Chapter 3 Arresto
Morse woke up tied to a chair blindfolded.
"Hello Morse." a voice said.
"What am I doing here?" asked Morse.
"You ruined a very big operation old chap. We need to find out what you know for damage control."
"I suppose you will let me go then." replied Morse
"No you will die. Your only option is whether it is quick or painful." A punch in the solar plexus followed taking the breath out of Morse.
"What makes you think I'll talk?" asked Morse
"You will talk, sooner or later. Now, who did you come into contact with?"
Morse remained silent
"That is not wise." was the response followed by a short beating.
"Still quiet Mr. Morse?"
Morse replied, "Go to hell."
"Keep going." came the reply as they continued to beat Morse the voice said "You can stop this Morse"
Morse replied "Sod off" They kept beating and taunting him with no result.
All of a sudden there was a loud bang as the door to the room was kicked in. Morse heard Jim Strange shouting "Step away and drop that bat."
Max DeBrin came in and started untieing him.
Morse saw his tormentors covered by police guns. Morse then fell to the floor.
One of the men pulled a knife and moved toward the police. One officer fired and dropped him.
DeBrin pointedly ignored him until he finished with Morse. Then went over to work on him.
"How did you find me so quickly?" asked Morse.
Strange replied. "We put a tail on you for protection and to see if anything happened. They took you and we followed as soon as we could put a team together."
"I never could spot a tail." replied Morse
"A good thing this time I should say," interjected Max DeBrin The ambulance showed up and they were loaded and taken to the hospital.
Lewis stayed with him questioning him and getting details as the hospital fixed him up. While he was there Violetta arrived and came in. He winced as she hugged and kissed him.
Violetta asked "What do the doctors say?"
"Bruises mostly they are checking but it appears there is no serious damage. Send me home with some pain pills most likely." Replied Morse
Violetta kissed him again gently "I'm so glad you are ok After all that did you get them?"
"It looks like it Max has the knife one used and thinks it was used in the murder."
Dorothea came in "Well hello then. Looks like you are a bit worse for wear."
Morse smiled. "That does seem to be a general opinion."
Dorothea"Well, then what happened? These stories aren't going to write themselves."
Morse chuckled "Well during the investigation they kidnapped me and attempted to find out what I knew."
"Which was?" said Dorothea
Morse responded quickly, "I could not tell you and if I did you would get a D-notice instead of a scoop."
Violetta smiled "Don't bother asking he won't talk."
"Well I know it." replied Dorothea
"Tell me what you can," Morse told her the story minus the part about Singleton Dorothea was very interested and with the skill of a veteran journalist planned the story so as not to run afoul of the Official Secrets Act.
Morse refused a picture saying he needed his incognito. They chatted for a bit and Morse told Dorothea he was very happy.
He finished with "Funny, I never thought I would be happy. But amazingly I am."
Dorothea replied, "I'm delighted to hear it." She left with cheery goodbyes.
Along the motorway, an articulated lorry traveled. A police car came behind and turned on its lights.
Puzzled the driver pulled over. "What the bloody hell I wasn't speeding." he asked the cop
"Turn it off and stay in the cab" came the response. Sirens were heard in the distance and shortly several cars showed up.
A man went out and went to the truck driver "We have a search warrant for your cargo we believe it is stolen goods.
The driver was stunned. "Please get out of the cab and don't do anything foolish" Continued the man.
Other men climbed up on the truck's deck with prybars and flashlights They tore open the crates and looked around finding and confirming the Rapilli Mark 10. A radio message went out "Object R is recovered."
"Good show." came the response
They went up to the driver. "You will have to come with us for questioning."
"I'm just driving." replied the driver.
"Sorry but you are in possession of stolen property." replied the officer.
"What about the lorry?" the driver continued.
"We have a qualified driver he will take it to our yard." Replied the officer.
The driver got into the car for the ride to the police station. A military-looking driver got into the truck and left with police cars following.
The trucking company that refused to talk to Morse received a bit of attention as well. A squad from Her Majesties Revenue and Customs raided them to search their offices. They detained everybody and searched finding many suspicious files. They asked about the senior managers but according to staff, they were on their way to meet a customer. The staff offered to page them.
The officer got the numbers and called a London number. He gave them the numbers and was told "Page them but I rather doubt if they will respond."
"Yes, Mr. Singleton" replied the officer. They paged but as expected they got no response.
Simon Candy was nervous. He received a phone call with the coded warning to escape. He left the office suddenly and went back to his flat to get his escape bag. He had to move quickly he grabbed his bag and threw a couple of things in it. He knew that the police would be here fast he had to move a bit faster to escape. He went out the front door only to meet Strange and Lewis. He tried to run but Lewis grabbed him and cuffed him.
Jim Strange said. "Mr. Candy, you are under arrest for conspiracy to murder. 'You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.'"
Candy left with them quietly. They drove to the police station.
Later that night. The pleasure cruiser sailed in the north sea without lights and on aux engine only. It met a larger ship commonly known as a Russian spy trawler. Signals were exchanged using small shielded lamps. The cruiser pulled alongside the larger vessel and a ladder was lowered. The executives from the trucking company came up with boxes of records. Two men went down and with grim efficiency placed scuttling charges. The spy trawler left the doomed vessel and a short time later the charges exploded. The vessel sank without a trace.
For Morse, it was a few days of recovery and then surprisingly little. He was a witness of course but he was a fact witness, not the investigating officer. The counsel talked to him but his experience made for very quick preparation for testimony.
Jim Strange and Lewis would have the bulk of the work. He testified and was quite effective especially when they put up the pictures of his beaten body.
Mostly he worked with the insurance company and police to get the machine released quickly. Rapelli were rather impressed with him and he pocketed a nice check from the insurance and also Rapelli. He also made some good contacts for future business.
Singleton requested that he send a written report and notes of his investigation. Morse wrote it up and sent it on to Singleton.
Dorothea was delighted to be working with her old friend again and published all she could. Also, she kept her word not to show pictures of Morse and did not mention Violetta. Her long-standing friendship with Morse remained intact.
Morse was also able to take on additional cases as he was not required every day for the trials.
One day when coming back to the office Morse heard talking from inside. He opened the door and to his surprise found Singleton talking to Violetta.
"I do love La-Scala," said Violet before seeing him.
"Hello, This is Mr. Singleton he said he would wait for you."
"I see. Hello Singleton." said Morse
"Hello dear boy." replied Singleton "I came to see you and since you were not here have spent a delightful half-hour chatting about opera with your lovely wife."
Morse replied, "Aren't you afraid of losing your incognito?"
"Ahh, I'm not out much these days. That's what the younger lads are for. Riding a desk now and any chance out of the office is quite welcome."
Morse gave a very slight grin "Would you like to step into the office?"
"Don't bother I'm just here to drop off your final payment here it is with a receipt for you to sign."
He handed him the envelope. Morse signed it and handed the check to Violetta she looked at it in surprise.
"You could have just posted it," replied Morse. "Yes, but I wanted to see how you were doing. Also, you could be on the birthday honors list again."
Morse interrupted "I would prefer not. The check is more than sufficient."
Singleton smiled "I rather expected that. Your a strange one Morse. I know many who would leap at the chance."
Morse smiled "I have always preferred discretion. It would be easier on you as well," he said nodding at Violetta. She nodded in agreement.
Singleton replied "It was very nice meeting you. I hope you get a new frock out of the check." Violetta smiled they said goodbye and Singleton left. Morse went into his office.
Slowly the case receded into the distance. The criminals were sentenced and reports were filed. Strange, Lewis, and Morse all moved on to other cases.
Violetta got a very lovely outfit out of the last check from Singleton.
Later Strange invited Morse for a friendly lunch with Lewis. Lewis sat quietly as the old friends chatted.
Strange said, "You've still got it matey. You should have been the one to train Lewis here."
Morse shrugged and Strange asked. "Are you happy with your decision?"
Morse smiled "Yes Jim I'm actually happy. I can't imagine life without Violetta."
Strange nodded as Morse continued. "Had she died most I most likely would have stayed a copper."
"You were the best," replied Strange.
Morse gave a sad smile "Perhaps but there was a high price to be paid. You don't seem to be doing so bad Jim. I'm a lot better this way as well."
As they left Morse said to Strange and Lewis "I'm glad you are doing well." "I'm glad to see you are as well," responded Strange Lewis jumped in. "Perhaps we can work together on a future case. I'd quite fancy that." Perhaps Lewis, who can say." responded Morse as he left.
A few weeks after the case was ended Morse and Violetta sat at home eating dinner. It was a quiet evening classical music played softly as they ate and chatted. As they were finishing their coffee Violetta asked Morse. "Do you miss it?"
"What do you mean Luv?" replied Morse
"Being a police detective solving murders? You used to do that." she replied
"I don't miss it really. Remember the line from Gilbert and Sullivan "A policeman's lot is not a happy one." Also as a policeman, I couldn't take the reward money." he smiled as if to say this is all a bit in jest.
"I'm serious." she replied "I took all that from you. I want a serious answer."
Morse paused "Ok serious then. In a way I miss it. You want to be on the top of the heap. You want to deal with the big cases." He paused for a moment "But the price was too high. I was not willing to give you up. You didn't take anything from me. I gave it all up. I chose your love instead of being a great detective. I thought long and hard." he paused "I made the best decision I could and have never regretted it."
As he rose Violetta moved quickly to him. She embraced him and she kissed him passionately.
"What's this about?" He asked
She replied "I'm going to do the dishes and take a bath. Don't stay up too late."
Morse kissed her back "I won't." He promised.
The End
