“Why us, Redfyre? Eh? Going right back to that Chiqui bloke—what’s the Cambridge connection? I can see that the dirty deeds we’ve got in here could all have been done by Abel Hardy: ‘By special appointment, hired killer to the military.’ Up from London on a day-return jolly.”

“They’ve got his dabs all over them. But what’s the pot of jam that drew him to our peaceable neck of the woods? And who’s behind him, paying for death?”

“Oh, him? I found him up in Yorkshire, Redfyre, the skulking rat responsible for all this mayhem. You know me—I’m not a man to suffer ‘hunches’ gladly. Hunches are an excuse for sloppy method, but by Gow, I’m glad I followed one of my own and went up there! It didn’t take me long. The answer’s not hidden! It’s writ large in every town. Brazen as you please. Advertising itself.”

He reached under his desk and produced a large carrier bag. “I brought the station a present back from the wilds.”

“Oh, sir, thank you from all of us,” Redfyre said uncertainly, receiving the bag. “Oh, I say! How generous!” he murmured as he unwrapped a large tin of biscuits. “Assorted Yorkshires. Shortbreads, chocolate fancies, gingersnaps . . . As the label says, there’s something in here for every taste. I claim the nut cluster!” And, meeting MacFarlane’s impatient stare, “I had noticed, sir. The name on the tin. A ‘household name’ in the north and soon, I hear . . .”

“To be under new ownership.”

“About to expand into the south.”

“They’re growing like Russian Vine, Redfyre. I went looking for the roots. And like poor, daft Ernest Jessup, I tripped over something in the undergrowth no one was meant to find. Look—here’re my notes. I’ll give you a minute to read them and see if you don’t agree.”

He watched as Redfyre read, shook his head, then, coming to the end, nodded sadly. “You’d worked it all out, hadn’t you?” MacFarlane commented.

“I couldn’t believe it. Didn’t want to. Wrote it off as a hunch, sir. I had him right in my hands yesterday.” He smiled. “But he’s going nowhere. Can’t afford to go underground. He’ll keep until all our evidence is in.”

“Can we afford to just give him free rein running loose about Cambridge, knowing what his game is?” MacFarlane was showing an unaccustomed uncertainty.