The Gastrothief: Albert Smith's Culinary Capers Recipe 14 by Steve Higgs

Author:Steve Higgs [Higgs, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-03T00:00:00+00:00

Honour First

Parked outside the Old Seamaster, Constable Oxford Shaw stepped out of his car and zipped his coat all the way up under his chin to keep the cold out.

In the harbour, fishing boats were chugging out to sea, their running lights making those further away easy to spot. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, a deep orange ball of burning gas bringing light to the Welsh coastline. It was probably bringing warmth too, but shivering in the cold air, Oxford couldn’t feel it.

Receiving Albert’s message the previous evening, he found himself furiously debating what he ought to do. The right thing, from a career perspective and as a police officer, was to immediately notify his superiors and let them handle it.

However, not only had he been interviewed by Jessica Fletcher for the article published in The Independent Enquirer, he knew Albert Smith personally and that set him apart from almost everyone else on the planet. In Oxford’s eyes, Albert Smith was an honourable man, and no one would convince him otherwise.

The allegations of terrorism shocked him when he first saw the news reports. He remembered sending Albert a message at the time and trying to call him. The text messages were never answered, and the calls met with a dead signal every time.

It happened again last night when out of the blue a lengthy message popped into his phone. That it came from Albert was a jolt, especially when he read it. Oxford tried calling only to receive the same dead signal he always got. He knew what it meant: Albert had removed the chip from his phone and switched it off. It was a wise tactic if he didn’t want to get caught, but given the upwelling of public support, surely Albert would benefit from revealing where he was.

In the message Albert claimed to be close to the Gastrothief’s lair. Oxford attempted to recall his exact words … Albert said he knew he was in the right place, but couldn’t find it. Something like that.

Oxford would have come running the moment he knew where Albert was and no matter what he wanted. Albert chose to help when he had no reason to and saved Oxford’s life while risking his own. However, there was a thing Oxford remembered among all the lessons he learned during his few short days in Albert’s company: arresting people and taking them into custody was the sole remit of the police. Albert might find the criminal in any given investigation, but he needed a police officer to apprehend the suspect.

Oxford came to Wales to do just that.

Using his own money, he sent a motorcycle dispatcher to the addresses Albert gave for his children, then got in his car and started driving. He was abandoning his post and would be reprimanded for it, but there were more important things in life than career. Honour for a start.

He was here because it was the honourable thing to do.

The village was waking up to a

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