Colin reviewed what he had gathered and thought it was enough to convince people that Sir Godfrey had only intended to be spending one night in the great outdoors and was expecting to be home by the following evening. It all fitted with his usual itinerary that saw him scuttling back to London on the train on Monday in time for his first board meeting on Tuesday.
As he passed the bathroom on his way to add his haul to the contents of his rucksack he put his head around the door; perfect, Penrose had brought a wash bag down from London for his face flannel, soap, tooth brush, tooth paste, razor and shaving gel. Just a couple more things to find and everything was set!
Colin located the drinks cabinet and selected a bottle of ten year old malt. The fridge had a two litre container of milk that was virtually empty; so he emptied the last few dregs and washed it out. He filled it with cold water from the tap. All he had to do now was load everything into the Range Rover and they could get going.
He turned off all the downstairs lights. His first job was to transfer the rucksack, the equipment and the holdall into the Range Rover. The holdall now held additional odds and ends like the bottled water, the whisky and the wash bag to reduce the amount he needed to carry. There was no sign of any activity anywhere within a few hundred yards either side of the cottage. The coast was clear!
Colin went upstairs and released Sir Godfrey and led him downstairs. With a quick check before he stepped out of the doorway, he pushed the old man into the cold night air. Once he was tethered to the headrest again Colin returned indoors. He tidied the bedclothes upstairs, switched off all the lights, and turned off the CD player after returning the CD to its case and replacing it on the pile where he had found it.
He shut the door behind him; neither man was going to be back this way so he double checked it was securely locked out of habit. In darkness, Colin drove away from the cottage. When he was well clear he switched on his headlights and made towards Tor Royal Lane. He turned off the lane onto one of the many unnamed roads on the moors and after about fifteen minutes he was alongside Crazy Well Pool. He left Sir Godfrey in the Range Rover and carried all the equipment into the field. It was about a two minute walk.
Colin got the lamp going and then set about erecting the tent and stacking all the provisions at the rear, covering the lot with the groundsheet. He got the whisky bottle out of the holdall and put it on the ground by the tent flap, placing the trash bag underneath it ready for later. It was time to invite Sir Godfrey to join him!
The old man stumbled and almost fell several times as he was dragged across the rough ground. He was whimpering; with no idea what was in store for him. Colin thought that this was just what his victims had felt over the years and now it was his turn. Colin shivered; not in reaction to his thoughts but because the temperature was dropping fast.
Colin removed the handcuffs and put them in his pocket for the time being. He ordered Sir Godfrey to remove his clothing. When the old man shook his head and mumbled something behind the duct tape Colin thumped him hard in his flabby stomach; the old man crumpled and collapsed to his knees, all the wind taken out of him.
“Do it!” said Colin “you’re going for a swim.”
He watched the old man closely as he started to undress. In the rucksack Colin had stashed a coiled length of rope and a flashlight at the very top. He removed these two items and when the old man was naked he tied the rope securely around both his wrists. With the flashlight clipped onto his jacket leaving his hands free, Colin led Sir Godfrey across the grass to Crazy Well Pool and pushed him in. Then he walked along the side of the pool dragging the old man through the water. With his arms tied and stretched out in front of him it was virtually impossible for his captive to do anything about his predicament. He was dragged through the freezing cold water for what must have felt like hours, but was only several minutes.
Colin knew what was happening to Penrose. His physical condition was poor; his skin was blue and puffy before he went into the water. He was currently displaying symptoms of cold shock, breathing rapidly through the nose, inhaling water every time his head went under the surface. His blood pressure was increasing massively and the strain on his heart would finish him off eventually. It was time for the next stage of the plan.
Colin turned around and started back towards where the tent was pitched. Sir Godfrey floundered in the shallow waters at the edge and struggled to get to his feet. He had to crawl across the grass behind Colin; his legs just wouldn’t work. His body was shutting down. Colin unscrewed the top of the whisky bottle.
“Fancy a swig?” asked Colin.
The old man was in a heap about two yards in front of him. He wasn’t going anywhere. He was trembling violently. Colin gathered up the old man’s clothes and stuffed them into the trash bag. He put the bag under the ground sheet with the rest of the things at the back of the tent. He dragged Sir Godfrey into the tent; it was a tight squeeze for a one man tent, but Colin wasn’t planning on staying the night. He went back for the whisky bottle and after ripping the duct tape from his captive’s face he started pouring the contents down his throat, past his chattering teeth. Time and again Sir Godfrey gagged and each time Colin waited patiently until he could continue pouring. When the bottle was empty he laid it on the ground by Penrose. He removed the rope and leaving the tent flap open to the elements he backed out of the tent and started to gather his things together.
He looked into the tent. Sir Godfrey was no longer shivering. His core temperature was dropping fast. The shock of the cold water, the alcohol and the prospect of spending a night in the countryside naked was all adding up to one thing; Penelope Penrose was going to have her weekends in Stowmarket all to herself from now on.
Colin waited until midnight; inside the tent, nothing stirred. He left the lamp on; it might survive until tomorrow, no matter if it didn’t. The Range Rover was parked up by the side of the road and locked up nice and secure. The keys were now in Sir Godfrey’s jacket pocket along with the rest of his clothes in the trash bag. Colin lifted his rucksack onto his back and set off across country towards Shaugh Prior. Eight miles at night, pretty much due south, Colin thought he might get his own tent pitched and his head down for a couple of hours. There was no chance of a lie-in! He had to make that return leg from Shaugh Prior to Plymouth early in the morning. No rest for the wicked!
It was noon and Colin was travelling back to Bath Spa, looking forward to a hot shower, a decent meal and a few hours ‘catch up’ sleep this afternoon. He skimmed through the newspaper he had bought on the platform while he was waiting for his train. There was a lot of coverage of potential strikes by terrorists on mainland UK; all airports and government buildings were taking extra security precautions. Across the pond Wall Street was about to be occupied by people protesting about the financial crisis. Colin knew there wouldn’t be anything in there yet about Sir Godfrey Penrose. It was far too early.
Colin had trudged on through the night, eventually finding his way to Shaugh Prior. His timing wasn’t far off; he was settled down for his short kip well before four o’clock. He was awake by seven and packed everything away as quickly as he could. It was cold and his fingers were slower to respond to what he asked of them than normal. He got himself warm soon enough as he walked and jogged his way back towards Plymouth. He got to the station not long after half past ten and fifteen minutes later he was stowing his rucksack and finding a seat on a train that would have him back in the Roman city by two o’clock at the latest.