‘Yes. Well, supposing Garcia didn’t tell lies about his warehouse, it’s somewhere in London. It’s twenty miles to Shepherd’s Bush from the house. There and back, forty. Of course, he might not have come in by the Uxbridge Road, but it’s by far the most direct route and it would be the one he was familiar with. For the sake of argument say he took it. That leaves us a radius of ten miles, roughly, from Shepherd’s Bush to wherever the warehouse is. Twenty, there and back.’

‘Total, sixty.’

‘Yes. Of course, if this warehouse is somewhere west, northwest, or south-west, he might have branched off before he got to Shepherd’s Bush, but he said Holloway to Miss Seacliff and if he went to Holloway he’d go by Shepherd’s Bush. Then on by way of, say Albany Street and the Camden Road. As the crow flies, Holloway Prison is only about five miles from Shepherd’s Bush, but the shortest way by road would be nearer to nine. Holloway fits in all right as far as the petrol consumption goes. Of course, it’s all very loose,’ added Fox, looking over his spectacles at Alleyn, ‘but so’s our information.’

‘Very loose. Holloway’s a large district.’

‘Yes. Still, it squares up, more or less, with what we’ve got.’

‘True enough.’

‘Well, sir, following out your suggestion we’ve concentrated on Holloway and we’re raking it for warehouses.’

‘Yes, it’s got to be done.’

‘On the other hand,’ continued Fox stolidly, ‘as you pointed out on the trip up, it may not be in Holloway at all. Suppose Garcia lied about the position of the warehouse, having already planned the job when he spoke to Miss Seacliff. Suppose he deliberately misled her, meaning to use this warehouse as a hide-out after the job was done?’

‘It doesn’t look like that, Fox. She says Garcia tried to persuade her to visit him there alone. He actually gave her a sketch-map of how to get to the studio. She’s lost it, of course.’

‘Look here,’ said Fox. ‘The idea was that Pilgrim should drive her up. I wonder if there’s a chance she handed the sketch-map to Pilgrim and he knows where the place is?’