Doctor Who_ Illegal Alien - Mike Tucker [11]
A snigger ran around the room. McBride and Mullen faced off, ready for a rerun of the previous day. The confrontation was interrupted by the arrival of a large police officer. Oblivious to the atmosphere in the room, he crossed straight over to Mullen and passed him a small notebook.
'Got the secretary's statement, sir.'
Mullen looked at him with a pained expression.
'Constable Quick, the poor woman's in a state of shock. It could have waited, man.'
Constable Quick merely continued giving his report. 'Yes, sir. She's being sedated now, sir. Says that she locked up herself. Dr Peddler was working late. Says he'd been behaving funny. Had an appointment with a couple of villains earlier on. A Mr Wall little fellow, foreign she thought and his two 'ssociates. Well, two heavies, really. They were massive, she said, and looked a little bit like... ' The policeman tailed off, realising that the entire room was listening to him 'Well, a little bit like American gangsters.'
Mullen looked McBride up and down. 'American gangsters, yes...' The policeman tried to elaborate. 'Built like brick '
'Yes, thank you, Constable. I'm sure that your report will be invaluable later.'
'Yes, sir.' Constable Quick saluted clumsily and stomped out of the room. Mullen rolled his eyes in despair. He was about to continue with his attack on McBride when one of the forensics team hurried over.
'Excuse me, Chief Inspector. This was in Peddler's hand.'
He handed over a business card. Mullen took it, handling it by its edges. 'Our shady Mr Wall, to be sure...'
A hand appeared over Mullen's shoulder and plucked the card from his own. Mullen's jaw dropped in astonishment. It was the little man who had come in with McBride. He'd been taking in everything that had gone on, and somehow, by not saying anything, he'd almost made himself invisible. He was turning the card over and over in his hands, oblivious to the fact that he was removing any trace of fingerprints. He held it up to the light, sniffed it, and finally waggled it next to his ear.
Aware that he was being watched, he beamed over at Mullen. 'Well, Inspector, what do you think?'
'I think that I should put you on a charge. Obstructing a police officer in the course of his duty. Is this man a friend of yours, McBride?'
McBride shuffled uncomfortably, appalled by the Doctor's complete lack of knowledge of police procedure. 'Uh, sort of.'
He winced in embarrassment as Ace took the card from the Doctor and tried to bend it.
'It's plastic. It looks like some kind of credit card, Professor. Did they have credit cards in the war?'
The Doctor snatched it back from her, slapping her hand.
'No, they didn't. Any more than they had "bombs" made from alien alloys.' He began fiddling with the edge of the card. He spoke without looking up. 'You realise what this means, Inspector?'
The entire room was mesmerised by the exchange.
Barely a breath was drawn. McBride wondered if he could sneak out of the room while no one was watching. Mullen answered through gritted teeth. 'What?'
"That this killing and your mysterious "bomb" are linked in some way.' He peered up at the chief inspector with twinkling eyes, and smiled. 'I don't suppose you want to tell me where the "bomb" is?'
The smile that Mullen gave him back could have frozen hell over. 'No.'
The Doctor shrugged. 'No... Ah, well. Aha!' With a pinging noise, the 'business card.' sprang open like a tiny cigarette case. McBride caught a glimpse of electrical components, far smaller than anything that he had ever seen.
He pushed in next to Mullen for a closer look. 'Hey, that's neat.
‘What the hell is that thing?'
Despite himself, Mullen was impressed. He took it from the Doctor and began to study it closely. 'Yes, what the hell is it?'
The Doctor shook his head and pulled a set of jeweller's screwdrivers from his pocket. 'I don't know. I'll have to take a closer look.'
Mullen pulled