So far, the plan was going smoothly. Reaper’s van had passed unnoticed by the gates of Karswell Hall earlier that evening, skirted the edge of the estate and parked in the same spot where Wolf had hidden his car the night of the spring equinox. Tuesday and Reaper scaled the same part of the wall that Wolf had, and made their way into the woods equipped with the rifle, the RF scanner and a spotter’s scope. Working carefully and methodically, they’d spent the next three hours detecting hidden eyes among the trees. In jammer mode, Reaper’s device was capable of blocking the signal from a CCTV camera from a distance of over a hundred metres in any direction. It enabled them to create a blind zone through which they could penetrate the woods to a well-covered observation point overlooking the lake, with the island in clear view. Range to target: 214 metres. Once they were set up and in position, Tuesday called Ben to say, ‘We’re in.’

Then all they’d had to do was wait for Ben and the others to play their part. At 11.08, Tristan Dudley’s Bentley entered the gates of Karswell Hall in a line of other vehicles. Ben was behind the wheel with Jeff at his side and Wolf in the back. Jeff had plenty of time to listen to Ben’s detailed account of the whole story. By the end of it, he hated these people even more than Wolf did. Ben felt no hate. He was in that place that you find when you have worked through the rage and come out on the far side. A cold fire softly smouldering inside him. Still, quiet and implacable. The calm before the storm.

As the car purred up to the security checkpoint Ben rolled down his window and offered Dudley’s access pass to the guard. The guard gave the pass the once-over, scanned the number into a computer system and then waved them through without a second glance.

‘Easy-peasy. Welcome to the club,’ Wolf muttered from the back seat as they sailed on through.

Ben had followed the line of cars around to the rear of the house, and pulled up in the designated parking space that Dudley had told them about. The three of them sat watching as the Pandemonium Club members went inside and their various drivers and bodyguards headed towards the lodge house Dudley had also described. So far, so good, and no nasty surprises.