“This one,” she said, handing it to Gwen.

“You’re not supposed to have that,” said Gwen.

“I know. Now, go!”

Gwen practically fled the office. Iris felt the pulse of their attacker one more time, then sat down heavily on the guest chair, resting the gun on her lap.

“We’re going to find out who you are,” she said to him. “After that—we’ll see.”

Gwen was back in minutes, her arms laden.

“Rope,” she said, tossing a length of it onto her desk. “First-aid kit. Cleaning supplies. And the keys to the office of Cooper and Lyons, Chartered Public Accountants. We might need a place to stash him temporarily.”

“Good thinking,” said Iris.

“What’s the best order? Treat his wound, then tie him up, or the reverse?”

“Bandage, then bondage,” declared Iris, getting back to her feet. “You be the nurse. I’ll keep the gun to his head.”

Gwen took the first-aid kit, then circled around Iris to stay out of the line of fire. Iris stepped forwards, gun at the ready.

“I do hope he had his tetanus vaccination,” said Iris. “I can’t vouch for the cleanliness of that dart.”

“We should call the police,” said Gwen as she dabbed both sides of his hand with Merthiolate.

“Not yet,” said Iris.

“But we have the letters,” said Gwen. “And maybe he could help them catch the killer.”

“You don’t think he’s the killer?”

“Not in the least,” said Gwen, pressing cotton to the wounds and applying pressure. “There, that’s stemmed the bleeding. No, he was taken aback to hear ‘the little Greek fellow’ was dead. I was watching him very closely, and I think that was a genuine reaction.”

“Well, I trust your ability to read people,” said Iris.

“And he wasn’t limping,” added Gwen. “Nor were there any telltale slashes on his pants leg.”

“Even better,” said Iris. “But I don’t want to go to the police yet. Things are still out of control. There are too many sides involved now. Including ours.”

“Yes, that makes three different mysterious men at the scene of the proposed exchange,” said Gwen, wrapping the man’s hand in gauze. “At least three. We don’t know for certain that the limping man killed Magoulias.”

“True,” agreed Iris. “Look, we have still some leads to follow. We haven’t even looked at the letters yet, or compared them with the exemplars. Remember that the happiness of the future queen of England is at stake. We have to guarantee that first. We will bring in the police when we can wrap everything up with a nice, big, red bow.”

“All right,” said Gwen.

She looked at the results of her handiwork.

“That should hold for now,” she said. “Sir, just because I’ve been holding your hand, do not think that you can take further advantage of me.”

She let it go. It swung limply against the front of the desk.

“What shall we do with him?” she asked.

“I have an idea,” said Iris, picking up the telephone.