‘He was too short. This man was tall, lean and almost debonair.’

‘You’ve just described yourself, Paul.’

Peter and Charlotte laughed. Seated beside Paul, she watched as he turned the pages over, marvelling at how many villains they’d caught and seen convicted. When she kept apologising for the defects in her sketches, Paul assured her that her portraits had caught the essence of each individual. As a new face appeared before him, he suddenly shouted in triumph.

‘That’s him!’

‘Are you sure?’ asked Charlotte.

‘No wonder I couldn’t remember him at first. Harry Scattergood has changed so much. But he was definitely one of the men I saw in Covent Garden today.’

‘But you told us that they were both well dressed,’ said Peter, ‘and that was hardly typical of Harry. The last time we arrested him, it was in a brothel. He used to rub shoulders with low company.’

‘It was him, Peter. I swear it.’

‘Then why was he skulking around the theatre? The only reason Harry would go to see a play would be to pick the pockets of anyone foolish enough to get close to him. As a rule, your eyesight is remarkable, but not this time, Paul.’

‘I’d stake anything on it. Because I’m used to seeing him in seedy pubs and squalid leaping houses, that face of his never really registered with me. But it has now. Harry Scattergood has decided to rise in society.’

‘From what I recall,’ said Charlotte, ‘he was an exceptionally good thief.’

‘He was,’ agreed Peter. ‘Those light fingers of his made him rich. The only time we managed to get him in court, he escaped custody.’

‘How did he do that?’

‘We still haven’t worked it out. He’s very clever.’

Paul’s mind was whirring. He knew that Scattergood wouldn’t do anything unless there was a prospect of gain in it. When he’d seen the two men outside the stage door of the theatre, they had been moving around to alter their positions. Had Paul stumbled upon some kind of rehearsal? If so, why did it take place in a deserted spot like that? More to the point, who was his companion? Since he was a friend of Scattergood’s, he had to be a criminal associate. Unfortunately, Paul didn’t have such a good look at the other man so there was no point in hunting for him in their archive. He was still puzzling over what had been going outside the theatre when there was a knock on the outer door.

‘I’ll go,’ said Peter, leaving the room.

Unlocking the door, he opened it wide then stepped back in amazement. Standing outside with a valise in his hand was a man he never expected to see again. It was the Reverend David Mellanby.