“I’ll explain it later. Gwen, are you ready?”

“I am,” said Gwen, coming to join them. “You got kissed, I noticed.”

“You got kissed yesterday.”

“Not by anyone worth kissing.”

“I’ve got a friend,” offered Archie.

“So I’ve heard. Thanks, but no. Let’s get out of here.”

“Pubs are still open,” commented Archie as they went into the lot. “We should celebrate.”

“Sparks, a word with you,” called the Brigadier, standing outside his car.

“He can see your face,” Gwen said to Archie in alarm.

“It’s all right,” said Archie. “’E knows it already. I was the one who brought ’im ’ere.”

“Yes, sir?” said Iris as the Brigadier came up to them.

“How did you know?” asked the Brigadier. “You had the photographer waiting. You knew something was up before the call came. What gave it away?”

“Why should I tell you? So you’ll be better at deceiving the next one?”

“Yes,” he said simply. “Which I do for the greater good.”

“Where the hell were your men?” she snapped. “When the two of us walked into that warehouse with who knows what lying in wait? Well? Your messenger boy can’t have been the only one watching.”

“Men were in place,” he said. “When Stallings came out, he was followed. We assumed he was our target. When it turned out he was merely a run-of-the-mill thief and murderer, we dropped the surveillance.”

“You didn’t turn him over to Parham, though.”

“That would have compromised the operation. We didn’t know Magoulias was dead until after the police rolled up. Finding out who he was was useful. Your connecting him with Mrs. Fisher was even more so.”

“What if this scheme you set up put Mrs. Bainbridge and me in a dark spot with a murderer?”

“I was confident that you could handle it, Sparks.”

“And if those letters ended up destroying a young couple’s happiness?” asked Gwen.

“Any ruler worth his salt knows that sacrifices must be made for the good of his subjects.”

“Did you ask her so she could make that determination?” asked Gwen.

“She’s not a ruler,” said the Brigadier. “Not yet. How did you know, Sparks?”

“Because you were too damn easy,” said Iris. “Getting anything out of you normally is like chipping through a thousand-foot stone wall to get at one moldy apple, yet there you were, showing up in the park for your prodigal daughter, practically dripping with information. Laying out just enough to point me in a particular direction, cutting off the wrong forks along the way. Like I was a cow in the chute to the slaughterhouse. You were the one who recommended us to Lady Matheson, weren’t you?”

“Is that what she told you?”

“I don’t care what she told me. Those letters were meant for her, but they were also meant for me. You recommended us to her because you knew I would recognise Talbot’s name and go chasing down the trail you laid. Was Buchanan-Wollaston part of it?”

“He knew where his duty lay,” said the Brigadier. “I only wish you did as well.”