Chapter 50
Father Matthew Mackie always likes to chat to taxi drivers. These days they are often Muslim, even in Kent, and their kinship makes him feel very comfortable. They also react well to the dog collar. But today he has been silent.
He is relieved to see that the gate up to the garden is still locked and guarded, and that the diggers are idling on their trailer.
He had left a phone number on the notice board outside the chapel for just this eventuality, and that was the number Maureen Gadd had phoned this morning, promising also that she would “alert the troops.”
Mackie took those “troops” to be the three women in black standing stock-still by the gate.
In front of them are a woman and two men in chairs, who didn’t seem quite the type.
In fact, now he looks closer, he is sure that one is the gentleman with the opinions from the public meeting.
And the man in the middle—is he the man from the bench the other morning?
Well, whoever they are, and whatever their motive, all are welcome in this particular flock.
To the side of the gate is a crowd of about fifty residents, sitting, watching, and waiting for a show.
Fine, he will give them a show. He supposes this might be his last and only chance.
Stepping out of the taxi and giving the driver a large tip, Father Mackie sees Ventham is in a Ford Focus, talking to two police officers.
One of them is a large man looking too hot in a jacket; the other, a young black woman in uniform.
No sign of Bogdan, not even in the cab of the trailer. He will be somewhere nearby, surely?
Mackie wanders over to the gate; Ventham has yet to spot him.
He takes a moment to speak to and bless the three guards.
One of them, the mysterious Maureen Gadd, asks if there is the chance of a cup of tea, and Mackie says he will see what he can do.
Before heading over to confront Ventham, he stops to introduce himself to the seated figures.