There was a squeal of brakes as the bus skidded, a sudden cry and then silence. A moment later voices were raised and when Craig reached the end of the alley, passengers were already beginning to dismount, men crouching down to peer under the wheels.

‘Oh, my God, look at him!’ A woman sobbed suddenly and Craig turned up his collar and walked away quickly through the heavy rain.

11

The disk shot high into the air, poised for one split second at the high point of its trajectory and disintegrated, the sound of the gunshot reverberating through the quiet morning.

The rooks lifted into the air from their nests in the beech trees at the end of the garden, crying in alarm, and Duncan Craig laughed and lowered the automatic shotgun.

‘I’m not too popular, it would seem. Let’s have another.’

As Harriet leaned over the firer to insert another disk, Jenny came out through the French windows. ‘There’s a gentleman to see you, Colonel Craig. A Mr Vernon.’

Craig paused in the act of reloading the Gower and turned to Harriet, who straightened slowly. ‘Does he now?’ he said softly. ‘All right, Jenny, show him out here.’

Harriet came to him quickly, anxiety on her face, and he slipped an arm about her shoulders. ‘Don’t get alarmed. There’s nothing to worry about. Not a damned thing. Let’s have another one.’

The disk soared into the air and this time he caught it on the way down, a difficult feat at the best of times, snap-shooting from the shoulder, scattering the fragments across the lawn.

‘Am I supposed to be impressed?’ Vernon said and Craig turned to find him standing in the French windows, Ben Carver at his shoulder.

‘Well, well, if it isn’t Mr Vernon,’ Craig said. ‘And to what do we owe the honour?’

Vernon nodded towards Harriet. ‘What about her?’

Craig smiled faintly. ‘Anything you say to me, you say to Harriet. She’s my right arm.’

Vernon took a cigarette from a platinum case and Carver gave him a light. ‘All right, Colonel, I’ll put my cards on the table. I made a mistake about you, that I freely admit, but I know when I’m beaten.’

‘I wish I knew what you were talking about,’ Craig said.

Vernon obviously had difficulty in restraining himself. ‘Let’s stop beating about the bush. I’ve lost the Flamingo and my place up the York Road and then Billy Stratton meets with a nasty accident. You aren’t going to tell me I’m just experiencing a run of bad luck?’

‘It can happen to the best of us.’

‘All right – I’ll lay it on the line. You’ve had your fun – you’ve broken me, so I’m getting out just as soon as I can find a buyer for what’s left. I’m asking you to leave it alone from now on – all right?’