Will thought for a moment. ‘Damn! I don’t have a contact number for him, other than his mobile, and it’s not connecting. He said it wasn’t working properly even though he had roaming activated.’

‘Can you ring the air base?’ asked Matt.

‘I can try. I’ll do it now while you are both here, if that’s alright with you?’ He looked from one to the other. ‘I might just bottle it if I leave it till later.’

His call was put on hold, and after being connected to several extensions, he was finally put through to someone who knew about the Canadian captain.

‘He is at Lakenheath today, sir. I can give you a number if that will help?’

Again, he was passed around until a curt voice asked why he wanted to contact Captain Fauve. He explained that it was a personal matter. He said he urgently needed to speak to him regarding his niece and their proposed visit to the fens. The man informed him that for security reasons, the best he could do was to get a message to Captain Fauve and ask him to return the call.

Will then had to spend a restless fifteen minutes before the phone rang. To his disappointment, it was the Lakenheath base again.

‘I am sorry, sir, but the conference ended an hour ago and Captain Fauve has already left. I understand he is staying the night in London, but we have no contact number for him.’

Will swore softly.

Choosing to ignore the epithet, the man on the other end of the line suggested he ring Mrs Fauve in Canada. He was bound to call home at some time, and she could pass on a message for him.

Will thanked the man. After hurriedly working out the time difference between England and Saskatchewan, he found the number.

Annette sounded surprised but delighted to hear from him, although her tone became more sombre when he told her of his problem.

‘Poor Kate! How awful! Yes, of course, you must speak to Philip, but his phone is down. Let me get the London number for you. They’re staying at a small hotel in Bayswater. We had a few days there a couple of years ago.’

Will could hear the shuffling of papers.

‘Ah, here it is.’ Annette Fauve read out the number. ‘It’s room twenty-five, Will, and if he rings me first, I will make sure that he knows about your troubles and doesn’t spring another surprise visit on you. I really am so very sorry that turning up unannounced like that has caused such an upset.’