The Suicide Exhibition: The Never War (Never War 1) by Justin Richards Page A

into town.’
    ‘Soon as these people have spoken to you, you can go. But please wait for them. I don’t need any more grief than I’m getting already. You all right for petrol?’
    ‘Should be all right for getting to London.’
    ‘Yes.’ Gower stood up. ‘Well, make sure you’ve got enough to get back again.’
    The man was in army uniform – a sergeant. He was broad-shouldered with close-cropped hair and a flattened nose. The woman looked more like a secretary, in her navy skirt, white blouse and dark jacket. Her dark hair was gathered up and she wore horn-rimmed spectacles. All of which made her look older than Sarah Diamond suspected she really was.
    The man introduced himself as Sergeant Green. The woman said nothing and sat slightly apart with a notepad and pencil as Green spoke to Sarah.
    ‘I didn’t catch your name,’ Sarah said pointedly.
    ‘Miss Manners is here to observe and take notes,’ Green explained.
    Miss Manners glanced over the top of her glasses before returning her attention to whatever she had written.
    ‘You’re American,’ Green said.
    It wasn’t a question, but Sarah had no hesitation in denying it. ‘No, I have a British passport.’
    ‘You
sound
American.’
    ‘You
look
like a boxer.’ She let that hang for a moment before explaining. ‘All right, so my mother is American. Her father was at the US embassy for a while, and she came over with him. Met my dad, and they got married. Moved back over to New York when I was four years old.’
    Green nodded, and Miss Manners made a short note.
    ‘I don’t believe you came here to quiz me about my ancestry,’ Sarah told them.
    ‘Where did you learn to fly?’
    ‘Dad had a freight business. Couldn’t keep me away from the planes. Eventually he gave in and taught me. Mother was furious. It’s not very ladylike to fly planes.’
    ‘So you flew for the company?’
    ‘No, I ran away and joined a flying circus.’
    She could tell he thought she was joking. But it was the truth.
    ‘What did you see today?’
    They both leaned forward as he asked – this was why they were here, as if she hadn’t guessed.
    ‘Well, you tell me,’ Sarah said.
    He smiled thinly. ‘I’m afraid I can’t do that. But it would be useful to know what exactly you saw.’
    Sarah took her time. She lit a cigarette and blew out a long stream of smoke.
    ‘An aircraft,’ she said at last. ‘Dark, no markings that I saw.’
    ‘Shape?’ Green prompted.
    ‘Strange. It didn’t have wings, well not to speak of. More of a disk, or a foreshortened fuselage. I only caught glimpses.’ The cigarette wasn’t doing anything for her, and she leaned forward to stub it out. ‘It moved at a hell of a lick, though, I’ll tell you that. Experimental, is it?’
    The sergeant’s eyes narrowed – obviously it was. They didn’t want word getting out. Well, that made sense.
    ‘Are you married?’ Green asked.
    She laughed. ‘Why, Sergeant Green, we only just met. I don’t even know your first name.’
    He blushed and looked down.
    ‘It’s a serious question.’ Miss Manners’ voice was as prim and precise as her bearing.
    ‘I believe it always is.’
    The woman’s eyes were hard as flint behind the lenses. ‘He is asking so we know whether or not you are likely to confidein your husband when we tell you that you cannot speak of what you have seen.’
    ‘I don’t talk about my work,’ Sarah assured her.
    ‘You don’t talk about today either,’ Green said. ‘Not to your colleagues. Not to Miss Gower. Not to anyone. Not ever.’
    ‘Even my husband?’
    ‘You’re not married,’ Miss Manners said.
    ‘How do you know?’ Sarah snapped. How dare this secretary make assumptions about her personal life.
    But the woman seemed unperturbed by Sarah’s angry tone. ‘I can tell.’ She closed the notepad and tucked it together with the pencil into her shoulder bag as she stood up. ‘This interview is over.’
    Green tried to gloss over it. He assured Sarah