Doctor Who_ Atom Bomb Blues - Andrew Cartmel [39]
‘How extraordinary,’ said the Doctor.
‘Well, what do you know?’ said Ace.
Henbest hastily clattered out of the office, leaving the Doctor and Ace sitting there in a peaceful silence. The Doctor eased back from his position of athletic readiness, slumping in his armchair, and turned to look at Ace. ‘It seems our psychological evaluations are to be postponed.’
‘They can’t be postponed long enough for my liking. Did you hear what he said? Someone took a shot at Major Butcher. Not a word about us. And it was us she was shooting at.’
‘That suits our purposes, Ace. It’s better if the Major believes he was the sole target. It helps us in the same way as concealing that envelope I found near Rosalita’s body.’
‘And remind me why we concealed that.’
‘Because it would have constituted a clear connection between Cosmic Ray and Rosalita. But since Major Butcher didn’t see the envelope containing the record, he only knows that Rosalita was the would-be assassin. He doesn’t know she was also the local source of Lady Silk’s subversive recordings. And since he also doesn’t know she took a shot at us outside Ray’s building, he can believe that he was her sole target. She becomes an open-and-shut case.
I believe that’s the expression. He uses it frequently enough in his books. In any event it signifies a crime that’s solved as soon as it’s discovered.’
‘I know what it signifies. What I don’t know is why you’re protecting Ray. If he’s involved with Rosalita and she was some kind of enemy agent. . . ’
‘And it certainly appears she was.’
‘Then he must be some kind of enemy agent too.’
‘Yes, Ace. But what kind?’ The Doctor smiled grimly. ‘That is what we must find out.’
‘All right. Let’s do that then, you and me, but working together as a team.
No more keeping me in the dark.’
‘Ace, I’m telling you as much as I can, as soon as I can.’
68
‘No you’re not. You’re just stringing me along as usual, and hoping I’ll be the faithful stooge who keeps her mouth shut.’
The Doctor chuckled. ‘Well if that’s my hope, it’s certainly been a forlorn one throughout the long and eventful years of our partnership.’
Ace stared at him for a moment, then broke out giggling. ‘All right,’ she said.
‘Maybe it is a bit. Listen, I’m just asking you to explain things a bit more.’
‘Such as what kind of things?’
‘Such as why you suspected Rosalita in the first place.’
‘Do you remember the dead rat Oppy showed us? The poisoned rat?’
‘Of course.’
‘There was a rubbish bin beside it. Did that bin look familiar to you?’
‘It looked like the one in Rosalita’s kitchen. . . we saw it there last night.’
‘The one in which she disposed of the chilli.’
‘Yes.’
‘Think Ace, think.’ The Doctor leaned close to her, his extraordinary eyes blazing. Ace had to avoid looking into the unsettling depths of those eyes if she was indeed going to think. ‘The chilli was in the bin,’ his voice was relentless, forging links of logic, like links in an iron chain. ‘The rat ate it and died. So the chilli was poisoned. Which implies. . . ?’
‘That Rosalita poisoned the chilli. Because when she didn’t manage to shoot me or you, whoever she was shooting at. . . ’
‘In all modesty she was probably shooting at me,’ said the Doctor.
‘So when she didn’t manage to shoot you she tried to poison you. But I was going to eat the chilli, too. Just like I was in the firing line when she was shooting.’
‘All right Ace, if it will make you happy, she was trying to kill both of us.’
‘But she didn’t give us the poisoned chilli. She dropped it on the floor.’
‘Not a very convincing accident, was it?’ The Doctor got up from his armchair and went over to Henbest’s desk.
‘Fooled me. So she dropped it on the floor deliberately. But why?’
‘Think,’ the Doctor sat in Henbest’s chair. He swivelled around in it for a moment, apparently finding it to his liking. He began opening the drawers of the desk and pulling out documents.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Going