Ken McClure: Deception

‘Of course!’ said Brown. ‘They’re going to get rid of the stuff and any residual problem with the rats will be blamed on the GM crop. You’ve got to admit, it has a certain beauty.’

‘I’m going out there,’ said Steven.

‘I’ll have to see my editor first,’ said Brown. ‘I’ll stroke his fevered brow and join you as soon as I can. I’ll bring a photographer. I want some shots of the stuff in Rafferty’s barn. With a bit of luck we can end up screwing the lot of them, including “ace reporter”, Alex McColl. That’ll teach him to check his facts first. Where will you be?’

‘I’m going out to police headquarters first,’ said Steven. ‘I want to make sure they appreciate just what’s going to happen when Blackbridge reads the Clarion this morning. After that, I’ll just play it by ear.’

Steven skipped breakfast but had some coffee before heading out to Livingston to see Brewer.

‘So someone threw the good doctor to the wolves,’ said Brewer, referring to Levi, the police surgeon who’d put out the wrong cause of death report on McNish. ‘I think he might welcome a wee transfer to the Outer Hebrides after this morning’s headlines.

‘Shame,’ said Steven with total insincerity. ‘I came to check that you’ll be circling the wagons on Peat Ridge today?’

Brewer smiled and said, ‘So you were wrong about the GM crop being harmless after all, eh?’

‘No I wasn’t,’ said Steven flatly. ‘The Clarion reporter was set up. He was deliberately fed a load of nonsense and he fell for it. The paper published it and now everyone is going to believe the story, not least because they want to believe anything bad about GM crops. The real motive behind this was to provoke a public attack on the farm. I hope you can handle it.’

‘I’ll do what I can,’ said Brewer. ‘But there’s been a gas explosion at Fernside and there’s an Orange march through Boxhall today. We’re going to be pretty stretched as it is. Still, with the help of our friends in the private sector over there we should be able to man the barricades if the natives start getting too restless.’

‘I’m going over there right now,’ said Steven. ‘I’ll keep you appraised of what’s happening.’

Steven drove over to Blackbridge, hoping that Brewer was taking things more seriously than he appeared to be. He himself had pointed out that dealing with yobs, who felt right was on their side was quite a different proposition from handling rowdy drunks. He sensed trouble in the air as soon as he arrived. It was not much after nine in the morning but a group of men had already gathered outside the Blackbridge Hotel and were shouting abuse at the officials they knew to be inside. He caught one shout of, ‘Lying bastards!’ as he drove past, not slowing much in case he became a target for their anger too. He drove right up to Peat Ridge Farm and spoke to the security men who stopped him as usual. ‘Have any police arrived yet?’ he asked them.

‘No. What would they be here for?’

‘You haven’t seen the Clarion this morning?’

Both men shook their heads.

‘There’s going to be trouble. Get your act together and warn the others. I’d better check if your boss has seen it.’ The men got clearance from the house for Steven to approach and he roared up the drive to come to a squealing halt outside.

‘Bloody hell,’ said Lane when he appeared at the door. ‘You’ve been watching too much television, my friend.’

‘So you haven’t seen the Clarion either,’ said Steven.

‘Comics are for children, pally,’ said Lane.

‘Well, some of the children are about to start playing with matches,’ said Steven. ‘The Clarion has just put you and the Agrigene crop in the frame for the deaths of Ian Ferguson and the Rev McNish. They’re blaming the problem with aggressive rats on Peat Ridge Farm.’

‘But that’s a bunch of crap!’ protested Lane.

‘Of course it is but it’s just appeared in their “comic” so who are the locals going to believe? You or the Clarion?’

‘Jesus, I’d better phone the police.’

‘I’ve just been to see them. I thought they’d be here by now. I’ve warned your security men: they didn’t know either. Maybe getting in a few more might be a good idea.’

Steven got back into his car and called Brewer to ask when a police presence might be expected.’

‘The whole bloody world’s gone crazy this morning!’ complained Brewer. ‘We’ve had calls from all over the county about incidents and accidents. I’ll get some bodies over there just as soon as I can. I just don’t know what the hell’s going on.’

I do, thought Steven as a slight shiver of apprehension ran down his spine. The police are being diverted away from Blackbridge. He started to drive back down into the village and was alarmed to see that crowd outside the hotel had more than doubled in size. One of the government officials was now standing on the small wall surrounding the car park, trying to reason with them but was obviously being shouted down.

Steven caught sight of Alex McColl with a young photographer in tow; they were lurking on the outer fringes like sharks circling a ship with a list. He drove on by and went round to Eve’s house, hoping he might get a chance to see her and explain about last night if Trish Rafferty hadn’t already filled her in on the details.

As he drew up across the road from the house, a man he took to be Eve’s father opened the door and strode angrily down the path, shaking off Eve’s attempts to stop him. He had what looked to Steven to be a rifle slung over his shoulder in its carrying case. Eve was distraught and in tears. Steven got out and she saw him there. She came running over to him and pleaded, ‘Please, you have to stop him! He says that Ronald Lane is responsible for Ian’s death. He’s going to kill him!’

‘Him and all the rest,’ said Steven. ‘It’s getting very ugly round there,’ he said, nodding in the direction of Main Street. ‘Lane has been warned and so have the guards up there. The police should be on the scene soon.’

‘God, this is awful,’ sighed Eve.

‘Did Trish tell you everything last night?’ Steven asked.

Eve nodded. ‘I’m sorry I was so rude to you,’ she said. ‘I see now that you had to bully her into telling you. What Tom Rafferty did was quite unforgivable.’

‘The plan is to destroy all evidence of it,’ said Steven. ‘Childs and Leadbetter want the locals to attack Peat Ridge and then fire to break out so that they can fake its spread to Crawhill. I think they’ve set incendiary devices so that the barn will burn to the ground whatever the Fire Brigade might do.’

‘I must warn Trish,’ said Eve, alarmed at the prospect. ‘She must get away from Crawhill. What are you going to do?’

‘Try to stop them,’ said Steven. ‘But first I’ll see if I can persuade your father that getting involved in any of this is a very bad idea.’

‘Thanks, Steven, I appreciate it.’

‘Where the hell are the police?’ asked Steven, looking at his watch. ‘They should be here by now. I hope Brewer isn’t playing this too cool.’

‘This could be them now,’ said Eve. She was looking at a dark blue Minibus that was just coming into Blackbridge.

Steven’s spirits rose at the thought of police officers spilling out of it to disperse the crowd outside the hotel but they suddenly fell again when he failed to see any police marking on the vehicle as it passed the end of the road on its way to Main Street. ‘Oh shit,’ he murmured. ‘It’s rent-a-mob. I should have thought of that.’

Eve’s mouth fell open. ‘They’re importing troublemakers?’ she said.

‘Looks like it.’

A second Minibus came into view and then a third. None of them were police vehicles. ‘You go and get Trish,’ said Steven. ‘I’ll warn Brewer and then go grab your father.’