‘Plenty,’ she said, ‘but you needn’t think I’m going to sing out in open court for you or anyone else.’

‘You won’t have to. Have you got a passport?’

She nodded. ‘Somewhere around the place. Why?’

He took a large buff envelope from his inside breast pocket. ‘You’ll find traveller’s cheques in here for one thousand pounds plus a ticket on the four-thirty flight to London Airport.’

‘And just how long do you think it would take Max Vernon to catch up with me?’

‘At least a couple of days. Long enough for you to complete any formalities, have any necessary inoculations and so on. You’ll find another plane ticket in the envelope – a first-class single to Sydney. You could be on your way by Wednesday.’

‘You mean Sydney, Australia?’

‘That’s right. You’ll also find a letter to a business friend of mine out there. He’ll fix you up with a job and help you get started. You’ll be all right. He owes me a favour.’

Her eyes were shining and the lines had been wiped clean from her forehead. Colonel Craig laid the envelope down on the bed beside her.

‘In return I want you to tell me everything there is to know about Max Vernon.’

She didn’t hesitate. ‘It’s a deal. You talk and I’ll pack.’

‘They tell me he was the brains behind one or two big jobs in the London area. The Knavesmire Airport bullion robbery for instance. Has he pulled anything like that up here?’

‘Not as far as I know, but I think there’s something in the wind. There’s been some funny customers in and out of the place lately.’

‘What about the Flamingo? Is the game honest?’

‘It has to be.’ She pulled a suitcase down from the top of the wardrobe. ‘It caters for the most exclusive clientele in town.’

‘You wouldn’t have a key to the place by any chance?’

‘Sure – to the back door.’ She opened her hand-bag, produced a Yale key and threw it across. ‘My pleasure.’

‘What other little enterprises does Vernon operate?’

‘There’s the betting shops.’

‘I’m looking for something rather more illegal.’

‘That’s easy. He runs a cut liquor still up the York Road. Gibson’s Furniture Factory it says outside, but it’s a front. Supplies clubs all over the north.’

‘Where does the liquor come from in the first place?’

‘Your guess is as good as mine. Some from long distance lorries that took the wrong turning. Some they make on the premises. He’s got money tied up in that place.’

‘But more still in the Flamingo?’

She fastened the lid on one suitcase and took down another. ‘Better than a hundred thousand. Without the Flamingo he’s nothing. He had to take what he could get when he sold up in London. They say he dropped a bundle.’