Story Description, Book 2: The Judgement of a Child

The story is set primarily in Dorset, England, from April to August 1984.

Excerpt:
" 'Hey now, ' said Stephen, reaching across and squeezing her hand. 'Your dad's going to be all right, I'm sure. He's a toughie, isn't he? Do you remember the last time we had something like this?' Stephen was remembering Harri's abduction and Roy's heroic act of rescue.
'Yes, but you got hurt then, ' said Harri. 'And now it's my Dad!' Out of the mouths of babes, thought Stephen.
Stephen wondered what he could say. 'Your dad will be fine, Harri. It will take time, but he'll be okay eventually and then we'll all settle down to the quiet village life, just you wait and see.'
'But you were right about one thing, ' he decided to tell her. 'Your observations were bang on, even though none of us thought it could be true. It's not easy for adults to trust the judgement of a child, especially one as young as yourself. We see ourselves as teachers, and nurturers, and can't always accept a child's opinion on something. But you were right. Your teacher, Mr Cartwright, was killed. and probably by the tramp you saw, who was almost certainly the bad man who kidnapped you. We all thought he was behind bars in prison, but I've found out since that he was released last year and sent to his home in Russia. It would seem that he has returned. I just hope it isn't the same man that did this to your dad!'
He left out his thoughts about the cause of Jessica's poisoning and nearly his own. "

Lieutenant Stephen Lodge RN had been away for ten months on a fishery protection vessel patrolling the North Atlantic, so he did not know that the KGB agent, Nikolai Volkov, had been released from custody and sent back to Russia.

On his return to Ashfield, Stephen is told by Harri Jasper that a tramp she has seen around the village is Volkov, but no one will believe her. When one of Harri's schoolteachers is found murdered, Stephen is persuaded that her "tramp" could be responsible but has to return to his new posting as an instructor at HMS Vernon in Portsmouth.

An unrecognised Nikolai Volkov attempts to murder Stephen and his girlfriend, Jessica, in Portsmouth with Ricin disguised as sweets but only Jessica is affected when she eats one on the train going home. Although seriously ill, she manages to raise the alarm and is rescued by Sir Geoffrey Cheeseman in time to get her into the University College Hospital, London. Johnny "Jack" Johnston, Volkov's landlord while in Portsmouth, is not so lucky.

While Jessica recovers, another murder attempt is made, this time on Harri's father Roy who had helped to capture Volkov two years before. Thus begins a cat-and-mouse chase for Stephen Lodge and Nikolai Volkov through the countryside and villages of Dorset, England.