John Presley wasn't very happy with his job. He was a computer engineer with Shandor Electronics. He worked in their Southampton factory. In some ways, it was more like a prison than a factory. There was a high fence around it. Men with dogs walked along it, day and night. 'I've been with the company for more than three years but they don't tell me very much. There are all sorts of things they don't want me to know,' he often told his wife. But Presley was a very intelligent man. He found out a lot of things the company didn't want him or other people to know.



He knew a journalist who worked for a magazine in London. His name was Tony Redford. Redford was very interested in Presley's information. Presley came home from work and cooked dinner for himself and his wife. She was the manageress of a supermarket and worked long hours. 'I have to go out again this evening,' he told her when she came home.
'Why?'
'I'm helping a journalist write an article about the electronics industry. I think I can earn some money that way,' he told her.


Presley lived in a small village in a forest near Southampton. He backed his car out of the garage. His wife waved to him. 'Be careful. Don't drink too much,' she said. He laughed and drove away. He didn't notice the light blue car and the dark green van. They were parked near his house. When he left, they followed him. He had to go to Southampton to meet Redford. There was very little traffic on the road. The van and the car stayed behind him. Suddenly the van overtook him. The light blue car was close behind Presley. He noticed its lights in the rear view mirror. He wanted to go faster, but the van in front stopped him. He tried to overtake the van but it went faster, too.


Suddenly Presley felt a bump. It was the car behind. It bumped into him again and pushed him towards the van. He was like a small piece of iron in a magnet! He turned and twisted on his driving wheel but nothing happened! He felt he no longer had control of his car.' The van and the car began to go very fast, and he was between them. He screamed. They came to a bridge over a river. Suddenly the van in front broke free. The car behind drove faster and pushed Presley towards the side of the bridge. He shot through it like a bullet. Presley screamed again. He and his car dropped down into the dark water far below the bridge. The car sank like a stone. The van and the car didn't stop. They turned into a side road before they got to Southampton. Nobody saw them. The next morning the police found Presley and his car in the river. The newspapers said it was a very strange accident.

1. Why do you think Shandor and Harlan are interested in the factory fire? 2. What do they say about a journalist and an engineer? Now think of some more questions you would like answers to, but which you can't find in this episode.

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