“I told Father I had information about Chingford’s case which could not go through a third party, and he gave in with surprising ease. He’s clearly worried. Don’t expect a warm welcome.”

“I wasn’t, but if I’m going to be in the papers as a murderer—”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Look, Holmclere is exceedingly remote. It’s in the countryside between Ipswich and Felixstowe, on reasonably extensive grounds. You won’t be spotted by casual passers-by because there aren’t any. Chingford’s there on bail, so talking to the Press will already be a sackable offence, and the vultures can’t get near the house without being seen coming. It’s an excellent place for you to lurk out of sight, and that’s all we need for a few days. We’ll have to give you a false name—”

“I’ve already met your brother under my own name, remember?”

“I do, but he won’t,” Kim said with absolute assurance. “You aren’t important.”

“Right.”

“This going to be bloody awful, and I apologise in advance, but it’s the best I have. We need to hide you, and I need to find out what Chingford’s involvement is, because he’s in this up to his neck.” He breathed out hard. “I found his name in Fairfax’s notebook, Will. A regular monthly payment going back three years. He was without question being blackmailed.”

“Hell’s bells,” Will said. “What will that mean?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“What did DS say in your meeting?”

“We didn’t have it. Bill Merton told me you had murdered Quiller and were on the run. I felt that was more urgent than a chat with DS, so I left.”

“It wasn’t a chat. You were going to trade Fairfax’s papers for Chingford!”

“I was,” Kim said. “Which, as you so eloquently pointed out, stank. I’m not going to do that now.”

“Then what?”

Kim didn’t answer for a moment. At last he said, “I promised not to lie to you and I won’t. That being the case, if you’d kindly promise me not to over-react to what I’m about to say—”

“Kim? What the bloody hell did you do?”

“I called Peacock,” Kim said. “I thought you’d have ’phoned, and you had. I told Merton you’d been framed up, and that he could have Fairfax’s papers at once if he backed off and didn’t tell the Met anything about you. He agreed. So I handed them over, called my father, and waited for you to ring.”

Will’s mouth was moving but it took him a few seconds to manage sound. “Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“You were going to agree that, with DS, and you gave it up for me?”

Kim didn’t take his eyes off the road. “It’s trivial.”