The man who escaped (Episode 8)

synopsis : After Coke escaped from prison, he found a small house several miles away from the nearest village. The old lady in the house gave him food and clothes. She was deaf. A policeman came out to her house to tell her to look out for Coke.

The deaf old lady did not hear the knock, but Coke did. His heart began to pound wildly. Whoever it was obviously knew there was someone inside because there was a light on and smoke coming from the chimney. He had to decide what to do, and quickly.

"There's someone at the door", he said loudly, but the old lady did not understand.

"There's someone at the door", he said again, this time even more loudly than before. She went out of the room and Coke quickly stepped back into the shadows of the front room.

The old lady opened the front door. Coke could see her quite clearly, but nothing else. He listened carefully.

"Hello, Mrs Bentley. I'm from the village police station. The sergeant sent me. I've got something to tell you."

Then Coke saw the policeman very clearly. Coke looked around quickly.

There was a poker lying in the fireplace. He almost went to get it and then stopped.

"No!" he thought "That's too dangerous. They already think I'm a spy. Whatever I have to do I can do just as well with my fists." He stepped back and waited. The old lady and the policeman came through the door into the sitting-room. Coke was still behind the door, so the policeman could not see him.

"Good evening officer. Can I help you?" Coke said very loudly and clearly. The policeman turned around

and looked at Coke. He was very surprised. Then Coke hit him as hard as he could in the stomach and he fell to the floor heavily. The old lady screamed. The policeman tried to get up, but fell back weakly. Coke ran out of the room.

The phone rang about five minutes later at the local police headquarters. Halls answered it.

"What? Coke? Where? When?"

Baxter stood up as soon as he heard Coke's name. He quickly put his hat and coat on. Halls listened carefully to the voice on the other end and quickly made a few notes. Then he put the phone down and turned to Baxter.

"Well, we know where Coke is now. A policeman almost caught him only five minutes ago."

"What do you mean, 'he almost caught him'? Did he catch him or didn't he?"

"No, he got away. He stole the policeman's bike."

The man who escaped (Episode 9)

synopsis: Coke found food and clothes in a cottage several miles away from the nearest village. However, a policeman came to tell the old lady in the cottage to watch out for Coke. Coke knocked the policeman down and stole his bike.

Baxter got into the car first. Halls was right behind him. "You drive. You know the area better than I do," Baxter said. They raced out of the town and into the dark countryside. "It's ridiculous," Halls said. "Does he really think he's going to get away from us on a bike?" "Coke isn't a fool," Baxter answered. "He probably doesn't realise we already know what happened in the old lady's house."

"You mean he doesn't know that even village policemen have small two-way radios these days?"

"That's right. He probably thinks it's going to take that policeman at least half an hour to get to the nearest phone. He thinks he can get pretty far in that time."

Ten minutes later, about three miles from the old lady's house, Baxter suddenly saw someone on the dark road ahead. "Look! There!" he shouted. "There's someone on a bike! And look! He's going to get off!" Halls saw the man quite clearly, but only for a second. As soon as the man saw they were in a police car, he dropped his bike and ran into the trees at the side of the road.

"That's Coke!" Baxter shouted. "He isn't going to get away this time!"

Baxter jumped out of the car even before Halls stopped it, and ran after Coke. Halls jumped out, too. He did not even switch off the head­lights.

All Coke's training as a soldier helped him now. Baxter was just behind him when Coke suddenly turned, Baxter tried to grab him but almost lost his balance. Then Coke hit him on the chin as hard as he could. Baxter fell to the ground heavily. At that moment, Halls jumped on Coke from behind but Coke threw him over his back and against a tree, and then ran back towards the road before Halls could get up. Even when he did, he fell back to the ground again. There was a terrible pain in his ribs. Coke saw the police car very clearly. The headlights were still on, and one of the doors was open. Coke jumped in. It took Baxter several seconds to realise where he was. At first, all he could feel was a terrible pain in his jaw. Then he heard the sound of a car engine starting. He looked up and saw Halls pointing to it. Suddenly Baxter realised everything. Halls tried to run after the car but it was too late. Coke was gone and so was their car.