Gently Where the Roads Go Read Online Free PDF Page B

happening out of the blue, no motive, no angles. Then you know what you’re up against and you begin to look in certain directions. The real break has been that limp. Your man did well to get Madsen to remember it.’
    ‘Felling’s my best man,’ Whitaker said. ‘But what do you want us to do now?’
    ‘Nothing whatever,’ Empton said. ‘There’s nothing further you can do. I’ll go back to town and pick up Kasimir and apply various forms of pressure. Then we will decide what we will decide. Some results may appear in the morning paper.’
    ‘Well,’ Whitaker said, ‘it’s beyond me. And you apparently know how to handle it.’
    ‘Leave it at that,’ Empton said. ‘As of now it’s our pigeon.’
    He took hold of the briefcase. He looked squarely at Gently.
    ‘And what’s your theory, old man,’ he asked.
    Gently shrugged. ‘I don’t have a theory. I’m only here to make up the party.’
    ‘You still think it’s one of your amateur killings?’
    ‘I’m only at the stage of collecting facts.’
    ‘It’ll be a labour of love, old man, I think.’
    ‘Taxpayers’ money,’ Gently said.
    Empton’s teeth. Then he shook hands. He had a curiously unsubstantial grasp. Whitaker went with him down the stairs and stood a moment chatting in the doorway. Gently rose and moved over to the window. He saw Empton walk swingingly across to his car. It was a Jaguar coupé enamelled red and probably of a mark number known to the enthusiast. Empton slid into it and surged away. Whitaker came back up the stairs. Gently moved back to the desk to reclaim his pipe and his trilby.
    ‘Are you driving back too?’ Whitaker asked.
    Gently shook his head. ‘Just going to lunch. I’d like to have Felling show me round this afternoon – unless you have a back-log of amateur crimes.’
    Whitaker chuckled. ‘No. You can have him. I just wondered if you thought it worthwhile to stay.’
    ‘Purely routine,’ Gently said. ‘And probably idle curiosity.’
    Whitaker said: ‘I can’t get over that fellow. Are they all like that in the Special Branch?’
    ‘A few.’ Gently sucked his pipe. ‘It’s a split world,’ he said.

CHAPTER THREE
    O FFINGHAM, OFFGMS . ( A.S . Offa &
ham
, home). 16,129. Map 12 C5. Mkt. Sat. E.C. Weds. London 52¼, Northampton 37¼, Bedford 19½, Leicester 57. 1 mile E. of A1. On R. Ound, crossed here by Med. bridge of 12 arches. Church St Lawrence Perp., carved oak roof; also St Olaf, Dec., traces of fan vaulting, painted screen. Traces of 12th c. priory near R. Med. house in Mkt. Pl. Inds: printing, furniture mfg., light elec. products. Centre of a considerable Agri. area & county town of Offgms.
    Gently took Felling to lunch with him at Fullton’s Restaurant in the Market Place. The dining-room was on the first floor and looked across market stalls to St Lawrence’s. At lunchtime Offingham came out of its trance; in its small-town way it looked crowded. The pavements were busy. In the Market Place people stood eating fish-and-chips out of newspapers. Clerks, shopkeepers, businessmen crowded the tables in the restaurants. There was little motion of traffic. All the shops had their doors locked. A communal atmosphere pervaded the town; everyone turned out for lunch.
    Gently ordered a mixed grill, Felling a modestly priced chop. At a word from Felling they had been found a secluded table at the very end of the range of windows. Gently said nothing until he had eaten and the sergeant took his cue from Gently. Felling was around forty. He was dark, had a ruddy complexion and humourless good-looks. He watched Gently as they ate. Gently looked out of the window. They had both ordered iced lager and it went down very well.
    At the coffee Gently said: ‘Have you any ideas you haven’t put on record?’
    Felling looked up sharply from his coffee, then back to it again.
    ‘What makes you say that, sir?’ he asked.
    ‘You’ve done the field work,’ Gently said. ‘You put into a report what