‘Then I’m in.’ Becks felt a rush of adrenaline as she realised that she was finally doing something so daring. Something her younger self would have done.

‘As long as I can pretend I had nothing to do with you if you get caught,’ she added. She was prepared to take a baby step towards greater independence, but no more than that.

‘Sure,’ Suzie said. ‘Now I’m going to ask you a question, and I bet the answer is yes.’

‘Okay,’ Becks said.

‘Do you bake your own bread?’

‘As it happens, I baked a sourdough loaf this morning.’

‘I knew it! That’ll be perfect.’

‘I don’t do it every morning. We don’t need a loaf every day. I’m just trying to save money,’ Becks added, defensively.

‘Yeah, sure you are.’

‘But won’t Andy notice if we remove the shredded paper from his office?’ Judith asked. ‘It’s kept in a see-through cellophane bag behind the machine.’

‘Oh I see,’ Suzie said with a frown. ‘That’s a bit of a problem.’

‘Although maybe not. Logically, when we take it, we need to replace it with some shredded paper that looks the same.’

‘And where are we going to get a load of shredded paper from?’

‘Maybe one of the charity shops has a shredder,’ Becks offered.

‘They don’t,’ Judith and Suzie both said at the same time.

‘Then we’re a bit stuck,’ Becks said, and then her eyes lit up as she had an idea. ‘Or maybe not. In fact, I think I know exactly where I can get a load of shredded paper from.’

‘Then that’s rather splendid,’ Judith said, clapping her hands together in delight before turning back towards Suzie. ‘But tell me, why on earth do we need a loaf of bread?’

‘Let’s go and cut ourselves a couple of slices and I’ll explain. Because, between Becks’ loaf of bread, some shredded paper and a charity shop wheelchair, I reckon we’ll have a good chance of getting our hands on what we need by the close of play this afternoon!’

Chapter 23

At just after 4 p.m., Becks entered Andy Bishop’s office building without an appointment, but with two thick slices of white bread, one in each pocket of her coat. As for Judith and Suzie, they were at the sharp end of the sting, not that anyone would have realised this if they’d passed them in the street. Having bought everything they needed from the Marlow Hospice shop, Suzie was pushing Judith along the back alley behind Andy’s office in an old wheelchair. Judith’s dark grey cape covered her lap, and they couldn’t have looked more harmless if they’d tried. Certainly no one would have thought they were about to carry out a daring heist.