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By Root 820 0

road and peered through the high, wire-mesh fence. It did not look like a bottling plant as far as he could see. Maybe there was something of the sort inside the building, though it didn't really seem big enough to accommodate filling lines, packing, storage and all the other elements that would be required for such an enterprise.

He stuck his hands in his pockets and wandered round the perimeter to see what he could see.

The lorry was parked against a loading bay at the rear of the building. Two men, in identical green overalls and uniform jackets with 'Clearspring'

emblazoned across the back, were using hydraulic trolleys to wheel pallets full of cardboard cases from the lorry into the warehouse. The cases were brightly printed with the message: Clearspring Water – pure waterfront clear springs.

The Doctor stood watching the men work. When one of them noticed him he lifted his hat, waved it and shouted, 'Excuse me?' The man did not respond so he shouted again, 'I say? Excuse me?'

'Yeah?' the man shouted back.

The Doctor put his hat back on, took the bottle of water from his coat pocket and held it up. 'I've been drinking your delicious water for a long time,' he shouted.

'I doubt that,' the man shouted back. 'It's only been on the market six months.' Then when the other man said something to him he corrected himself. 'Ten months, give or take.'

'Ten months is a long time as far as I'm concerned,' the Doctor shouted.

'I'm very fickle normally. What I wanted to ask you was - is it bottled here on the premises?'

The man climbed down from the loading bay and walked across to the fence. 'No. Up north somewhere. Yorkshire I think.'

Ah,' the Doctor smiled. Bottled in Yorkshire you think?'

'That's what I'm led to understand.'

'You don't bring it from there yourself?'

'You ask a lot of questions.'

'Sorry,' the Doctor beamed. He leant forward and lowered his voice conspiratorially. Is it a secret?'

The man grinned. 'Nan, makes no odds to me. I bring it from a distribution depot in Birmingham.'

I see,' the Doctor said, puzzled by the convoluted system of supply, ‘It's bottled in Yorkshire, taken to Birmingham, and it's distributed all over the place from there.'

'Not all over the place. It's pretty much a niche product.'

The Doctor nodded knowingly as he tried to recall what a niche product was exactly. 'In what way a niche product?'

'I'm not sure they sell it anywhere else but round here.'

Really?' The Doctor was even more puzzled now. How very nichey'

The man smiled a world-weary smile. 'A bottle of water's a bottle of water isn't it. It's all a question of advertising, am I right?'

'I'm sure you are,' the Doctor agreed.

'They give them names to appeal to the local tastes.' The man was wanning to his theme. 'It's down to focus groups and all that sort of stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if the Clearspring Water Company doesn't exist at all, as such. Just a brand name used by one of the big conglomerates. I've been told the labels are put on in Birmingham.'

'Do I take it you don't work for the Clearspring Water Company?' the Doctor asked.

The man shook his head. 'I work for the transport company.' He pointed to the other man who was still bustling about on the loading bay. 'He works for the warehouse company'

'Despite what it says on your jackets?'

'These?' The man craned his neck round in a pointless attempt to see the Clearspring name on the back of his jacket. 'Advertising freebies. You wear Nike trainers, it doesn't mean you work for the company does it?'

'I suppose not,' the Doctor said. 'Does anybody work for the Clearspring Water Company?'

'Bloke who sticks the labels on in Birmingham might.'

The Doctor was disappointed. 'It's a very complicated arrangement.' He was not happy with what he had learnt, mostly because he was uncertain what that was. Did this water really have any significance or was it all just a coincidence? He felt sure it would have been helpful to examine the bottling plant. But maybe it was in Yorkshire to avoid precisely