"Dexter, Colin - Inspector Morse 11 - Morse's Greatest Mystery and Other Stories (b)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dexter Colin)

McLeery: "Be quick about it."

Silence.

At 10.51 a.m. Stephens was more than a little surprised to see a grey regulation blanket draped round Evans's shoulders, and he frowned slightly and looked at the examinee more closely. But Evans, the pen still between his teeth, was staring just as vacantly as before.

Blankly beneath a blanket .. . Should Stephens report the slight irregularity?

Anything at all fishy, hadn't Jackson said? Mm. He looked through the peep-hole once again, and even as he did so Evans pulled the dirty blanket more closely to himself. Was he planning a sudden batman leap to suffocate McLeery in the blanket? Don't be daft! There was never any sun on this side of the prison; no heating, either, during the summer months, and it could get quite chilly in some of the cells.

Mm. Stephens decided to revert to his earlier every-minute observation.

At 11.20 a.m. the receiver once more crackled across the silence of the Governor's office, and McLeery informed Evans that only five minutes remained. The examination was almost over now, but something still gnawed away quietly in the Governor's mind. He reached for the phone once more.

At 11.22 a.m. Jackson shouted along the corridor to Stephens. The Governor wanted to speak with him "Hurry, man!" Stephens picked up the phone apprehensively and listened to the rapidly spoken orders.

Stephens himself was to accompany McLeery to the main prison gates.

Understood? Stephens personally was to make absolutely sure that the door was locked on Evans after McLeery had left the cell.

Understood?

Understood.

At 11.25 a.m. the Governor heard the final exchanges.

McLeery: "Stop writing, please."

Silence. McLeery: "Put your sheets in order and see they're correctly numbered."

Silence.

Scraping of chairs and tables.

Evans: "Thank you very much, sir."

McLeery: "A' right, was it?"

Evans: "Not too bad."

McLeery: "Good .. . Mr. Stephens!" (Very loud) The Governor heard the door clang to for the last time.

The examination was over.

"How did he get on, do you think?" asked Stephens as he walked beside McLeery to the main gates.

"Och. I canna think he's distinguished hiss el I'm afraid."

His Scots accent seemed broader than ever, and his long black overcoat, reaching almost to his knees, fostered the illusion that he had suddenly grown slimmer.