The little man collapsed into his armchair and put his face in his hands.

Farrell stationed himself in front of the door, arms folded across his chest. Lockland inspected the sofa and then perched on the very edge, saying quietly, ‘Why did you do it, Mr Plimpton?’

He lifted his head and made an obviously huge effort at pulling himself together. ‘What will happen to me?’

‘Well, we’re with the Time Police, Mr Plimpton, and you’ve broken the law a little bit. We have to ask you some questions.’

She couldn’t bring herself to mention where and what form this questioning would take.

He blinked behind his shiny spectacles. ‘I don’t understand. Time Police? What Time Police?’

‘A select organisation of hand-picked officers,’ said Parrish.

Ellis snorted.

‘Time travel is forbidden in every place and every time. I’m afraid you are now an illegal, Mr Plimpton, and subject to our jurisdiction.’

Mr Plimpton panicked. ‘Oh, no, no, no. I didn’t mean any harm. I didn’t know. What will happen to me?’

‘Not just you, I’m afraid, Mr Plimpton. The Time Laws give us the power to remove your family as well.’

The unfortunate Mr Plimpton covered his face and rocked to and fro. Jane’s heart went out to him.

‘Perhaps,’ said Luke, sternly, ‘if you cooperate fully then your family might be spared.’

Jane was certain this magnanimous attitude was only because he didn’t want a pod full of Plimptons, but it appeared to be effective.

Henry Plimpton lowered his hands. ‘Oh, yes, yes. Anything I can do to assist.’

Jane nodded. ‘So again, why did you do it?’

‘Never mind that,’ said Luke. ‘How could he do it? It’s only the 20th century. Where did he get the technology from? People here barely have fire. They’ve only just stopped living in caves and eating raw mammoth.’

‘Unkind but accurate,’ observed North.

‘It was sent to me.’

Back in the pod, Ellis and North looked at each other.

Parrish scoffed. ‘What? By post, I assume?’

‘I don’t know. I just came home from work one day and there was a crate on the doorstep.’

Lockland frowned at Parrish and continued. ‘Addressed to you?’

‘Yes.’

‘By name?’

‘Yes.’

‘Bit of a miracle it wasn’t pinched,’ said Parrish.

‘That’s what I thought. Anyway, electronics have always been my hobby and I put it all together in the shed.’ He smiled tremulously at Lockland. ‘There were full instructions and I’m quite skilled with my hands.’

‘She’s good at this,’ said North. ‘Extracting information, I mean. Quiet and unthreatening but persistent.’

Luke, rummaging among the papers on the mantelpiece, said, ‘And then you jumped forwards one week to get the winning lottery numbers.’