Sally Spencer - Blackstone and the Great War

‘But. . but the man’s nothing but a retired sergeant!’ Huxton protested.

‘Oh no, he’s much more than that,’ Carstairs said, and once again, he was making little effort to disguise his pleasure at Huxton’s discomfort. ‘He’s an inspector from Scotland Yard — as he’s been at pains to point out himself — and the personal representative of General Fortesque, and while I can’t insist that you cooperate with him-’

‘Damn right, you can’t insist!’

‘-there are those who outrank both of us who will insist, and I would strongly advise you to cooperate willingly, rather than under compulsion.’

He could have phrased it more tactfully — and in private — Blackstone thought. But tact was not part of Carstairs’ battle plan — though what that plan actually was had yet to emerge.

‘I. . I. . don’t suppose there’s any harm in answering a few of the man’s questions,’ Huxton blustered. ‘Do you have any questions, Blackstone?’

‘As a matter of fact, I have,’ Blackstone replied.

‘Well, let’s hear them, then.’

‘I assume you’ve taken statements from all the men who were in the trench that night, Captain Huxton.’

‘I might have done — if half of them hadn’t been bloody well dead,’ Huxton snarled.

‘In purely military terms, Lieutenant Fortesque’s death came at a rather inconvenient time,’ Captain Carstairs explained.

The aim of the planned offensive is to capture the small village — scarcely more than a hamlet, but of strategic importance — which lies beyond the German lines. The young staff officers, and — of course — the enlisted men, have not been informed of this, though, if they have any sense at all, they will know it is coming.

For days, new artillery batteries have been arriving, and night trains have rumbled into St Denis station, packed with shells.

New trenches — saps — are being dug, at right angles to the front line, and heading towards the German trenches. Not only that, but some of the sap heads are being joined up to make what, in effect, is a new front line.

Fresh consignments of ladders — which will make climbing out of the trenches a much quicker process — are delivered.

The artillery has begun a heavier-than-usual bombardment of the German trenches, and — more importantly — of the coils and coils of wicked barbed wire which separate the two armies.

And the Royal Engineers are digging new pits in front of the trenches, which everybody knows — though nobody says — can have no purpose other than to accommodate gas cylinders.

So the soldiers understand perfectly what is about to happen — and so do the French villagers and the Germans.

‘Lieutenant Fortesque was murdered less than twenty-four hours before the offensive was due to begin,’ Captain Carstairs said. ‘I realized immediately that the Assistant Provost Marshal needed to be called in to investigate the matter, but you were away on official business, weren’t you, Geoffrey?’

‘Yes,’ Captain Huxton said, begrudgingly.

‘I sent him a telegram immediately,’ Carstairs continued, ‘but it took some time to reach him, and even when it had, getting back here, in the middle of the preparations for an offensive, wasn’t easy.’

In other words, the killer had chosen just the right time to strike, Blackstone thought.

‘Captain Huxton arrived here late in the evening, a few hours before the men were due to go over the top,’ Carstairs continued. ‘He did not ask if he could question the men at that time, and I could not have permitted it even if he had.’

Huxton shot him a look of pure hatred. ‘Now look here, old chap, I’m the Assistant Provost Marshal, and if I’d wanted to question them, I damn well would have done, whether or not-’

‘You’re perfectly correct, Geoffrey, and I apologize,’ Carstairs said — though he did not sound the least apologetic. ‘If you’d wanted to interrogate the men, you would have been quite within your rights. But you realized, even without my having to point it out to you, that questioning them just before an offensive would have been bad for morale.’

‘Well, as long as that’s clear,’ Huxton muttered.

‘What I don’t understand is why the platoon wasn’t questioned earlier in the day,’ Blackstone said.

‘For God’s sake man, can’t you follow even a simple argument?’ Huxton demanded. ‘You’ve already been told I wasn’t here.’

‘Couldn’t some of your corporals have done it?’

‘ I was not here ,’ Huxton said, speaking the words very slowly, perhaps in the hope that Blackstone would finally understand, ‘and because I was not here, they did not have the authority.’

Ah yes, he’d forgotten momentarily that this was the army, Blackstone thought — they did not have the authority, and so they had done nothing.

‘The offensive did not go well,’ Carstairs said. ‘The gas-company commander told divisional headquarters that the gas couldn’t be discharged, because there was no wind, and divisional headquarters said he should discharge it anyway. So they did discharge it, and it just bloody hovered there, right in front of our bloody trench. Some of it even blew back in, so we were gassing ourselves.’

Huxton smirked. ‘If I were in your shoes, I think I’d choose my words a little more carefully, old boy,’ he said. ‘After all, you don’t want an inspector of police — who is also General Fortesque’s personal representative — thinking that your chaps simply don’t know their job.’

But Carstairs, caught up in a wave of genuine anger, was not about to exercise caution.

‘At any rate, we did send the men over eventually, once some of the gas had cleared,’ he continued, ‘and it was a disaster. The shelling hadn’t cut the barbed wire properly, Fritz had had plenty of time to prepare for us — if he hadn’t picked up on any other clues, the gas was all the confirmation he needed — and once the men were in No Man’s Land, it was like a bloody pheasant shoot.’

‘Has your plodding policeman’s brain managed to grasp the point, Blackstone?’ Captain Huxton asked.

‘What point?’

‘That with over half Fortesque’s platoon killed that morning, there’s a very good chance that his murderer — and anyone else who might have assisted us in our investigation — is already dead.’

‘So you’re assuming that Fortesque was killed by one of his own platoon, are you?’ Blackstone asked.

‘Well, of course I am. Who else would have done it? You’re surely not suggesting it was a private from one of the other platoons, are you?’

‘It could have been,’ Blackstone said. ‘Or it could have been one of the officers.’

‘It most certainly could not have been one of the officers!’ Huxton exploded. He turned to Carstairs for support. ‘Will you remind this bounder of his place — or should I?’

‘At this stage of the investigation, I don’t think we can afford to rule any possibility out,’ Carstairs said calmly.

‘What!’ Huxton asked, outraged. ‘Are you saying that you’re willing to subscribe to the disgraceful notion that an officer could have. . could have. .’

‘I think it’s highly unlikely — but not entirely inconceivable,’ Carstairs said.

Huxton stood up. ‘I find it impossible to play any part in an investigation which could entertain the idea that a gentleman could be party to such an act — and I wash my hands of the whole affair,’ he bellowed. ‘And as for you, Carstairs,’ he continued, as he strode furiously to the door, ‘all I can say is that I consider you a traitor to your class.’