Jasper Fforde Nursery Crime 2 The Fourth Bear

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You could say that. Briggs wants us both at the Bob Southeyimmediately.
Bartholomew s holed up inside, and the bears won t give him up.
34. Return to the Bob Southey
Most secret arm of Britain s Secret Service:It is said that NS-4 is the least
transparent or accountable of all Britain s secret services, but this isn t
known, as there are no figures to back it up. The director-general is possibly
someone high up, who may or may not run the disputed department from
somewhere in the country. The organization s function (if it has one) is
unknown, and success on past missions is open to dispute. Funding is likely to
come from government, but this is not known for sure, and the scope of its
work involves several things that remain conjecture at this time.
The Bumper Book of Berkshire Records, 2004 edition
It took them almosthalf an hour to get to the Bob Southey, and by then the
building was surrounded by police officers, cars, vans and marksmen. At the
head of all this razzmatazz and next to the mobile control post was Briggs. He
glared at Jack and Mary as they approached.
You re here because they asked for you. Don t ask me why, but they did you,
too, Mary.
Who s they ?
We don t know. Tip-off from someone inside the Bob Southey. They said they
would surrender Bartholomew at seven o clock, and they wanted NCD personnel to
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be on hand. But the Bob Southey residents committee denied they had called us
and are asking for forty kilos of porridge and a dozen jars of honey as a
goodwill gesture.
Jack looked at his watch. It was a quarter to seven. I have experience with
bears, he said. Do you want me to speak to them?
Not yet, growled Briggs, who was clearly not too happy about Agatha s
behavior the previous night, but hang around out of my sight. Mr. Demetrios
of NS-4 turned up, and he s threatening to take the whole shebang out of our
hands.
Is he here? asked Jack, looking around.
No, he and Danvers had to speak to someone at QuangTech on another matter.
Hmm, said Jack, I d expect them to be here.
I m very glad they re not, said Briggs grumpily, and he went back into the
mobile control room. Jack sighed and walked past the police cars, army
personnel and onlookers toward Mary. As he did so, his phone rang. It was
Vinnie Craps.
What s happening, Spratt? he asked.
You tell me, Vinnie. Where are you?
Look up.
Jack did as he was bid, and high up on the building, looking out of a window,
was a well-dressed figure in a tweed suit. He waved a paw.
There was a fourth bear in the house the morning of Goldilocks s death,
Jack told him. Any ideas?
Nope, came the reply after a short pause. There s not a single bear in
Reading that would knowingly harm a hair on her head. All that work she did on
the right to arm bears and the illegal bile tappers. Goldilocks was a bear
icon.
I see. Have you got Bartholomew with you?
Yes.
Put him on.
What s going on, Jack? asked Sherman in a worried tone.
You said twelve hours and you d have found out who killed Goldy I trusted
you about my life being in danger, and now I ve made things ten times worse
for myself!
It s taking longer than I thought, replied Jack. Trust me. What s the deal
over this surrender?
Jack heard an audible sigh at the other end of the phone.
I don t know anything about it. If there was an offer of surrender it didn t
come from anyone in here. Bears are trustworthy and honest, and I have Friend
to Bears status. They d all fight to the death to protect me. But that won t
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happen. I ll give myself up before a single bear is harmed.
Keep that to yourself for the moment, sir. Are you sure there s no one there
who would give you up?
Positive.
You could be mistaken. There was afourth bear at the Bruins house that
morning. A bear not like other bears. A bear who is willing to kill his own
kind, if necessary. Keep your eyes and ears open. I ll call you as soon as I
have any information.
He put the phone back in his pocket and threaded his way toward where Mary
was waiting for him. She had been joined by Ashley, who was showing her some
photographs of hideously crushed vehicles.
Jack, we ve traced all the previous owners of Dorian Gray s car sales
Mary, I hardly think that s important right now. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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