Page 84 of Return Ticket

At that, Robbie mumbled something and slipped out the front door.

“I really need to phone for an ambulance,” Gabriella said into the sudden silence his exit created. “There’s a man severely injured on the road, broken legs are a definite, and I’m not sure what internal injuries he’s sustained.”

Her words snapped the man out of his bemusement. “Right, Poppy will show you to my office so you can call 999. I’m a doctor. I’ll go out and see how I can help. Victoria, you’ll come with me so that you can run in to fetch whatever I may need.”

Victoria looked a little sick, and Gabriella wondered if she’d been deliberately slow-walking her trip to her father’s office to give Robbie a chance to disappear.

She followed after Poppy, who ran back down the passageway and into a dark, heavily-furnished space with a massive desk. She pointed to a telephone, and Gabriella asked for the address as she dialed 999.

When that was done, she left Poppy in the study and went back through the house to the front door. She had to step to the side as Victoria came in from outside, face pinched.

They shared a glance, and Gabriella could see dislike in the young woman’s eyes.

They said nothing as they passed each other.

Gabriella navigated the path carefully and followed the voices to a little group of two: the driver, Johnson, and the doctor.

“Where’s James?” she asked, and as soon as she said it, he appeared out of the swirling fog.

“Just checking something,” he said. He looked over at the doctor, crouched beside Teddy Roe.

“This is the man who lives in the house I went to. He’s a doctor,” Gabriella told him.

“Dr. Jenkins.” The man looked up. “Did you see what happened?”

“No. We came across him after Colonel Johnson had already hit him,” James said. “I’m DS Archer.” He took out his warrant card, and Gabriella saw Dr. Jenkins’ demeanor change. He had been suspicious of James, assuming he was at fault, but now he turned to look up at Johnson.

“How fast were you going when you hit him?” he asked.

“I was hardly going any speed at all. Do you see this fog?” Johnson sounded indignant. “He just jumped in front of the car, I tell you.”

Gabriella listened to the back and forth and guessed that Teddy Roe probably had run out in front of Johnson, but the colonel had definitely been contemplating leaving the scene, and she didn’t like him on those grounds alone.

“How long will the ambulance take?” Poppy’s clear, high voice cut across Johnson’s excuses, and everyone turned to her, surprised to find her watching them all.

“Poppy. In the house now. Your mother will have something to say about you being out at a scene of an accident in the dark like this.” Dr. Jenkins pointed toward the house. “Go.”

With a put-upon sigh, Poppy flounced away, and then Victoria appeared, carrying a blanket.

Jenkins took it from her, and from his demeanor, Gabriella guessed he was angry and disappointed in her. As soon as she handed it over, Victoria spun on her heel and disappeared back into the house.

“I’d give him something for the pain, but the ambulance crew won’t thank me for that. They like to assess their patients for themselves. I’m just going to make him a little more comfortable.” As Jenkins spoke, the sound of a siren came from the Holland Park Avenue end of the street, and as it got closer, the red lights on the ambulance roof danced strangely in the fog.

James strode out, waving his torch to slow them down when they got near, and Teddy Roe was soon strapped up and on his way to hospital.

“I’ve got your details,” James said to Johnson as the ambulance left, sirens wailing. “You can go home now.”

Johnson muttered something under his breath and disappeared into the fog, and she, James and Dr. Jenkins stepped onto the pavement to allow him to drive slowly past them, in the wake of the ambulance.

“Bad business,” Dr. Jenkins said.

“Thanks for your help.” James held out a hand to shake, and then they watched Jenkins go back toward his house. He disappeared in the fog before she even heard his garden gate squeak open and then closed.

Gabriella slipped her arm through James’s and they carried on walking.

“Where did you go?” Gabriella asked, when they were far enough away from the Jenkins’ house to be sure no one could hear them.

“Teddy Roe had the same idea as me. He was hanging around Harborne Close and claims he saw someone acting ‘suspicious’ and followed him. Whether it was the actual killer or not, we’ll never know. I quickly nipped down the street to check things out.” James tugged on her arm, and they started walking again.

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