Part 16 (2/2)

'Great.'

'Everyone asked where you were. Richard told them all about your accident, which was then the talk of the place,' he said. 'Lots of people sent their best wishes. And the staff are concerned about you too.'

'Thanks.' I wasn't sure that the overfriendly Carl wasn't more annoying than the surly one, but I decided not to raise the subject again. 'Tell everyone I'm fine and I'll be back at work as soon as I can, probably by the middle of next week.'

'OK,' said Carl. 'I've booked a temporary chef from that agency in Norwich to help over the weekend. I hope that's OK.'

'Good,' I said. 'Well done, Carl.' All this mutual admiration was too much. 'Now sod off and get back to work.' I could hear him laughing as I hung up. Carl was one of the good guys, I was sure of it. Or was I?

Next I telephoned the Suffolk police to discover what had happened to my car.

'It was towed by Brady Rescue and Recovery of Kentford,' they said. 'They'll have it there.'

'Has anyone inspected it?' I asked.

'The attending officer at the accident would have briefly inspected the vehicle before it was removed.'

'Apparently,' I said, 'someone from the police told a doctor at the hospital that the accident was due to brake failure.'

'I don't know anything about that, sir.'

'Is there any way I could speak to the policeman who attended the accident?' I asked.

'Can you hold, please?' I didn't have a chance to say either yes or no before I found myself listening to a recorded message telling me of the services offered by Suffolk Constabulary. I listened to the whole thing through at least three times before a live voice came back on the line.

'I'm sorry, sir,' it said. 'The officer is not available to speak to you.'

'When will he be available?' I asked. 'Can I leave a message for him to call me?' I gave my mobile number but I didn't hold out much hope that the message would get through. They were very busy, they said, but they would see what they could do.

I called the recovery company. Yes, they said, they had my Golf but it was not in great shape. Could I come and visit, I asked. Yes, they said, any time.

Caroline returned to the sitting room after her investigation of my property.

'Nice place,' she said. 'Better than my hovel in Fulham.'

'Do you want to move in?' I asked.

'Don't push your luck, Mr Moreton,' she said, smiling. 'I've been looking for where I would be sleeping tonight.'

'But you are staying?' I said, perhaps a touch too eagerly for her liking.

'Yes,' she said, 'but not in your bedroom. If that's not OK by you, then I will go back to London now.'

'It's OK,' I said. Not brilliant, I thought, but OK.

I took some painkillers for my throbbing head and then Caroline and I went by taxi to Kentford to see my car.

As the man from the towing company had said on the telephone, it wasn't in great shape. In fact, I had to be told which one of the wrecks was mine as I didn't recognize it. The roof was missing completely, for a start.

'What on earth happened to it?' I asked one of their men. My pride and joy for so long was now just a mangled heap.

'The fire brigade cut the roof off to get the occupant out,' he said. 'The car was on its side when I got there with my truck and the roof was already gone. Maybe it's still in the ditch next to where the car was.'

It didn't matter. Even to my eyes the car was a complete write-off. Not only had the roof disappeared, the front offside wing was completely ripped away and the wheel was sitting at a strange angle. That must have happened, I thought, when I hit the bus.

'Has anyone been to inspect it?' I asked him.

'Not that I'm aware of, but it's been sitting here since yesterday morning and I don't exactly keep guard.'

'Here' was down the side of the workshop, behind a pair of recovery vehicles.

'I was the driver,' I said to him.

'Blimey, you were lucky then. I thought it was a fatal when I first arrived.'

'Why?' I asked.

'Fire brigade and ambulance spent ages getting you out. That's never a good sign. Had you in one of those neck-brace things. You didn't look too good, I can tell you. Not moving, like. I thought you were probably dead.'

'Thanks,' I said sarcastically.

'No,' he said. 'I'm glad you're not, like. Easier for me too.'

'Why?' I said.

'If it had been a fatal,' he said, 'I would have to keep this pile of garbage here for the police inspectors and they take b.l.o.o.d.y ages to do their stuff. Since you're OK, I can get it off the premises just as soon as your insurance bloke looks at it. Also,' he added with a smile, 'since you're alive, I can now send you a bill for recovering it from the roadside.'

I made a mental note to phone the insurance company, not that they would give me much. I suspected that car was worth little more than the policy excess but it might just pay the wretched man's bill for getting rid of the wreck.

'I think the accident occurred because my brakes failed,' I said. 'Is there any way of checking that by looking?'

'Help yourself, it's your car.' He turned away. 'I've got work to do.'

'No,' I said quickly. 'I wouldn't know what to look for. Could you have a look for me?'

'It'll cost you,' he said.

'All right,' I said. 'How much?'

'Usual labour rates,' he replied.

'Can you look at it now?' I said. 'While I'm here?'

'Suppose so,' he said.

'OK,' I said. 'Usual rates.'

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