The phone stopped ringing, bringing me back into the room with a jolt. Who had called? I knew from previous visits that Barnes usually rang just before Chief sat down to dinner, so it was unlikely to have been him. Pritchard, to say he couldn’t come? It made no difference - I had to act on the basis that either of them might arrive at any moment. But I couldn’t kill either: while I might still manage to make it look like Chief had disappeared, nobody would believe that the Head of Africa Section or his personal minder had also happened to go missing at the same time. I would have to make other plans.

Still, there was only one road leading into the property, so I couldn’t leave until Pritchard had been and gone, or I’d risk meeting him on the way out. But I had to hide the car - if he saw that, I was done for.

I took the key from the front door and walked out, locking it behind me. The moon’s dull glow illuminated the car. It was a sports model, and I remembered with horror that it had no boot. Still, it was futile blaming myself - it wasn’t as if I could have considered where to store Chief’s body when I’d bought the thing.

I didn’t have time to waste on it now - something would have to come to me while I worked on other problems. As I turned the ignition key, I added another to the list. I was used to starting her up in London; out here in the sticks, the noise was deafening. I could drive out of here at 150 miles an hour, but the decibel level would bring Barnes running, if not everyone in the county.

Very gently, I took her deep into the shrubbery that backed onto the riverbank. Then I ran back up to the front door to examine the result. She was completely hidden behind a hedge, lying under the canopy of one of the larger beeches, but there were now marks across the gravel where I’d turned. I hoped it wouldn’t be noticeable to a new arrival coming up the driveway.

I unlocked the door, went in, and locked it again from the inside. Then I drew the curtains and switched the lights off in the living room and hallway. After rummaging around under the kitchen sink, I came up with a torch, a dishcloth, a pair of rubber gloves and some gardening bags. I took an empty bag, soaked the cloth, put on the gloves, picked up the torch and went back to the living room, where Chief lay on the floor, his eyes staring up at me.