Singleton's Law by Reginald Hill

Author:Reginald Hill
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road
Published: 2019-01-16T16:00:00+00:00

When he awoke it was broad daylight and Hydrangea was gone.

So much for his pre-breakfast plans, he thought swinging his legs out of bed. He washed and dressed quickly and took a look out of his bedroom window. There was a superb view over wooded parkland to a distant fold of hills. Something of the old England remained, perhaps even something worth barricading yourself in for, he thought as he caught a glimpse of a Striker with an Alsatian patrolling the grounds.

But it wasn’t patriotic sentiment that had caused Chaucer to build up this defence system, it was realistic fear. He must be a very important Management man to be able to command such protection. The Coventry Strikers had known who he was and it was this as much as his superior armament that had enabled him to yuss them. But it had been a yuss, not an unqualified act of co-operation. There was a tension between the Management and the University Supporters’ Clubs which might eventually bring something about. The Disciplinary Committee’s use of psycho-yuss was symptomatic. True, the crowd had got carried away in the end, but Chaucer’s Strikers looked as if they would merely have toasted the truth out of the girl from the very start. An interest in confession and conversion rather than just information could only spring from a passionately believed-in philosophy of the Club. He had got a whiff of it from Sheldrake, the Athletic trainer. History had proved that philosophy was usually the death of revolution. Once people stopped acting intuitively and sat down to rationalize their actions, disagreement was inevitable; and, persuasion having proved futile, the only way of resolving debate was violence. In private life in the old days, the courts had gone some way towards condoning the crime of passion. In public life, it was the crime of reason which met with general approval.

He turned from the window, unable to see where it was his thoughts were taking him. It was difficult to decide which path was best for his country. The way of the Clubs? or the way of King and his terrorists? or was there a third path which he himself might help people to find? Surely it was just a question of finding a way to harness the fanatical loyalty to the Club he met with everywhere.

Even Hydrangea, he thought tangentially, had displayed an amazing amount of loyalty in standing up to the psycho-yuss for over ten hours when she had nothing to lose by telling them whatever they wanted to hear. And her loyalty had been rewarded. Chaucer himself had come looking for her.

He took the thought down to breakfast with him.

“You’ve got two minutes,” said Chaucer as he entered the dining room.

“Two minutes for what?” Whitey replied evenly.

“For breakfast. You’re coming with me to Birmingham.”

Hydrangea was nowhere in sight, though a used coffee cup indicated she might already have eaten. Whitey would have liked to help himself to the full range of dishes which had been prepared, but Chaucer proved to be a very precise man.

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