The two front legs of the chair thumped to the floor and the man looked over his shoulder. He froze as he saw me – and what I held in my hands. I went around in a semi-circle until I faced him and then approached to put the spear’s point to his throat. ‘If I pull this trigger that spear will go through your throat and six inches out the other side. All it needs is one squeak out of you.’

He leaned back, trying to avoid the point. I said, ‘Leotta, take this spear gun. Keep it where it is and if this boy makes a wrong move, pull the trigger.’

She came up and took the spear gun from me. Without using her left arm, she lodged the stock of the weapon against her torso to brace it and rested the point against the man’s throat. I kept him covered with the pistol as I moved behind him because with Leotta the way she was, I needed a reserve. Come to think of it, he didn’t know she was a semi-invalid and because her face was like death itself, perhaps she was the more effective. At any rate, he didn’t move a muscle.

I took the magazine from the pistol, ejected the round from the breech, then slammed the gun heavily against the side of the man’s head. He gasped and jerked as I hit him again and finally he collapsed. Leotta looked sick and lowered the spear gun.

I put my hand under the unconscious man’s armpits and hauled him away from the switchboard. There was a big cupboard with a lot of electrical repair gear in it, which came in very handy. There were some robust cables to tie him up with and the cupboard was big enough to hold him. Before I closed the door on him, I made sure he was securely gagged. It could be that he’d choke to death but I didn’t care much about that.

All this took time and when I had finished, I saw that Leotta was staring at the switchboard. I said, ‘Can you work this thing?’

She shook her head. ‘I wouldn’t know how.’

‘Okay,’ I said as I sat down. ‘Stand by and keep watch.’ I looked at the switchboard and bit my lip. There were a lot of wires ending in jacks and a lot of corresponding sockets. The problem was which jack went into which socket to get an outside line? I didn’t want to make a mistake and have bells jangling indiscriminately on the estate.