He looked at me for a long time in silence. I once thought that I wouldn’t give a bent penny for Hanna’s career prospects. Right then, I wouldn’t have given even that much for my own. Hosmer wasn’t a pleasant sight. He was thinking hard, figuring out all the angles and testing one chance against another. I knew damned well that Roker, or whoever was behind him, had telephoned London to tell Hosmer to bring his dog to heel. And Hosmer had come running.

He put his hand to his breast pocket and took out a cigar case. Extracting a long cigar, he clipped the end with a gold cutter and then lit it carefully. When he had it going to his satisfaction, he blew a steady plume of smoke. ‘You’re playing a dangerous game, Kemp,’ he said.

I leaned forward. ‘What is it to you who gets in power here?’

‘Commitments,’ he said. ‘Mutual obligations.’ His voice was hard. ‘When does your contract run out?’

‘About eight months. Why?’

‘Time enough,’ he said. ‘In eight months all this will have blown over. No newspaper will listen to you then. What editor likes an eight-month-old story? Don’t expect your contract to be renewed.’

There it was, the flat threat. ‘So do I stay?’ I asked.

He grunted. ‘Please yourself.’

I said, ‘The story might get out anyway. I’m surprised it hasn’t already. There’s a smart man called Jackson at the Chronicle.’

‘Jackson is gagged.’

A cool voice behind us said, ‘Who gagged him?’

We both turned round. Jill Salton was standing half-hidden by some shrubbery. I don’t think either of us knew how long she had been there or how much she had heard. She came forward and said to Hosmer, ‘If Mr Kemp needs a job in eight months’ time, I’m sure he’ll be welcome in one of my group of companies. He has impressed me very much.’

Hosmer was quicker than I to recover. ‘You know nothing about him.’

‘I know enough to trust him more than I trust you,’ she said cuttingly. ‘That wasn’t a pretty conversation I heard. And don’t think I knew nothing of the pressure you were putting on David. He told me everything, all about your tie-in with Cardew Street, your attempted bribes disguised as business deals, your threats to withdraw the loan from Salton Estates.’

‘Jill, you don’t understand about business,’ he said. ‘Whatever David told you, he must have misunderstood.’

Her voice was as cold as ice and hard as a diamond. ‘You are not welcome in this house,’ she said. ‘There will be a car to take you to San Martin.’ She turned on her heel and walked away.