BIGGLES FLIES TO WORK

Some unusual cases of Biggles and his Air Police

by Captain W. E. Johns

7. DANGEROUS FREIGHT (Pages 111 – 125)

This story was originally published in the BOY’S OWN PAPER – Volume 84, Issue 9 in June 1962 by BPC Publishing Ltd and ran from page 20 to page 22, concluding on page 70 in that magazine. There are significant omissions in the original version, as mentioned in the summary below, when compared to the fuller version in Biggles Flies to Work. No doubt this is due to significant editing of Johns original story at the BOY’S OWN PAPER.

“I see Sammy Marsden has gone where the good pilots go. Bad luck”. Biggles, with the morning paper spread on his desk in the Air Police Operations Room, spoke without looking up. “I don’t think you knew him. I met him first in the war, when he commanded a bomber squadron. Recently he became chief pilot to General Air Transportation, a private concern based on Gatwick”. “What happened?” Ginger asked the question. “No details yet. The story is only in the stop press. Apparently the machine crashed in the South of France in the early hours of this morning”. Biggles adds that “Sammy’s crew, second pilot and radio operator, went West him”. (The phrase “went West” means to die, but it can also mean to get lost, fail or be destroyed. The phrase's connection to the west likely stems from ancient associations with the setting sun, symbolizing the end of the day and, figuratively, the end of life. The idea is that the sun "goes west" at sunset, just as life "goes west" when it ends. The phrase has been recorded in English since at least the early 14th century). Ginger, looking over Biggles’ shoulder, sees that the cargo that they were carrying was forty thousand pounds’ (there is no apostrophe after pounds in the original version but there is in the book) worth of gold. The following section is then considerably truncated in the original version. The book version reads as follows. Ginger asks “Did you know the company handled gold?” “No. When I saw Sammy in the Aero Club a few weeks back he told me they were doing quite nicely with general merchandise. This is their third crash in six months, to say nothing of a machine presumed to have gone down in the Mediterranean. If it goes on they’ll be out of business”. “What machines do they use?” “Dakotas”. “War-time stuff. They must be getting a bit wing-weary”. “They must still be serviceable or they’d be grounded. Don’t forget the Dakota was one of the best general-purpose jobs mass-produced in the war. It was the dogs-body for everybody and usually got through. Slow by modern standards, but robust, and that’s what counts in heavy haulage”. “Did you know this company was carrying gold?” (Strange that Ginger should ask that question again as he has just asked – “Did you know the company handled gold?” -an almost identical question a few lines earlier). “No. Why should I? For security reasons they wouldn’t shout about it”. “Who runs this outfit?” “A chap called Norman Bales. I knew him years ago. He still wears the old R.F.C. tie”. (In the original version, this was cut down to “This is their third crash in six months, to say nothing of a machine presumed to have come down in the Mediterranean. If it goes on they’ll be out of business”. Who runs this outfit? A chap named Norman Bales …..”). Biggles gets Ginger to put a call through to Bales. Biggles then takes the call and finds himself speaking to Bales’ partner, Langdon. “Bales has flown down to the scene of the crash in his private Auster. The Dakota hit the ground in the Camargue about ten miles south of Arles. It was dead on course at the time. From the wreckage it must have flown straight into the ground”. Biggles says that is very extraordinary. “Why should a pilot of Sammy’s experience scatter his aircraft all over the landscape in a place where a pupil on his first solo should be able to get down even in the dark? Had he hit one of the high peaks of the Cevennes (in the Boy’s Own Paper original this is changed to “Pyrenees” presumably because a boy was more likely to have heard of that than the Cevennes), farther north, it would have been understandable, if improbable”. Biggles says it will be interesting to know if the gold is all right as Langdon hadn’t heard. Biggles decides to fly down to the crash site and have a word with Bales on the spot. He says to Ginger “You can come if you like. Algy can take over here when he comes in”. Biggles tells Ginger to call Marcel Brissac in Paris on the private line and ask if “he’d notify airfields on our route to save possible questioning. That should give us a clear road”. “Okay. I’ll do that”. (The last two sentences after “possible questioning” do not appear in the original version). Biggles and Ginger fly to France and land at the crash site. Biggles gets out and ask “Is Mr. Bales here?” “I’m Bales,” said an elderly, well-dressed man. Biggles smiled. “You’ve put on a bit of weight since I last saw you”. (Rude!). “Remember me? Bigglesworth of 266. I’m now at Scotland Yard, Air Section”. (The words “Air Section” are omitted in the original version). Recognition dawned in Bales’ eyes. “I thought I knew your face”. They discuss the crash and Bales says the gold isn’t there. Biggles wants to know how many people knew about the shipment of gold. “Not more than was absolutely necessary” is the reply. Bales says the man who lives at the nearby farm found the crash, after hearing it. Having no phone, he saddled a horse and rode to Arles to tell the police. Biggles asks “This is your third crack-up in six months. Were they all in Southern France?” “No. One was in Morocco. The other was not far from here”. “What were these machines carrying?” “Gold. The machine we think went down in the Mediterranean was also carrying gold. “Did you lose the gold every time?” “No. The machine that crashed near here was burnt out. The gold melted and ran under one of the engines. We recovered most of it”. All crews have been killed; there has never been a survivor to tell what has happened. Bales explains that gold is picked up from “Accra, on the Gold Coast – or I should now say Ghana. It's shipped by a firm of agents there to the Bank of England”. Biggles asks if Bales has seen the bodies and were there any wounds or injuries not consistent with the crash found, such as gunshot wounds. Biggles says “It strikes me as remarkable that a man of Marsden’s experience could do this in flat, open country – if he was fully conscious. Engine trouble wouldn’t worry him”. Bales asks “Does this imply you suspect foul play?” Biggles did not answer the question. “I can think of only one alternative to structural failure. Marsden was not conscious, or not fully conscious, when he did this”. (The words “when he did this” were omitted in the original). “He had a second pilot, fully qualified, beside him. If Marsden was behaving strangely he’d notice it and take over” says Bales. “Provided he wasn’t in the same state as Marsden” adds Biggles. Biggles says “I’m simply trying to find a reason to account for what has happened”. Someone has taken the gold but Biggles says you can rule out the farmer as he couldn’t have known the gold was on board and he wouldn’t have been in such a hurry to fetch the police. Biggles goes on to say “But somebody knew there was gold in this aircraft; someone who knew the machine was going to crash; and moreover, had a pretty good idea of where it was most likely to occur”. Biggles says “There’s more to this than robbery. It begins to smell like murder – threefold”. He says that somebody has removed the gold and they had at least an hour because the farmer rode to Arles to fetch the police and he wouldn’t do that in less than half an hour. Biggles ask Bales if he would object to a request for an autopsy on the bodies as they may have been poisoned or drugged. Biggles goes to see the French Police Inspector and asks if he can have a word with the farmer, “whose name he learned was Vallon”. “The Inspector raised no objection, remarking that the man, a cattle breeder well-known in Arles, was above suspicion”. Vallon tells Biggles that he was up early to see if he could help Monsieur Laroux mend his motor car. “Who is Monsieur (every used of the word Monsieur is in italics in the original version, but not in the book) Laroux?” asks Biggles. “A tourist who comes to make pictures of our famous red flamingos. He arrived yesterday. His car had broken down and he asked me if he could stay until he had made the repairs”. Both Vallon and Laroux went to the crash, then Vallon rode to Arles for the police and Laroux stayed with the crash. When Vallon returned, Laroux was in the barn working on his car “as the men in the plane were dead there was nothing he could do for them”. Biggles asks where Laroux is now and he is told that he is still in the shed. “He says the accident is not his business. He thinks only of the flamingoes”. At this point Marcel Brissac of the Police Headquarters in Paris arrives in his Morane aircraft. When he gets out Biggles says “Bonjour, Marcel. You arrive at the perfect moment. This plane was carrying gold and it has disappeared. I may be able to tell you where to find it. Let us go to the Inspector from Arles. From what I say you will understand what I suspect”. To the Inspector Biggles said “Did you know that a stranger, a Monsieur Laroux, is staying at the farm?” “Mais no, monsieur. Vallon did not tell me that”. “He would attach not importance to it” says Biggles, adding “He says he came to take pictures of the flamingoes, although, as we know, they are many kilometres from here”. The Inspector says he will ask Laroux some questions. “You might also look to see what he has in his car,” suggested Biggles. “Gold is heavy stuff to carry away in the pockets”. “The Inspector beckoned two of his men and the party walked quickly to the farm. Laroux were there, in the barn, standing by his car. His face lost its colour and he moistened his lips when he saw the uniforms”. Laroux explains he has trouble with his engine as it will not go. Marcel gets in the driving seat and the car starts immediately. He turns off the engine and goes to the boot to find it locked. Marcel demands the key. Laroux makes a dash for the door but the two policemen grab him. The key was taken from his pocket and the boot opened. There, in its original boxes, was the gold. “It need only be said that Laroux, faced with the guillotine for being accessory in a murder plot, confessed everything, betraying the leaders of the gang with which he was associated. This revealed what Biggles had suspected. At their last meal in Accra the two pilots had been doped with a slow-working drug, the action of which would be fairly well judged. The scheme was to bring the aircraft down in the area where a man would be waiting. It had not always worked. In the case of the machine that had gone down in the sea the dose had been too strong. On the present occasion it had been judged more accurately. The instigators of the plot, who operated in Accra, were picked up in due course”.