‘I rang the number you gave me and I told him my name was Commander Crichton from the Integrity Department of the BHA and we were running a periodic security check. I did as you suggested with the postcode and the first line of his address, and he coughed up his name, right on cue. Then he simply volunteered the rest. In fact, I could hardly stop him talking.’

‘You’re amazing,’ I said, laughing. ‘Thank you.’

‘Oh, yes, and there’s one more thing. He’s represented by an agency called The Jockeys Stable. He told me his contact there is a certain Anton Valance.’

Why was I not surprised?

CHAPTER

15

ON THURSDAY MORNING I took Rosie with me to Yorkshire.

I had tried to suggest leaving her again with Charles but, as Mrs Cross was still away looking after her grandchildren, he had baulked at the idea.

‘I’m very sorry,’ he said. ‘I simply can’t have her again today. She’s just so exhausting.’

Rosie, however, was delighted to be coming with me.

Unlike the other Irish setters Marina and I had owned, each of whom had detested going in the car to the point of shaking and vomiting whenever it was suggested, Rosie was in her element, barking loudly at every passing vehicle. I knew I should have put her in the back of the Discovery, behind the special dog grille, but she much preferred being up front with me, her head stuck out the passenger window into the wind.

And, in truth, I loved her company.

I just wish I had trained her better—in particular, to bite anyone wearing a balaclava.

Marina had called me on Wednesday evening with the latest update from Fryslân.

Her father had rallied somewhat with the arrival of Elmo from New York, but I wasn’t at all sure if Marina had been pleased or disappointed by the development.

‘This could go on for weeks,’ she’d said in desperation.

‘Just relax,’ I’d said. ‘Make the most of the time he has left to enjoy his company. When he’s finally gone, there will be no chance of ever speaking to him again.’

I knew. I still sometimes wished I could tell my own mother things, and she had been dead since I was sixteen. I suppose that feeling never goes away.

Marina had sighed. ‘You’re right. You’re always right. I should make the most of him.’

‘Ask him about his childhood,’ I’d said. ‘And get him to tell you who people are in old family photos. Get Sassy to help you. All that knowledge will die for ever with him unless you write it down.’

It would also give them both something to do, I thought, rather than just moping around the house waiting for his heart to finally pack up.

On this occasion, I hadn’t asked her about me going over there to help.