“’Allo, Reg,” said Archie. “I’ve come to pay me respects.”

“You would pick a Sunday,” said Reg, letting him in. “The place is swarming.”

“Which is why I brought ’im in on a Saturday night,” said Archie as he came in. “Didn’t think you’d be busy.”

“I’ve got a life, too,” said Reg. “What if I ’ad a date?”

“Then you’d break it,” said Archie. “Because when I call the tune, you dance. ’Ow’s ’e doing?”

“Ask ’im yourself,” said Reg, opening a door to the stairs to the basement.

Archie went down to a dank room where another man sat at a table, playing solitaire.

“Afternoon, Owen,” said Archie. “I brought you the Telegraph.” He tossed the paper onto the table.

“Ta,” said Owen, without looking up. “Doc told me to change ’is dressing every four hours. Like I’m a bleedin’ nurse now.”

“If you wanter take a break, get something to eat, I’ll watch ’im for a while. ’As ’e said anything?”

“Said thanks to the doc, nothin’ else,” said Owen, picking up the paper. “I’ll be back.”

Archie waited until Owen had left, then took a key from a hook on the wall and unlocked a door next to it. He pulled a ski mask from his coat, put it on, then went in.

The captured man lay on a cot, his hand bandaged more professionally than the Bainbridge woman had done. The other hand was secured by a length of chain to a bolt in the wall.

The man was awake, and sat up as Archie entered. “You again,” he said.

“You know who I am?” asked Archie.

“The boss man from last night.”

“That’s right,” said Archie. “You got a sharp eye.”

The man shrugged.

“You got a name?” asked Archie.

“Do you?”

“Yeah, but I already know mine. ’Ow about giving me yours, then we can get on with the conversation.”

“Stuff it.”

“In that case, ’ow about the names of your next of kin?” said Archie.

“Mr. and Mrs. Stuff It.”

Archie grinned, then took a stool from the far corner of the room and placed it next to the cot. “Don’t get any cute ideas about trying for me,” he warned the man as he sat down.

“You don’t think I could take you?”

“No point. I don’t ’ave the keys to the cuffs. And no, I don’t think you could take me, not that I’m looking to show off or nothing. A couple of women took you down last night, so I don’t think I need to worry.”

“Are you trying to scare me?”

“You strike me as someone ’oo don’t scare easy,” said Archie. “You should be scared. I would be, in your situation.”

“Miss Sparks wants me alive,” said the man.

“Miss Sparks doesn’t call the shots ’ere.”

“That’s not what I saw last night. She the real boss?”

“I’m the real boss. She is paying me for your temporary quarters.”

“Yeah, twenty-five quid a day through Tuesday. And then you let me go.”