Free Spanish Inquisition by Elizabeth Darrell

hand was heavily bandaged. It made sense that the two doctors would have attended the conference together, and the handsome Scot looked to have been hurt during the traffic accident. But not enough to have been hospitalized! Was it absolutely necessary for Clare to bring him to her flat for the night? All Max’s earlier worries about MacPherson’s interest in her returned to keep him awake until light began to filter through the curtains.
    When the alarm buzzed him awake Max saw the incident in a different light and jealousy faded. A large mug of black coffee and an equally large fried breakfast banished introspection and uncertainty about returning to duty before clearance from a medical board. 26 Section was
his
team and a member of it was presently depending on his colleagues to find proof of his innocence of a serious crime. No way was Max going to laze around at home for another two weeks in such circumstances.
    Pouring fresh coffee he punched Tom’s home number on his handset and waited for him to pick up.
    â€˜Morning, Max,’ said Nora against a background of young girls’ voices. ‘If you’re wanting Tom, I’m afraid George called him out fifteen minutes ago because some of our personnel were involved in a multi-vehicle crash last night. He’ll probably be occupied with that for most of the morning.’
    â€˜Right. Bye, Nora.’
    Having filled the tank last night and given the vehicle a good run to the riverside inn after four months parked outside his apartment, Max was soon on his way to the base RMP Post, where he knew Tom would be.
    Sergeant George Maddox, in command of the uniformed police on the base, was surprised to see Max enter the outer office where he was in conversation with Tom. Surprised and wary. Max greeted them both with deliberate geniality.
    â€˜Captain Goodey informed me of the serious RTA last night. She and Major MacPherson were returning from a conference and stayed to help rescue the victims. She wasn’t aware of any British casualties.’ He addressed George. ‘
Polizei
contacted you?’
    â€˜Yes, sir.’
    â€˜How many, and where are they?’
    â€˜Three guys. Their Audi was badly burned and blistered, but the number plate was a military one, so they contacted us an hour or so ago. They’re all in a private clinic just outside Gründorf. The nearest hospital couldn’t cope with the numbers. Had to farm out to several clinics in the vicinity those who weren’t in life-threatening conditions. Twelve poor sods didn’t make it at the scene. The tanker hit a truck carrying gas cylinders and the lot went up. Boom!’
    Realizing what he had said to a man who had recently been injured in an explosion, George’s colour rose, but Max just said quietly, ‘It was safer when we all travelled on horses. Do we yet know the identity of the three casualties?’
    George glanced significantly at Tom, which puzzled Max somewhat. ‘I sent Babs Turvey and Jerry Hicks to get identification. One’s in a reasonably stable condition – the other two are pretty rough – but he was able to tell us what we wanted to know. The most seriously injured is married. Wife’s on her way to the clinic. NOK of the other two are being informed. They’re not on the critical list, so it’s up to the parents to decide whether to come over or not. They’ll have been given the phone number of the clinic to check on their progress.’
    â€˜Anything suspicious about their condition?’ asked Max. ‘No suggestion of terrorist involvement, is there?’
    â€˜No, sir,’ answered George, again glancing at Tom.
    â€˜So why has SIB been called in on a road accident? Not our province, is it?’
    After brief hesitation, Tom answered. ‘Staff Sergeant Andrews, one of the more serious casualties, is in an induced coma and unable to be questioned, but Babs Turvey searched through all