Manson said: ‘And talking of tanks…!’ He got up and left the room. Gatt looked after him and wondered whether his journey was really necessary. He had visited the gents himself at the same time as Manson — only half an hour before…
Hargreaves stared down upon the darkening scene in Whitehall, wondering what the public reaction would be now that the story had broken. He said: ‘I wish to hell we could have got the air search going tonight instead of having to wait until morning.’
Seff said: ‘I know how you feel, Robert. But there wouldn’t be much point unless those choppers could come in really low, and it’s too dangerous for that. It’s very rugged country up there.’
Kate entered the room quietly, and came round the table to where Hargreaves was still poring over the map. She waited until she could catch his attention.
‘Ah, Miss Garnet. I’m afraid we’ve kept you rather late. Well, you can go home, if you like; but make sure the plan 7 phone is switched through.’
‘Thank you, Sir Robert. But really I came in to tell you that there is a Mr Ripley waiting to see you. He says it’s very urgent.’
‘Ripley? Do we know him?’
‘Well, no. He’s Headmaster of a school called Morley’s.’
‘You’d better show him in. Then go off home.’ Kate said ‘Thank you’ and left the room. Hargreaves looked up at Gatt, but didn’t say anything. Gatt knew exactly what he meant though. Seff expressed their thoughts succinctly. ‘What now, for Pete’s sake?’
Ripley made an unmistakable headmaster’s entrance. Even without his cap and gown you couldn’t have missed it. ‘Gentlemen, I’m afraid I have some rather disturbing news for you.’ He outlined the electroscope incident to a very attentive audience, and went on: ‘I’m afraid that’s not all, either.’ He paused to collect his thoughts. ‘When I phoned the manufacturers of the brand of chocolate in question they were completely nonplussed, because having read the afternoon papers — as I had — they were quite sure that their product would be above reproach.’
Gatt said: ‘I suppose they didn’t get their sugar from Gould’s?’
‘I am afraid I do not know the significance of that, but the chocolate people made the same comment.’
Manson suddenly hammered his fist down on the table. ‘The milk!’ he exclaimed. ‘Caesium in the milk! Is it grazing country up there?’
Seff answered him quietly. ‘You’re dead right — of course it’s the milk. Must be.’
Gait was staring at him. ‘How can it be? The whole of the area was combed immediately after the accident! Then, as an additional safeguard, I had it checked once a week for the subsequent two months. We couldn’t get a pip out of it.’
Seff persisted. ‘But it is grazing country.’
Ripley had waited patiently to continue and now came the silence he needed. ‘There was just one other thing the chocolate people said that might be of use to you,’ he went on calmly. ‘When I had told them the number that was stamped on the wrapping paper, they were able to tell me the date of manufacture. Wait a minute, I’ve got it written down somewhere…’ He burrowed in his pocket and produced a piece of paper. Then he lost it again because the fan blew it across the room and he had to retrieve it from under the table. After a certain amount of hum-ing and hah-ing and apologising for his ‘butter-fingers’, he read it out. He might have been reading the citation for a prize-giving. ‘The chocolate was manufactured,’ he announced ponderously, ‘in September nineteen fifty-eight.’
‘Fifty-eight,’ echoed the Director, ‘are you sure? Not fifty-seven?’
‘Nineteen fifty-eight,’ said the Head.
There was silence.
Gatt spoke with an awful calm. ‘That means,’ he said, ‘that if they used fresh milk — which I’ve no doubt they did — the milk must have been contaminated far more recently than our calculations suggest.’
Hargreaves matched his tone. ‘How long would the caesium remain within the body of a cow that had eaten infected grass?’
Seff said: ‘Not very long. Caesium is diffused throughout the body and is eventually excreted and sweated out. No, that grass must have been “hot” a good year after the Gould business.’
Frank Gresham was methodically knocking out his pipe. It was Hargreaves who voiced what they were all thinking. ‘So that means that there is, or has recently been, milk being sold to the public that is emitting gamma rays. Right?’
Gatt added grimly: ‘And we still don’t know how it happened.’
‘I see. Well, I will have to tell the P.M. at once, before he speaks on television tonight.’
Ripley coughed. ‘If there’s nothing else, gentlemen…?’
Ed Springle was still watching the television when June came back into the room. ‘Who was it?’ he asked her.
She made a funny face. ‘George,’ she said. ‘Talking in a hushed whisper from a phone box.’
Ed switched off the set in exasperation. ‘Not Poor George? Not at a time like this? Doesn’t he know that you’re supposed to be in the last stages of Springle-ization? Anyway, you should have been in bed long ago.’
‘What’s the good of going to bed?’ she demanded comically. ‘I shall only have to get up again! Anyway, I can’t. George is coming round. He wants to see me — alone!’
Ed shot up out of his chair. ‘This is too much! I absolutely draw the line…! This is no time for one of the Visits!’ He scowled at her and June thought ‘he looks funny when he tries to be cross’. Ed deepened his frown to compensate for her amused smile. ‘There’s a time and a place for everything — even, I suppose, for George Meadows. But I wouldn’t put it past him to follow you to the hospital and make goo-goo eyes at the baby before I’ve even seen him!’
‘Or her.’
She looked so funny he had to laugh. ‘Come and sit down, before you fall down, Comic. I wish I had a photograph of you like that.’
‘I don’t suppose anyone could find a camera with a large enough lens,’ she said. ‘And incidentally, I don’t think this is one of the Visits. He sounded terribly cloak and dagger — actually very worried.’
‘Perhaps he’s discovered he’s got to go to the dentist himself and he’s terrified of the drill.’ He went over to the bar. ‘I think I’ll fix myself a drink. And you’d better have your milk.’
‘I don’t like milk.’
‘Don’t you want a nice, big, bouncing baby?’
‘There’s plenty of evidence that he’s quite big enough already.’ She stuck to the ‘he’ now.
‘I’ll stop your account at Harrods.’
She pulled a face. ‘That does it!’ She took a gulp of the milk. ‘Sadist!’
Ed poured a liberal dose of cognac into a balloon glass and swirled the brandy round thoughtfully. ‘I wonder…’
June said: ‘You’re thinking about the scare, aren’t you?’
‘Well, you’re not to think about it, anyway.’
‘Don’t be silly! You’ve been reading text-books about not worrying expectant mothers. And judging from what Mrs Harper told me on the phone today, you seem to be the classic case of expectant parenthood yourself!’
‘Remind me to fire Mrs Harper.’ His mood changed abruptly. ‘All the same, I wish I knew how things were going at the conference.’
‘Still worried about Jack?’ She put down her empty glass. ‘I think he’s all right. I would have noticed if he had been hitting the bottle last month when he was playing host to us. How long were we up in Glennaverley?’