Thompson’s Lost Plimsole

Part 48

The Chase

Donald Dray set the car in motion and pulled onto the main street. As soon as the car appeared, the three police cars set off and followed behind. The fog was still thick, and Donald couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of him. Jackie Fanshaw was sure that they were being followed, so Donald took a right turn off the main street. The car directly behind them turned as well.  Derek took a gun from his pocket and wound down his window. “Take a left and then pull up”, Derek said to his brother. As soon as the car stopped, Derek got out. The car following them turned left and quickly pulled up on seeing the Dray’s car blocking the road. Derek took aim at the police car and fired twice into the windscreen. He jumped back into the car which then sped away. Now the chase was really on. No one was hurt in the police car, but the windscreen was gone. Regardless of the fog and what might lie before them, Donald pressed his foot hard on the accelerator. The three police cars kept up with the Drays and several shots were fired from the police car directly behind the fugitives. Jackie Fanshaw used his gun to smash the back window of the Dray’s car and fired directly at the car behind. The second police car overtook the first and rammed the side of the Drays. The passenger in the second police car attempted to shoot the tyres on the Dray’s car but Donald turned his steering wheel and side swiped the police car. All four cars would soon be on the outskirts of town and heading towards the open countryside. “Take the old back road”, Derek shouted. “There’s a turn off into the woods, we can lose them in there”. Donald spun the steering wheel again, causing the police car to spin off the road and into a wall. Donald sped away into the fog. Billy looked up from under the blanket. “Would it be alright if I got out here”, he said, “I don’t mind walking home”. Jackie pointed his gun at Billy’s head, “Shut it, or I’ll blow your brains out!”. “Look out for a gap in the stone walling,” Derek advised his brother. “It can’t be much further along here”. It really was a struggle to see anything clearly in this fog but the headlights on the car illuminated just enough for Donald to see the entrance to the woods. He drove through the gap in the wall and put his foot down. The ground under the car was rutted and made it feel as if they were driving over a ploughed field. The two remaining police cars pulled up at the gap in the walling. One of the officers got out of his car and stepped through the gap. “They’re driving across a field”, he shouted back. “Hang on, there’s something here”. The officer bent down and retrieved part of a broken wooden direction sign. This was where the two lorries had collided earlier in the day, taking out part of the drystone wall. The officer quickly jumped back into his car. “They are heading towards the old Greetwell Quarry, if we take the next right, we can head them off”.  Donald was unsure where they were now, it certainly wasn’t the woods, but they had to keep going.  The two police cars raced along the back road but were now riding parallel to the Drays. It was the rough field that was slowing the twins down. Within a few minutes the police cars were pulling off the road and on to the track that led to the old quarry. Donald also found the same track and he was still in front of the police. Jackie had reloaded his gun and was continuing to fire through the back window. Billy threw off the blanket and kicked hard at Jackie’s body. Jackie was taken by surprise, he turned to face Billy and pointed the gun directly at his face. “I warned you” he snarled. Billy looked up at Jackie. “It’s not my turn to die today”, he said, “I’ve got too much living to catch up on”. With that, he kicked Jackie’s arm causing the gun to fire. The bullet ripped through Derek’s neck. Billy kicked out again and the heel of his shoe caught Jackie square in the face pushing his head against the side window and knocking Jackie unconscious.  The blood was streaming from Derek’s neck. “Shoot him, bloody well shoot him!” Donald shouted. Derek raised his gun, but he slumped forward. Donald used his left hand to grab hold of his brother in order to pull him back up. The light from the police car headlamps illuminated the ruby ring on Donald’s hand. Even in this foggy gloom it seemed to glow. One of the tyres on Donald’s car hit a rut in the track and caused Derek’s arm to flail around. His gun fired before it fell from his hand, the bullet entered Donald’s chest. The car travelled on for another fifty yards before plunging into the old quarry. The driver of the car directly behind saw the Dray’s car disappear and with only a few feet to spare, he slammed his breaks on. All of the officers alighted from the cars and stood on the edge of the quarry looking down. It was difficult to see properly but it was a long way down, no one could have survived that crash.  “Quiet”, shouted one of the officers. “I can hear someone groaning, over there”. The officers fanned out to try and locate where the sound was coming from. In a moment, one of the officers shouted out, “He’s here”. A couple of the officers shone their torches on the body which was lying face down. “Roll him over, let’s have a look at him”. Two of the officers rolled the body over, it was Billy Nutmeg, he was badly bruised, but he was alive.

Over the next few days, the clean-up operation took place. The bodies of the twins and Jackie Fanshaw were recovered and what was left of the car was cleared away. One of the men clearing the site noticed something glinting amongst the broken stones lining the quarry base. It was a ring, a gold ring inset with a large red ruby. The workman looked around to see if anyone had noticed him picking it up. He rubbed the dust off the ring, tried it on for size, took it off and put it away in his shirt pocket. The ring felt warm against his chest.

Still badly bruised, but with all charges against him dropped, Billy found himself once again, on the doorstep of Madame Deville’s house, and once again the door opened without him knocking. “Come in, John”, Madame Deville called from her drawing room. Billy walked into the room and on seeing him, Prometheus walked over and rubbed around Billy’s legs. Billy bent down and stroked the cat, Prometheus purred contentedly. “And what can I do for you today?” Madame Deville asked.

Billy stood for a moment, composed himself and replied. “I’d like to speak to my wife”…    

Advertisement