The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2618 by Angharad Copyright© 2015 Angharad

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This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
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Charing Cross Hospital by Petr Broz (Wikipedia)

“So just exactly what did happen?” asked Henry, that little snitch, Trish, had dropped me in it again.

“I met up with the woman and her daughter, did the biz with the girl and we left.”

“That’s all is it?”

“More or less.”

“A little birdie tells me of suddenly collapsing Russian secret servicemen.”

“I suspect you’d need to speak to James about that, either that or my perfume was too strong for an enclosed space.”

“James is waiting in my office,” he fired back at me.

“So why are you asking me?”

“Because I’d like to hear your account of what happened.”

“At the museum?”

“I think we’ve done that, what about outside the hospital.”

“We went to see Sammi as you know, I had a new nightdress for her which the sister on the unit rather liked. While we were talking with Sammi, James got news that there was a hit squad on its way to kill her.”

“To kill Sammi?” he said sounding more than a little shocked.

“Yes, the source was a reliable one and the police were on their way when we spotted them outside the hospital—two men and woman.”

“How d’you know it was them—it could have been any group of people?”

“James recognised one from a picture sent to him by our informant. The man was an assassin. We suspect they recognised me.”

“You’re not exactly low-profile, Cathy, are you?”

“Whose fault is that?”

“I plead guilty, you’re a good looking woman with brains as well as beauty. I’m just so glad you allow us to use your image.”

“Sometimes I wonder why?”

“Because we help you fund good causes.”

“I suppose a million pounds a year does enable a few good things to be done.”

“If you ecologists came cheaper, we could do more.”

“These are professional scientists we’re talking about who earn peanuts compared to bankers and their bonuses. How often do you hear about six million pounds paid to an ecologist?”

“I know you don’t agree with banker’s bonuses but without them we’d not be able to recruit the best people.”

“Are they the best or the greediest?”

“They’re just highly motivated.”

“By greed.”

“What about the hospital encounter?”

“Oh that—one of them went to draw a firearm and James shot him, twice in the head.”

“This happened in front of Trish?”

“Unfortunately, but thankfully, she wasn’t looking that way when the bloke got shot. The woman decided to come at me waving this knife about to try and look menacing. Trish objected and flung her handbag at her, minus her phone which she then used to record what happened next.”

“I must see that.”

“The police have it.”

“Oh, so what did happen next?”

“Trish chucked her bag, the woman hesitated for a moment which gave me enough time to turn the tables on her. I grabbed her and disarmed her and we ended up trading a few blows.”

“Don’t tell me Trish filmed it?”

“All right, I won’t.”

“You won’t what?”

“Tell you that Trish filmed it.”

“I believe she also got a bit of James laying out the other guy.”

“But you took down the woman?”

“I suppose that would describe it. She went down and stayed there. She was far enough away from the knife, so we left it there. The police arrived and as they did Sammi sent me a text to say this guy was peering in through her door. I asked a copper to come with me and we caught the last of the gang waiting his chance to shoot Sammi with some sort of chemical gun containing insulin. It looked like an ordinary gun and as he drew it the copper thought he was drawing a conventional weapon and shot him dead on the spot.”

“Cathy, most people go to hospital to get better not worse.”

“I didn’t ask them to come out to play.”

“I don’t suppose you did, but you didn’t try to escape either, did you?”

“What and let them have a go at Sammi? Certainly not.”

“And you’re sure they were enemy agents?”

“They were Russian secret service operating outside their homeland so likely to be prosecuted as such.”

“They don’t seem to learn do they? I mean they’re supposed to be professionals and yet you killed two and captured the other two. How did you learn to do that?”

“Oh James had been teaching us a few new tricks—kicks, punches and throws which don’t require much strength so are suitable for women to do.”

“They obviously worked.”

“Uh—not quite, I just connected which of my hands and feet were closest to something that hurt. It certainly wasn’t practiced, but my elbow in her solar plexus stopped her for several minutes. She came round as the police arrived”

“How convenient.”

“Exactly what I thought. She accused me of attacking her, until Trish’s camera was shown with its film of the encounter.”

“How often has that happened now?”

“Three or four, but she carries it round to take pictures of any and everything.”

“She didn’t see the copper shoot the other guy in the hospital?”

“No, from what James said she was filming the size of the pool of blood from the one he shot.”

“A bit ghoulish.”

“More than a bit, Henry. If she continues in the same vein as a teenager, she could develop some very strange habits. It’s a little bit disturbing.”

“She does seem somewhat detached from these things.”

“I worry she’ll have nightmares but unless she feels directly threatened she doesn’t.”

“So a woman waving a knife about didn’t faze her?”

“She told me she had every confidence in me.”

“Nothing like blind faith.”

I was tempted to say it was neither blind nor faith as Trish doesnae believe in such things, but he might think I was taking the urine. I kept quiet.

“She’s very proud of her mum.”

“Not half as much as I was proud of her, not running about like a headless chicken like most kids would, but helping to distract the woman while I took her out of the fight.”

“Very mature of her.”

“She’s such a conundrum: she acts like a ten year old much of the time, then when required to step up to the plate, she delivers like a well rounded athlete.”

“Did the police get statements?”

“Yes at the hospital.”

“So that should be an end to one thing.”

“With Trish’s film, I hope so.”

“Me too, Cathy.”

“With the casualties they keep taking, you think they’d have picked up on the news to leave our bank alone by now.”

“Sometimes that just encourages them, I know the ambassador will be called into the Foreign Office to explain once again.”

“He’s the organiser.”

“Quite.”

“So what do we do about it?”

“Hope he gives up. The problem with Russians is their government tells such lies. They were the aggressors in Ukraine but they were told they were attacked by the EU and NATO. They keep saying the economy is becoming bankrupt because of sanctions against them. It forgets to say the sanctions are a direct result of their imperialist strategies and behaviour.”

“That seems to be the Russian way.”