“As you will have to spend long hours engaged in conference business, we recommend that you bring a selection of loose, comfortable clothing with you. Of course, T-shirts supporting a wide variety of radical causes are invariably on sale outside the conference hall for those who have failed to follow this advice.”

from “Advice for New Delegates”, a Standing Orders Sub-Committee booklet.

By the time they returned to Sheffield, Lindsay felt like her head had spent the day in a tumble-drier. Although she and Sophie had continued to discuss the case, she felt they’d made no more progress. Like kittens chasing their tails, they kept coming back to the idea of money. As Sophie pulled up outside the conference headquarters, Lindsay said with a sigh, “If we’re talking money, we’re not going to find the answer here in Sheffield. We need to look at head office.”

“I had a funny feeling you were going to say something like that,” Sophie said. “Oh boy, you really do know how to show a girl a good time, don’t you? Today Blackpool, tomorrow Watford.”

“Who said anything about tomorrow?” Lindsay asked sweetly, getting out of the car. She leaned on the roof and winked at Sophie as she locked it up. “No time like the present, is there? Still love me, babe?”

“Not if you call me ‘babe’ again today,” Sophie said. “So what’s the plan?”

“Your turn to busk it,” Lindsay said, striding off purposefully towards the conference office. To Lindsay’s surprise, the clerical staff seemed as busy as they’d been the previous afternoon, although logically, there should have been little for them to do so close to the end of the conference. She spotted Pauline’s flat-top above a computer terminal on the far side of the room and made her way over to her. Sophie stayed near the door, idly browsing through a copy of that afternoon’s order-paper.

“Why does my heart always sink whenever I see you heaving into sight?” Pauline asked resignedly as Lindsay perched on a corner of her desk.

Lindsay grinned. “And there’s me thinking it was passion that made your heart flutter.”

“That was before you appointed me your unofficial source. Walls have ears around here, you know. Some people don’t like me talking to you, and they let me know. Frankly, there are times when I think I won’t be sorry to leave,” Pauline replied, keeping her eyes fixed on the screen as she typed. “Where you been hiding yourself?”

“Would you believe Blackpool?”

Pauline shook her head. “I don’t know how you can think of enjoying yourself at a time like this.”

“Put it this way. Nobody got a kiss-me-quick hat,” Lindsay said grimly. “Let’s just say we had a little ride down memory lane on the ghost train. And I’m sorry if me sticking my nose in has caused you aggravation.”