Ten Lords A-Leaping by Ruth Dudley Edwards

Author:Ruth Dudley Edwards [Edwards, Ruth Dudley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / General, Mystery
ISBN: 9781615950669
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Published: 1995-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

‘So what’s your hunch? Do you think these Avengers might be behind everything?’

‘How would I know?’ said Milton. ‘My instinct would be that it’s too much of a leap from behaving like a lot of yahoos and writing childish letters to committing mass murder. But of course if they were responsible for the letter bombs they might be capable of anything.’

‘But you don’t know if they are.’

‘Too true. Paul Jarrett, my pal on the antiterrorist side, tells me there are at least a couple of dozen animal activist groups, maybe half of which are in the thick of civil disobedience and around half a dozen of whom he thinks are capable of serious violence. His money was on the Animal Liberation Army. He’d never heard of the Animal Avengers till their threatening letter to the peers.’

‘I still think the murderer is more likely to have been after an individual,’ said Pooley. ‘Just like in Agatha Christie’s ABC Murders. Maybe Poulteney’s daughter-in-law hired a hitman.’

‘You can’t seriously think that. I’m no defender of Vanessa Bovington-Petty, and I could just about imagine her having the guts to try to murder Daddy-in-law in an indirect way which couldn’t be traced back to her, but I’m damned if I could seriously see a disaffected Sloane being behind wholesale murder. It’s much too far-fetched. What do you think, Jim?’

‘Life isn’t like Agatha Christie.’ Milton sighed. ‘Or not any more, anyway. We live in a world where terrorists have launched devastating attacks on the City of London, the New York Trade Centre, the Tokyo underground, and Oklahoma City, just to pick four at random.’

‘The IRA, Islamic Fundamentalists, Doomsday cultists and antigovernment fanatics,’ said Pooley. ‘I suppose since foreigners always thought the English were mad about animals it would be appropriate if it is their defenders who make our contribution to terrorism.’

‘Dammit, as Jack frequently points out, we’re animals too.’ Amiss sipped his coffee gloomily. ‘I know it’s a failure of imagination, but I find it difficult to understand how people who call themselves defenders of the rights of some can be so cavalier with the rights of others.’

‘Mad people find causes that enable them to cloak their madness with virtue,’ said Milton. ‘Now, enough of all this philosophizing. Ellis and I have to get back to the Yard to catch up and plan our course of action. What are you going to do?’

‘See what the newspapers have made of it and meet Jack for lunch. You can leave messages there for her, and they’ll get to me.’

‘Robert.’ Milton looked serious.

‘I know. Be careful.’

‘I mean it. If these really are pro-animal terrorists, you’re right up there in the line of fire beside your pal Troutbeck.’

‘Well, there isn’t much chance of persuading her to take care. Myles read her the riot act last night and she kept explaining she’d be fine. Trouble is, she thinks she’s invincible.’

‘Well, you’re not.’

‘I’ll watch out. I promise. Besides, I should be safe enough today. Jack rang earlier to say that she thought the Lords might be a bit depressing, so she’d told Beesley to take us to the Cavalry Club.

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