The Veteran

This article is about the detective short story, “The Veteran”, by Frederick Forsyth, published in 2001.

Plot

Main characters

* Mr. Veejay Patel, a shopkeeper at Meadowdene Grove, who witnessed an old limping man being mugged by Mark Price and Harry Cornish.
* Peter Benson, the limping old man, who died 5 days after being mugged. His name is only revealed at the end of the story.
* Mark Price and Harry Cornish, the “villains”
* Jack Burns and Luke Skinner, detectives.
* Lou Slade, the lawyer of Mark Price and Harry Cornish.
* James Vansittart, Queen Counsel, one of the most successful barristers (lawyers) in London.
* Albert Clarke, a pensioner who helped to identify the limping old man.

Plot summary

The story is written in chronological order, beginning from Day 1 (Tuesday) to Day 24 (Thursday).

* Day 1: Mr. Patel witnessed an old man being mugged by two men, one beefy (Harry Cornish) and one lanky (Mark Price). The old man punched the beefy man in self-defence and was hurt badly by the resultant retaliation. Mr. Patel called the police and the old man was sent to the hospital. Due to massive injury, his head was bloated beyond recognition and thus could not be identified.

* Day 2: Detectives Jack Burns and Luke Skinner interrogated Mr. Patel and made him flip through several photo albums. They managed to identify the muggers as Mark Price and Harry Cornish. Jack Burns went to look for evidence.

* Day 3 to 9: Police artist did a sketch of the old limping man, hoping to identify the man. The portrait was reported on newspapers, but the man still could not be identified as none came forward. Price and Cornish were detained and they refused to speak during interrogation. Lou Slade tried to defend Price and Cornish, but was losing hope because the detectives had found too much evidence against them. The limping old man died on the 5th day.

* Day 10 to 17: The turning point.QC James Vansittart, helped Slade to defend Price and Cornish. He faked several alibis and a plan that fitted the evidence and "showed" that Price and Cornish was not at the scene of the crime during the mugging. Price and Cornish just stuck to the story.

* Day 18: The climax of the story. During the court case, the detectives, constables, doctors and Mr. Patel showed their evidence. However, Vansittart skillfully showed that Mark and Cornish were not at the scene during the mugging. Mark and Cornish were acquitted and the case closed.
Burns finally met Albert Clarke a.k.a. Nobby. Nobby had been on holiday and just returned to London. He told Burns the limping old man was Peter. After investigation, they found Peter’s house. In the house, there were bits of Army memorabilia and medals. In a framed picture, there were 4 soldiers in “Mirbat, 1972”, a sergeant, a corporal, a trooper and an officer. The trooper is Peter Benson, and the officer, surprisingly, is Vansittart.

* Day 24: Burial of Peter Benson. That evening Mark and Cornish are discovered dead of ligature strangulation by copper wire.

Quotes

"You can live in a bloody great city like London, with millions of people all around you, but if you keep yourself to yourself, as he must have done, no-one even knows you exists." -- Skinner

"This may surprise you, Mr. Burns, but it has to do with the triumph of justice." -- Vansittart.