John Gardner - Seafire

"As I told you before, James, the damned tanker was carrying highly flammable jet fuel. It was the tanker that exploded. Probably engulfed me Rolls in a matter of seconds."

Bond turned back to the photographs, which showed the Rolls as a skeleton of twisted, burned metal, concertinaed into the cab of the tanker, which had been reduced to a similar skeletal wreck. The road, they said, had been closed for almost six hours.

In the next set of photographs what was left of the four victims had been laid out in the mortuary at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge: unrecognizable charred remains, each in the grotesque boxer's position that is assumed by the human body after death by burning. The only real evidence was that three of these terrible black mounds had once unmistakably been males; the fourth was a female.

"What about identification?" Bond asked.

"James, you know as well as I that the old dental records are really for the thriller writers. You can seldom get hold of them, but we're running DNAs on all four bodies, using traces of hair and the like, taken from the Tarns' home, as comparisons. A week, maybe ten days for solid proof. The only things we have to go on are the remains of a necklace identified as having been worn by Trish Tarn, and what's left of a Rolex that could have belonged to Sir Max."

"But we know that the bodies can't belong to them – at least Sir Max's can't." Bond looked straight into Tanner's eyes and saw his old friend look away. "So," he continued, "none of you are going to take us seriously. You have bodies removed from the Rolls and the tanker. I have my own eyes and ears. At least Max Tarn was still alive early yesterday morning and was there at Hall's Manor. Now, let's go through the possibilities. You maintain that only the Tarns and their driver occupied the Rolls, so how many people were crammed into the Rover?"

Tanner repeated his earlier statement that, when it left the University Arms, the Rover contained a driver by the name of Hawkins; Maurice Goodwin; the man they called Connie – in fact identified as Conrad Anthony Spicer – Lady Tarn's maid, a girl called Susan Fawkes; and Tarn's valet, George Drum.

Bond went through the information they had on these five members of the entourage.

As far as they could see, Maurice Goodwin was employed as Tarn's fixer. He had overall control of the security, and also dealt with mundane matters like travel arrangements, hotels – when they were used – and the general running of Sir Max and Lady Tarn's lives outside business.

"I've a shrewd suspicion that he was deeply into the daily running of Tarn International as well," Bond had told them when they first went through the list. "He seems to be on pretty close terms with Tarn. While I was with them he talked to Sir Max as an equal. A partner even."

The Police Commissioner, Wimsey, told them that there was "nothing known" – as the police computers showed – regarding either Goodwin or the driver, Hawkins, while the maid and valet were also simply ciphers. Conrad Spicer was another matter entirely: personal bodyguard, probably with control over other "muscle" employed by Tarn International. Connie Spicer had a record that included one short prison sentence for GBH – grievous bodily harm – and another charge concerning firearms of which he had been acquitted. His past, however, included a military background with several years spent with the Special Air Service. He had even received a citation for bravery during the Falklands campaign.

"All right." Bond leaned back in his chair. "I'll tell you again. Flicka and I were placed in the dangerous position of being prisoners of some of Tarn's other bodyguards. A precious pair who called each other Mr. Cuthbert and Mr. Archibald. Anything known there?" His question was directed at Wimsey, who shook his head and deflected the query toward Tanner.

"They are fully described by the surveillance teams. We even have photographs, but there's absolutely no other information, and I have to ask you, James, if this could have been a personal matter. You did have a run-in with Archibald when you arrived at the University Arms. We've even got that on tape. A slight case of overkill, we thought."

"Not from where I was standing. The little twerp was being officious, trying to stop me going about my business. If you have a sound track on the video, you'll also know that he threatened me and even presented himself as official security – which he was not."

"So you would deny what happened on Sunday afternoon and early evening being in any way a personal thing?"

"Absolutely, and I suggest you question Flicka to back me up. They left us in no doubt that they were acting on Tarn's instructions. Personally, I think those two jokers – and they are very weird people – believed that they were going to be ordered to kill us and dispose of the bodies at Hall's Manor. Now, by the end of Sunday, and in the early hours of Monday morning, I saw or heard the following people: Cuthbert and Archibald, one driver whose name was never mentioned, a tall, long-haired girl called Beth, Maurice Goodwin, and Max Tarn. I am simply presuming that Lady Tarn was also in the Rover which arrived at the Manor in the early hours. Cuthbert, in particular, was very annoyed that they were just going to leave us there. I was not drugged, I had managed to get free, damaging myself as I did so." He lifted his right wrist. "But I do know what I saw and heard. You, on the other hand, received no reports on either of the two Rovers."

Tanner shrugged, giving a slightly grudging "No."

"Yet police and the other surveillance people were on the lookout for both cars?"

"Yes."

"Which leaves us with one possibility." He leafed through the papers in front of him. "It would seem that Lady Tarn's maid, the Fawkes woman, and Sir Max's valet were of a similar build and stature to their employers."

"We'd have to agree with that, yes." Tanner's face showed that he did not like the direction Bond was taking. "I can tell what you're going to suggest, James, but can you really believe that someone like Tarn could be so ruthless?"

"Yes. Out of the blue he's suddenly in deep trouble. If M's informant… what was his name? Peter Dolmech…?"

M nodded but contributed nothing to the conversation.

"If Peter Dolmech is correct, friend Tarn, captain of industry, pillar of the community, philanthropist extraordinary, was about to have the rug pulled out from under him. If Dolmech is right, the man's conscience hasn't stopped him from dealing in death – smuggling arms and explosives. When I dropped the news on him, Tarn was incredibly calm, really extraordinarily cool under fire, though Goodwin appeared to be more shaken. I don't see a man like Tarn thinking twice about doing what I'm going to suggest."

"And you're suggesting that he's faked his own death, together with the death of his wife."

"In fact, he's murdered four people – Lady Tarn's maid, his valet, and two drivers." This from Wimsey.

"Exactly. Anything known about the tanker driver?"

There was a long, tense silence at the end of which Claude Wimsey shook his head. "Tell you the truth, Bond, we don't even know where the tanker was coming from, or even if it belongs to some local firm operating out of Duxford airfield."

"So doesn't this convince you?" Bond was appealing to the entire committee. "I followed your instructions; tipped him off that he was about to be arrested on illicit arms dealing, and that the headquarters of Tarn International was about to be searched. Object – your idea – was to flush him out; con the press and pick him off as he tried to get rid of evidence. Instead, he puts together a very quick plan to turn up dead and unidentifiable. Doesn't any of that make sense to you?"