Free The Gospel Makers by Anthea Fraser Page B

They ought to be locked up, poisoning a child’s mind against his parents.’
    ‘How old is your son, ma’am?’
    ‘Just had his sixteenth birthday.’ It was her husband who replied.
    ‘And they’ve abducted him?’
    ‘Oh, not physically,’ the man said with bitterness. ‘He’s still living at home, going to school and so on. It’s his mind they’ve got at. Turned him into a zombie.’
    ‘He was such a bright boy!’ the woman sobbed. ‘Good at games, played the drums in the school band, lots of friends. Now he just shuts himself away in his room reading their pamphlets and listening to their cassettes, and as fast as I take them away, he gets more. And he tells us the food we eat is “unclean”!’ she added, indignation creeping into her voice. ‘He won’t touch meat or fish any more. I’m at my wits’ end, wondering what to get him.’
    Webb said gently, ‘It’s really not a matter for the police, ma’am, not if they haven’t physically abducted him. But there are organizations who deal with this. Ask the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, they’ll tell you about them.’
    She was about to argue further, but Webb nodded and walked firmly to the security door, leaving Fenton and the others to get rid of the couple.
    ‘There was something on the Intelligence Bulletin about that lot,’ Jackson remarked as they started up the stairs.
    ‘Yep. WDI Petrie went to suss them out last week and didn’t like what she saw. It mightn’t be a bad idea to have another word with her. Ask her to come to my room when she has a minute, would you, Ken? And get young Marshbanks to go through the telephone directory and list all two-syllable names beginning with K that have an upper-looped letter in the middle.’
    ‘He’ll love that,’ Jackson said with a grin.
    ‘Then he can take it round to Samantha at the King’s Head and see if any of them rings a bell. And I want the hotel guests and staff to identify their cars, so we know if any are unclaimed. Organize it, will you?’ And Webb turned into his office and shut the door.
    *
    Nina received Webb’s message with mixed feelings. She’d heard about the scene in the front office and was in no doubt what he wished to speak to her about. The trouble was that she didn’t know whether or not she wanted to continue investigating the Revvies. Ever since her visit to Victoria Drive she’d been aware of a niggling wish to return, and the words love, trust, salvation still drifted disconcertingly in and out of her mind.
    The leaflet she’d been handed on leaving had posed more questions than it answered, but it had sounded the usual dire warnings about the end of the world. Only the Revelationists, it seemed, had any chance of survival. Which, Nina thought with a shrug, was what they all said.
    All the same, she’d underestimated the Reverend Noah Bellringer. Whether or not he’d used subliminal means, his message had lodged in the consciousness of a hard-bitten policewoman and, priding herself on her strength of will, the fact both annoyed and intrigued her.
    But Webb did not resolve her choice for her. He motioned to her to sit down and said abruptly, ‘Nina, I’ve a lot on, and strictly speaking this Revvie lot is not our concern. But they’re on my patch and I imagine we’re going to get an increasing number of people coming to complain about them. Can I hand them over to you — unofficially, of course? I want to know what makes them tick, and if we’ve any excuse for moving them on.’
    He looked at her through narrowed eyes. ‘Or would you rather not?’
    ‘Quite frankly, sir, I’m not sure. To be honest, I’m a bit apprehensive; they’re a persuasive lot, and the last thing you want is a WDI ranting and raving about the end of the world.’
    ‘You think you might be susceptible?’
    ‘Not in the normal way, but if they’re using subliminal means, they could convince anyone.’ She met his eyes. ‘Yes, you’re right. Put like that, the threat’s