O ne f o g gy ni ght

“He should have been back by eleven thirty,” said the voice on the phone. “I’m
so worried. It’s the first time he’s been out with the car at night .”
“And how old did you say your son is?” asked Sergeant Parker.
“Seventeen, officer. He only passed his test a week ago. And Melanie’s only 15
.”
“Well Mrs. Hoskins, I can only say that I haven’t had any reports of incidents
involving a blue Fiesta; but I’ll put out a message. Just make sure you call us back
immediately if ‘e comes home. We can’t afford to waste police time, can we ?”
“No, officer, of course not. But you’ll let us know at once if you find them, won’t
you ?”
“Yes Ma’am, we will.”
Parker looked at the clock on the wall. It was just after two. “Constable
Shepton!”
“Sir ?”
“Put out a message to all cars. Look out for a dark blue Fiesta, registration
number J47 HPK. Driver’s a young lad of 17 called Paul Hoskins - just passed his
test. His mum expected him home before midnight. Hasn’t shown up .”
“Any idea where he is ?”
“Went out for the evening with his girlfriend. She’s not home either .”
“What’s the problem then, Sarge?” asked Shepton. “Probably out clubbing! If
we had to look for every youngster who stayed out late... .”
“Yes, I know. But ‘is mum says he’d promised to be back home by midnight. “
“Yes, but... .”
“Seems like he’s a sensible lad, who does just what he’s told..... And the lass is
only 15 .”
 “Blue Fiesta!” said Constable Wells. “It’d be a bit easier if it were a yellow Ferrari.
How are you meant to recognise anything in this?”
A heavy sea fog was rolling in off the Channel, bringing visibility down to less
than thirty yards.
Constable Bradstock got back into the car. “Well there isn’t anything going on
round here. Place is deserted.”
At that moment, two lights surged out of the mist, and drove past at high speed.
“Bloody idiot,” said Wells. “Shall we go after ‘im ?”
“What? In this fog? What’s the point? Let’s just get on with the round.”
Bradstock started the engine, and the patrol car moved slowly forward into the
blanket of dark white mist.
“Brad! That was an Fiesta, wasn’t it?”, asked Wells, all of a sudden.
“Where ?”
“The car that just went by .”
“Might have been. I hardly saw it .”
“What colour was it ?”
“Don’t ask me! I can’t tell colours under orange streetlamps at the best of
times; can you? Let alone in this fog .”
“Let’s follow it.. .”
“It could be anywhere by now, couldn’t it!” But Wells was already talking into
the radio.
“Car PB to base. Suspicious vehicle speeding west along Esplanade, near east
Pavillion. Could be the missing Fiesta. We’re following it, but slowly due to fog.
Over.”
The mist was patchy; then suddenly, as they drove in front of the Imperial
Hotel, it lifted, and a long line of lights stretched out ahead of them, picking out
the gentle curve of the Esplanade round as far as the harbour. There was no
traffic, just cars standing empty at the roadside. Apart from the streetlamps, the
only other lights to be seen were in the distance at the harbourside, where a
group of cars seemed to be parked at the water’s edge.
Bradstock switched on the blue flashing light, and Wells accelerated. As they
approached the group of cars, two of them drove off up a street towards the
town centre. The third stayed where it was. “It’s an Fiesta,” said Bradstock. “Dark
blue. P’raps it’s the one we’re meant to be looking out for..... .”
“Pull up behind it,” said Wells. Although its headlights were on, the stationary
vehicle looked empty. Brad jumped out.
A moment later, he was back. “You’d better call up the station. Engine’s running,
but no one in it. Just this on the back seat.” He held up a wad of £50 notes.
“Whoever was in it left a couple of grand behind. Must have seen us coming
and bunked off in a hurry!”.
"Doesn’t sound like a 17-year old kid, does it?” said Wells.
“You never know these days, do you?” Brad replied.

WORDS
afford to: allow ourselves to - constable: policeman -
lad: boy, man - show up : appear - lass: girl - deserted: empty - mist: fog -
round: circuit - patrol car: police car - let alone: and certainly not - over : end of
message - patchy: irregular - pick out: define, show - harbour: port -
p'raps : perhaps - stationary: not moving - wad: group, packet - a grand: £1000 -
bunk off: go away -