From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Veteran
The Veteran
The Veteran is a detective short story by Frederick skillfully showed that Mark and Cornish were not at
Forsyth first published in 2001. the scene during the mugging. Mark and Cornish
were acquitted and the case closed.
Plot 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
Plot summary investigation, they found Peter’s house. In the house,
The story is written in chronological order, beginning there were bits of Army memorabilia and medals. In
from Day 1 (Tuesday) to Day 24 (Thursday). a framed picture, there were 4 soldiers in “Mirbat,
• Day 1: Mr. Patel witnessed an old man being mugged 1972”, a sergeant, a corporal, a trooper and an
by two men, one beefy (Harry Cornish) and one officer. The trooper is Peter Benson, and the officer,
lanky (Mark Price). The old man punched the beefy surprisingly, is Vansittart.
man in self-defence and was hurt badly by the • Day 24: Burial of Peter Benson. That evening Mark
resultant retaliation. Mr. Patel called the police and and Cornish are discovered dead of ligature
the old man was sent to the hospital. Due to massive strangulation by copper wire.
injury, his head was bloated beyond recognition and
thus could not be identified. Main characters
• Day 2: Detectives Jack Burns and Luke Skinner • Mr. Vijay Patel, a shopkeeper at Meadowdene Grove,
interrogated Mr. Patel and made him flip through who witnessed an old limping man being mugged by
several photo albums. They managed to identify the Mark Price and Harry Cornish.
muggers as Mark Price and Harry Cornish. Jack • Peter Benson, the limping old man, who died 5 days
Burns went to look for evidence. after being mugged. His name is only revealed at the
• Day 3 to 9: Police artist did a sketch of the old end of the story.
limping man, hoping to identify the man. The • Mark Price and Harry Cornish, the “villains”
portrait was reported on newspapers, but the man • Jack Burns and Luke Skinner, detectives.
still could not be identified as none came forward. • Lou Slade, the lawyer of Mark Price and Harry
Price and Cornish were detained and they refused to Cornish.
speak during interrogation. Lou Slade tried to defend • James Vansittart, Queen Counsel, one of the most
Price and Cornish, but was losing hope because the successful barristers (lawyers) in London.
detectives had found too much evidence against • Albert Clarke, a pensioner who helped to identify the
them. The limping old man died on the 5th day. limping old man.
• 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 Quotes
"showed" that Price and Cornish was not at the "You can now live in a bloody great city like London, with
scene of the crime during the mugging. Price and millions of people around you, but if you keep yourself,
Cornish just stuck to the story. as he must have done, no-one even knows you exists.
• Day 18: The climax of the story. During the court "This may surprise you, Mr. Burns, but it has to do
case, the detectives, constables, doctors and Mr. with the triumph of justice." -- Vansittart.
Patel showed their evidence. However, Vansittart
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Veteran&oldid=442378885"
Categories:
• Short stories by Frederick Forsyth
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