COLONEL JAMES R. Coburn, DSO stood before the open window of his office looking out at the white blanket of snow that covered the countryside from the South Downs to the Yorkshire Dales and beyond. England in the winter was a grim prospect for some but Colonel Coburn loved it. Too many tours in hot climes had given him a taste for the harsher weather of his country of birth, Scotland, and the Highlands where he had roamed as a laddie.
His tanned features belied his propensity for the cold. The poor substitute that the English countryside provided outside his window made him yearn for the heather in the glens of his beloved land and the warmth of his bonny Sarah. But then he knew it was not to be, for those days in Scotland were far behind him, and Sarah had been dead for more than twenty years. What had the doctors called it, an 'embolism'. One minute she was buried in a book about gardening, she loved the open air so, and the next she was being buried, or so it seemed. Afterward, the Colonel, or Captain as he had been then, had volunteered for every dangerous or dirty mission available in an effort to end his misery but others died instead, and he was the one that ended up with the medals.
“You wanted to see me, Colonel?” the voice behind him inquired and he bid a farewell to Sarah. Turning he found that it was Captain Anthony Wright.
“I knocked but ..”
“Come in, Tony. Come in! Take a seat” he said to the subordinate. The Captain was of average height with a bland face.
As the Captain sat down, the colonel continued, “Peter Sartori has surfaced at long last!”
“Really! Where?”
“Well, when I say he's surfaced, his body has! In Manila together with those of the Wong Brothers out of Hong Kong!”
Tony made the connection, “Lechaim Lewis!”
“Exactly!”
“But Lechaim wasn't aware that we had Peter Sartori pegged for the attack on the abbey that night, or at least, for organizing it! How could he know?”
“Precisely!”
“The plot thickens!” Tony replied rubbing his hands.
“It does indeed!” the Colonel responded. He then paused for a while, and added, “You know, Tony, the attack on the Abbey still doesn't make any sense! What was the motive for doing so? It doesn't seem to be a political gesture so why did it happen?" Again, it was a rhetorical question because neither man had a clue as to the 'Why' of it.
Tony Wright then asked, “And Lechaim? Is he still in Manila?”
“No, he's back in England and that's where you come in!”
“How so, Colonel?” Tony asked as he rubbed his arms again to appease the goose bumps that were appearing.
“Are you cold, my boy?” the colonel grinned, then he relented. “Okay then, close the window! God, what breed of men are we recruiting these days?”
When Tony returned after closing the window, he got his dig in. “It's all right for you, Colonel, you being a Scot, but we Sassenachs need some sun on our back!”
“You do, you mean!” the colonel retorted with a chuckle. “Anyway, Tony, I have a little assignment for you!”
Aye, aye, here it comes, the captain thought. What is it this time?
“You and Lechaim were pretty pally, as I remember when he served with us for a spell?”
“That's right! Lechaim and I go way back!”
“Good! Well I want you to get down to Brighton and keep your eye on him. I presume you can still remember where his mother lives?”
The captain smiled. “I think so, Colonel!” How could he forget? He had spent many a happy evening at Lechaim's mother’s house. However, he and Lechaim had not met up for two years now. Tony had been on a recent tour of operations in the Far East and Lechaim had been in Ireland and then abroad.
“Just one more thing, Lechaim's been keeping bad company, I'm afraid!”
“Lechaim? Hardly, Sir!”
“You know this woman?” the Colonel asked as he passed the photograph across his desk.
Tony Wright examined it for a few seconds. He wrinkled his brow and then exclaimed, “Samantha Jessep!”
“I see that memory of yours is not failing you!”
“But she works, or did work with Peter Sartori, as I remember?”
“She also worked under and over him as well by all accounts!” They both smiled at the Colonel’s jibe.
“But, surely Lechaim doesn't know this! About her, I mean, being Peter Sartori's sidekick!”
“What's this? Are you turning into an American on us? Sidekick indeed! No, of course, Lechaim doesn't know about her, and I'll lay you odds she hasn't told him either.” Again both men smiled.
“You want me to tell him, is that it, Colonel?”
“No! better not! He's our bait, I'm afraid! I have a hunch that she'll be paying him a visit shortly!”
“Bit rough, Sir!”
“Life is rough, Tony! Life is rough, and it's going to get rougher as far as Lechaim is concerned.”
“How do you mean, Colonel?”
Colonel Coburn rubbed his chin as he replied, “Samantha Jessep is now known to have been in the West of Ireland with Peter Sartori at the same time that Lechaim Lewis was on honeymoon with his wife."
“What!” Tony Wright exclaimed. “You mean!”
“Let's not jump to conclusions yet, Tony, but let's say I'm not a great believer in coincidences!”