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inquisitive for an encounter of just five minutes’ duration. Do you act the detective in every situation?’
    â€˜Do you act the military expert when away from your surgery?’ he riposted, goaded by her fresh manner.
    A faint smile softened her expression. ‘Touché. I’m Clare Goodey, by the way. And if you say “oh, goody, goody” our liaison will be a thorny one.’
    Max smiled back. ‘Suffer from that, do you? The usual reaction when I tell people I’m a policeman is to send them away post-haste, frantically trying to recall what they might have said that could be incriminating.’
    She leaned back in her chair, quite relaxed now. ‘Several years ago in Florida I was eating at a roadside restaurant when in came the local sheriff and his deputee , both massive men with necks like bulls’ and shoulders that could barge down a steel portcullis with one shove. They were each hung around with a truncheon, handcuffs, rubber-coated flashlight and a very business-like gun in a leather holster.’
    Her mouth twitched in another smile. ‘Gee, I thought, these guys will order the hindquarters of a cow apiece and wash it down with a ten gallon jar of root beer loaded with three dozen ice cubes. Know what they each had? Slice of quiche with salad, and iced tea.’ Her smile broadened. ‘I’ve never been in awe of policemen since that evening.’
    Max laughed. ‘So, I’m already on the bottom rung of your ladder of respect. I should be eating a mammoth steak and a mountain of chips instead of this rabbit food.’
    â€˜Don’t fret. I’ll be living in the Mess until I find more congenial quarters. You’ll have chances to redeem yourself.’
    They fell to discussing the difficulty of tracking down suitable accommodation. Max assumed her husband would not be sharing with her, but forbore to probe again into that relationship. Clare made no attempt to discover his own marital state, so he thought that subject was best left alone.
    They both poured themselves coffee in the ante-room where Clare surprised Max by saying, ‘I suppose you’re caught up in this awful business of the soldier who went missing during a mock battle.’
    â€˜Word gets around quickly,’ he replied, using her earlier words.
    â€˜I have three participants in my sick bay suffering from heat exhaustion and hypothermia.’
    â€˜We’ll need to speak to them,’ he said over his coffee cup.
    â€˜Not yet, you won’t.’
    Max put his cup and saucer firmly on the low table. ‘Let’s sort this from the start. Unless a patient’s condition would be endangered by questioning, we have the right to interview him or her if we feel we could gain useful evidence.’
    Her eyes narrowed. ‘As I’m the only person qualified to judge a patient’s condition, you’ll have to abide by my rules. Those men are exhausted and semi-delirious. Ask me tomorrow. I may allow questioning then.’
    Max’s hackles rose. ‘You realize the missing man might be lying somewhere on the brink of breathing his last. Your patients could point in the direction to save him.’
    â€˜It’s too late for that. Anyone lost out there beneath this intense sun for this long without water would be dead by now. That’s why I’m on the warpath over this exercise. My job is to keep soldiers fit to do the job they enrolled to do. Any mad macho scheme that endangers their fitness will meet with my fierce opposition.’ She got to her feet. ‘I’m small, slim and female, but don’t let any man on this base underestimate me.’
    â€˜Smith, you say? I dessay I can call up his record for you,’ Staff Sergeant Canning told Tom. ‘As for a printout –’ He hissed through his teeth – ‘Bloody lack of juice has set the printer on the blink. How are we expected to run an army on half