Doctor Who_ The Sea-Devils - Malcolm Hulke [27]
The Doctor, Jo, and Captain Hart crowded round Chief Petty Officer Smedley’s bunk in the sick-bay, the base’s Medical Officer watching on.
‘He was taking equipment, sir,’ said Smedley, trying to lie to attention while addressing his commanding officer.
The Doctor asked, ‘What did this officer look like?’
‘About my height,’ said Smedley. ‘And he had a beard.’
‘You see,’ said Jo. ‘The Master!’
Captain Hart signalled Jo to be careful what she said in front of the others. He turned to Smedley. ‘All right, Chief. I’m sure you’ll be better for a rest in the sick-bay.’
The captain walked away from the bunk, and gestured for the Doctor and Jo to follow. Out of earshot of Smedley, he turned.to Jo. ‘You referred to “the Master”, both in my office and here. Are you talking about Mr. Trenchard’s prisoner?’
‘That’s right,’ said Jo. ‘That’s why we came to the island in the first place. To visit him.’
Captain Hart clearly wasn’t convinced. ‘But we all know about the security measures at the château,’ he said. ‘It’s common gossip on the island. I saw the Master’s pictures in the newspapers at the time of his trial, and I’m sure that any swarthy-looking fellow with a beard could be mistaken for the Master once he was dressed up in naval officers’ uniform.’
‘But I know his walk,’ Jo protested. ‘I’d know the Master anywhere.’
‘I think,’ said the Doctor, ‘the question that’s really perplexing Captain Hart is how the Master could be both a prisoner at the château, and raiding the sonar stores supplies here at the same time.’ He turned to the captain. ‘I’m afraid there’s only one answer to that, Captain. Trenchard brought him here.’
With little conviction the captain said, ‘George Trenchard is a personal friend of mine. I simply cannot believe it.’
The Doctor pressed his case. ‘Mr. Trenchard arrived just before Chief Petty Officer Smedley found the man in the stores, and he left just a few moments ago. All that talk about who would play in the golf tournament, didn’t it strike you as a little long-winded?’
Captain Hart smiled. ‘Old Trenchard’s always like that.’ He paused to think. ‘But I grant you, it was a bit odd the way he carried on and on today.’
‘Personal friend or not,’ said Jo, ‘you ought to arrest that Mr. Trenchard straight away!’
‘My dear Miss Grant,’ said Captain Hart, ‘that is quite out of the question. In the first place I have no authority to arrest anyone except inside this base. Secondly, we are condemning a man, who incidentally has served his country well for many years, on pure surmise. There isn’t a shred of evidence against him.’
‘Would you do one thing,’ said the Doctor. ‘Lend me some transport?’
‘What do you want to do?’ asked the Captain.
‘Drive back to that château,’ said the Doctor, ‘and ask Mr. George Trenchard if his prisoner is missing.’
* See DOCTOR WHO AND THE CAVE MONSTERS
6 ‘This Man Came to Kill me!’
Trenchard was trying to calm his nerves by practising putting shots on the floor of his office. He had just been told over the internal telephone that the Doctor and Jo had arrived at the gatehouse in a naval jeep and wanted to see him. To have refused might have been suspicious, so he gave orders for them to be allowed into the grounds, provided they were accompanied from the gatehouse to the château by a prison officer.
He was just making a very tricky shot when there was a knock on the door and the two visitors were brought in. To test his nerves Trenchard made the shot before speaking. It missed by a good six inches.
‘Hands a bit shaky?’ enquired the Doctor wickedly.
‘Out of practice,’ said Trenchard, putting away his putting stick. ‘Do you wish to visit the prisoner again?’
‘That depends if he’s still here,’ said the Doctor. ‘We have reason to believe that he’s escaped.’
Trenchard sat down heavily behind his desk, his