Chapter 12
Tying Up The Loose Ends
Ginger was sent safely back to England where he spent a couple of days in hospital under observation, the Americans were returned to the conference and the kidnap attempt had been successfully foiled. There remained very little left to do after that and Marcel handled all the paperwork generated by the mission.
The driver of the car that had thwarted their first rescue attempt by driving into the tail rotor made a full confession and implicated his former accomplices, allowing Marcel to set the wheels in motion to round up the gang, which was completed within a couple of weeks.
The pilot was buried after a short inquest that fortunately did not stir up any trouble for Biggles, who could justifiably have been said to have used unreasonable force. The general consensus of opinion was that the kidnapper had got what he deserved and Biggles had no quarrel with that.
Algy continued to see Wendy on and off for a while, but with the pressure of their respective jobs and lacking the spice that had been injected by his rivalry with Ginger, who no longer needed to keep the WPC's company, the relationship eventually died a natural death.
Ginger soon made a full recovery and resumed his former existence with a profound sigh of relief. As he remarked to Biggles one day a week or so later, when they were sitting in the office with Algy, "if I ever get tempted to play the part of a woman again, I'll just need to touch this scar and that should remind me to think better of it!"
Biggles thought back to the moment when he had believed the young man had been killed and told him with heart-felt sincerity in his voice that he would never ask him again. "If the Air Commodore suggests it another time," remarked Biggles, "I'll tell him to do it himself!"
"Now that would be a sight to see!" declared Ginger with a broad grin. The image of the Air Commodore in a skirt and high heels sent them all into fits of laughter. Ginger winced and hugged his ribs, still finding them painful, but it did not diminish his mirth.
"What ho!" announced a sun-tanned Bertie coming into the office, having just landed after his return from leave. "Have I missed something?"
He looked mystified as his comrades convulsed with laughter again. "It's a long story," Biggles informed him, wiping tears from his eyes. "We'll tell you later."
