about our little laboratory"
"You are crazy if you think you can hold me here" Barnaby said.
"Not crazy Chief Inspector just cautious"
Barnaby narrowed his eyes.
"You killed those people didn't you because they did not agree to your plan" Barnaby said.
"Yes Barnaby" Phil sneered, "They did not appreciate my vision"
"You are mad"
Phil laughed again.
"I take that as a complement Barnaby" he said "No one will find you here so if I where you I would make myself at home. You are going to be here for a very long time"
Barnaby gritted his teeth. If there were not bars between them he would have gone for Phil's throat.
"I mentioned where I was going so if the station does not hear from me they will come looking foe me" Barnaby said.
"If they do find you you will be dead" Phil said softly "Do you think I would risk keeping you alive very long"
"Do you think you can get away with killing a cop?"
Phil snorted.
"No one would link your death to me," Phil said laughing, "Now will you excuse me I have some other business to attend to"
Barnaby shook the bars to his cell as Phil walked away.
Four hours had passed since DCI Barnaby had gone to Badger's Drift. Everyone began to worry. Something had to be terribly wrong. Several PC`s hurried out of the station. There was no time to loose. Barnaby was in danger and could end up being killed. Sergeant Jones had been told of the situation. However the sergeant could not join the rescue because the doctors wanted him to stay in the hospital for a least a week. The idea that he had to sit back and do nothing frustrated the sergeant no end. He wanted to be involved in the rescue. Barnaby was his boss.
"Shit" he said.
Ben was a little angry that the DCI had not told him about his plan. He could have told Barnaby to wait.
"This really sucks" Ben muttered to himself "Dam him"
It was obvious now that Phil could not be trusted. The sergeant had liked Phil when they met. Ben never suspected that such a sweet man like Phil could be mad. Maybe part of the problem was that Phil was a nice man on the surface. Ben felt stupid on how he could have misjudged Phil so badly.
"I should have my head examined" Ben aloud.
The sergeant felt that if he had not been so involved with Ellen he would have been so blind concerning her uncle.
Barnaby felt his cell's walls to see if there was anyway out. There had to be secret passage or something but no such luck. Frustrated the Chief Inspector sat on the bed. Phil was probably right that no one would find him before he was killed. Barnaby was starting to think Phil was completely mad and that scared him. Once he killed the Chief Inspector Phil could easily kill Jones or his own niece if he felt they were a threat to him. The man had killed before. Barnaby got up and again tried to look for a way out.
"You can't escape Chief Inspector," a voice said.
Barnaby turned a saw a rather large man with huge muscles. He was probably one of Phil's goons he guessed.
"I will find a way out of here" Barnaby said, "It might take time but I will get out of here"
"I am surprised that Phil did not want you dead right away. If it were up to me I would have killed you. I don't trust cops"
"Why did Phil not kill me when he had the chance?"
"He has something special planned for you"
Barnaby smiled.
"Oh" he said, "Now I am curious. What has my friend Phil have planned for me?"
"I don't know" the man said "But I do know it will not be pleasant"
"Come on I want to know. He is keeping me alive for a reason"
"Phil will let you know in his own good time"
The Chief Inspector noticed the tray in the man's hands.
"Is that for me?" he asked.
"I was ordered to bring you something to eat" the man said placing the tray at Barnaby`s feet "Phil does not want you to starve to death"
"How nice"
The man frowned.
"Don`t be a smart ass" he snapped.
"I would not dream of it"
"I will be back later"
As Barnaby ate he began to think of a way out of the cell. The Chief Inspector sensed that Phil's goon was not very smart. He could use that to escape. He knew he could be running out of time. Whatever Phil had planned Barnaby was sure he would suffer.
The need to escape was critical. It was not just his safety that was important but also the safety of Midsomer. Those animals were dangerous and if Phil had his way more people were going to die. Phil Walker had to be stopped.
END OF PART FOUR