Knowing that would make them more eager to finish that day Nell promised sandwiches and cake. She didn’t correct his assumption that she and Angus were married.

She would be able to give the kitchens a thorough cleaning tomorrow and sort out her shopping list for food. It was all falling into place nicely.

Part Four

Chapter Twenty

In the middle of that night the alarm system from Saffron Lane sounded in Angus and Nell’s bedroom. When he rushed to look at the monitor attached to the security camera there, he could just make out two dark figures at the front door of the first house, which was on the outer edge of the surveillance system. One was crouching and seemed to be picking the lock.

He rang for police attendance then picked up a rounders bat. ‘I’m not waiting for the police. Who knows how long they’ll take to get here?’

‘I’ll grab my rolling pin as we go through the kitchen.’

‘I don’t want you involved in the fighting, Nell.’ He opened the back door, but she came out to join him carrying her makeshift weapon. He sighed in resignation and switched on the big house’s security system, then set off at a rapid pace through the dark gardens.

‘I didn’t do a self-defence course to play the helpless female now,’ she panted, finding it hard to keep up with his longer legs.

‘Just don’t take any risks, right?’

‘No more than you will.’

That shut him up.

The burglar found it harder than he’d expected to pick the big old lock on the front door of the first house in the row.

‘How the hell can this damned lock be so difficult to open?’ he complained to his friend. ‘It doesn’t look any different from others like it that I’ve dealt with. I can usually open one of these old-fashioned clunkers in a minute at most.’

He gave the door a thump, shaking it good and hard, but he still couldn’t get the lock to do what he expected and open.

‘We’ll go in by the window,’ his companion decided and got a small steel bar out of his backpack to smash it. It took several blows to do that and clear the glass away. ‘What the hell is this made of? Old-fashioned glass isn’t usually this strong.’

‘There’s something weird about this place. You don’t suppose they’ve got a hidden security system or cameras, do you?’ He looked round uneasily.

‘No sign of any and I’m usually good at spotting them. That rich sod isn’t getting any work done on this house so there won’t be any tools stored inside. Why should they bother to put security in here apart from locking it up? That’s why we were told to set this one on fire. Come on. Let’s get in and do the job quickly.’

‘Yeah. The sooner we’re away from here, the happier I’ll be.’

The other man clambered in, yelping as glass sliced into his hand. He cursed. ‘I could have sworn I cleared out all the glass from the frame.’