Hanna drew back his cuff and looked at his watch. Everyone was still and I strained my ears, listening to the darkness above. The technician operating the public address system shuffled his feet and the noise he made on the gravel drew him a curt and whispered reprimand.

‘Thirty seconds,’ said Hanna flatly.

There would be confusion up there, I thought. Everything had been going well, apart from the inexplicable absence of Bette Haslam and Steve, and they would have been working flat out to move the loot from the Boeing to the Lear. The sudden shattering appearance of those fighters and then the big voice in the night would be enough to make the bottom drop out of everything. I wondered if Hanna knew what he was doing. Those men would now be under intolerable stress and, if they were anything like Bette Haslam, they’d have been half off their hinges to begin with. Men under stress can act strangely and I began to worry for the passengers again.

‘Fifteen seconds,’ said Hanna.

‘Maybe they’re not going to talk,’ I said.

‘Hush!’ Hanna raised his hand.

A thin cry came from above. ‘You, down there.’

‘Yes?’ the loudspeaker slammed out.

‘You want to talk, you send a man up halfway.’

‘Two men,’ said Hanna.

There was a pause. ‘Okay, two men. But no more.’

‘We’re coming now.’ Hanna handed the microphone to the technician. ‘This is it. Come on, Captain.’

‘No,’ I said. ‘I know Haslam and Philips. I’ve spoken to them before. I know something about them, at least. What does the captain know? Or you, come to that?’

Hanna gave me a slanting look. ‘You drive yourself too hard, Mr Kemp.’ He shrugged. ‘All right. Captain, if we’re not back in five minutes, you are in command here.’

He strode off up the road and after three quick strides I caught up with him. A moment later, Leotta was at my elbow. When he noticed her, Hanna stopped abruptly.

‘What do you think you’re doing?’ he demanded.

‘I’m going to see this through one way or another,’ she said. ‘I’ve already looked into the eyes of one of David’s killers. Now I want to see the rest of the filthy bunch.’

I tried to mediate. ‘You heard what they said – only two people, no more.’

‘No,’ she said, and her eyes flashed defiantly. ‘Only two men, they said. They never mentioned women.’

Hanna grunted and marched off up the hill again. One look at Leotta convinced me there was no point debating any further. We had to jog after Hanna to catch up.

‘What are you going to say?’ I asked him.

‘Not much,’ he said. ‘But it will be to the point. What I really want to do is listen. I want to find out what frame of mind these people are in.’