Dr Maitland was a brilliant man, but all his muscles were in his head. He could hear the footsteps pounding behind him, getting closer and closer every moment, and he stopped and turned, shouting, "Stay where you are!"
Doyle stopped and brought out his gun. "You go for a pocket and I'll shoot." His voice shook, but his hands were rock steady.
"You'd do that? You'd shoot an unarmed man?" Maitland gasped, completely out of breath from the unaccustomed exertion.
"That was my best friend you killed back there," said Doyle, his throat tightening. He swallowed hard. "He was the best friend I ever had. Best I'll ever have. I should just shoot you anyway."
Maitland looked at the set face. "He's only one man! I'm trying to save millions!" Doyle looked incredulous and the doctor went on wildly. "Don't you see, if we keep making bioweapons, it's going to destroy the world? It's got to stop. It's got to stop! They wouldn't listen to me, but they'll listen now. They'll have to." He plunged a hand into his pocket, then jerked backwards and fell as Doyle shot him right between the eyes.
The CI5 agent walked forward, looked down at the face peaceful now in death, then knelt beside the body. There were three steel tubes in Maitland's pocket, along with the silver atomizer, and he suddenly felt light-headed with relief. He tucked the tubes and atomizer into his own pocket and pulled out his radio. "4-5 to Alpha One."
Cowley's voice crackled. "Alpha One here."
"I've got it, sir. All of it."
"And Maitland?"
"Dead."
The CI5 commander's voice sharpened. "Are you all right?"
Doyle took a deep breath. "No. He…" His voice wavered and he had to start again. "He got Bodie." He switched off the radio and gazed incuriously at the police hurrying towards him.
The first officer to reach him bent down and compared Maitland's face to the photograph in his hand. "It's the wanted man, all right."
"Yeah." Doyle stood up. "My partner…"
"They took him to St Pancras hospital, along with the young lady with him."
Doyle waved a hand. "Take care of this, will you?" He trudged off to his car and set out for the hospital, driving very slowly. What was it Dr Bell had said about the Queller? It takes effect almost immediately, kills in approximately five minutes…There was no need to hurry. Bodie was gone, and considering how he had died, they might not even let Doyle see him one last time. Doyle had always been emotional, and he wondered now at how numb he felt. He couldn't even find the relief of tears. He had lost friends before, even lost a partner in the line of duty,* and he had cried over those losses, but this was different. Doyle sensed dimly that Bodie's loss was more than a partner or even a friend. He had lost an essential part of himself today, like his legs or his sight. A man can live after losing his legs or his sight, but such a lack cannot be ignored. It must be endured every moment, sometimes as a vague awareness all was not well, sometimes brutally dominating the mind when a task that once could be performed easily required adjustments to compensate for what was missing. A dispatcher called over the car radio and he picked up the mike, pulled it out of the dash, and threw it out of the window. He could see the hospital now, and he pulled into a space, then locked the car and went inside.
*When the Heat Cools Off