Another form of Democracy

Shocked, Richard put his arms around Bill and cuddled him as one would a baby. Slowly, Bill regained his composure and wiped his sleeve across jis eyes, saying, 'I'm sorry about that, Sir, I don't know what came over me.' 'Old friend, no one should have to suffer like you are suffering. If it's the last thing I do, I'll get to the bottom of who has been ordering what in this enquiry. Come on, let's go and get a drink.' Before leaving, the two men stood in silence, each in his own way saying farewell to a brave colleague and friend. Finally, Bill stooped down and gently replaced the bloodied sheet over the badly mutilated body of Mohsin. Turning, they started to leave the ticket office and its grisly contents. One of the several people engaged in the tagging of the bodies, shone an electric torch to indicate a clear path along which to pass, as evening had started to close in. A brilliant flash of green caught Richard's eye, and, on turning his head, he saw it was an emerald ring on the finger of a sheet covered corpse, which had caught the light from the torch. He bent to cover the hand, but as his eyes fell on the ring, his blood seemed to turn to ice and, without a sound, he collapsed on the floor amongst the shroud covered bodies. Bill, who was walking behind Richard, stared down in horror then, without further ado, shouted for assistance. Several people came running across and, with their help, Bill assisted them to carry the unconscious Richard outside, where they laid him on the platform. An ambulance man ran across and after a few seconds of treatment, Richard regained consciousness. 'Thank God for that,' muttered Bill, much relieved when Richard showed signs of recovery, but thez next second it was he who was in shock, as Richard sat up and let out a blood curdling scream, followed by an anguished, 'No,no,no.' Before he could recover, Bill was further shocked as Richard reached up, grabbed hold of his jacket lapels and pulled himself to his feet. He pushed Bill to one side and stumbled off in the direction of the ticket hall doorway, and a rescue worker tried to block his passage. Richard savagely pushed him away as Bill caught up with him, saying, in what he hoped was a soothing voice, 'Calm down, Sir, it must have been the heat.' Richard turned and once again grabbed Bill's lapels. He pulled Bill close so that their faces were nearly touching and Bill saw that Richard looked deranged. In a strangled voice he said, 'The heat! No, no, that's my wife in there.' With that he pushed Bill away and entered the ticket hall, making for the shrouded corpse of the body with the emerald ring. Before others could intervene, Richard had pulled the sheet away from the body and was staring in wide eyed shock at the bloody mass that had once been his beautiful Susan. Bill, who be this time jad been joined by Victor Mayhew and several other officers stood behind Richard, powerless to help him in his grief. They could only stand looking at their friend and colleague, who was now on his knees before the mangled remains of his wife, with streams of tears coursing along his cheeks. Finally, Bill reached down and gently tugged at Richard's shoulders, urging him to stand up. Turning his stricken face to Bill and the others, he said, 'on a hoarse whisper, 'It's my wife, I would know her engagement ring anywhere.' Then his voice rose into a scream and he shouted, 'Where are my children? They were all together.'