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Rosie's Diamond - Chapters 56 to 60

The story so far: Bill spends time getting to know Jennie and Charlie and is delighted that he gets on so well with Jennie and they spend the day sightseeing together in London.

The story so far: Bill spends time getting to know Jennie and Charlie and is delighted that he gets on so well with Jennie and they spend the day sightseeing together in London.Terence Cragge breaks into the manor but fails to find the micro film despite now knowing where Rod had hidden it.

Gerald and Rosemary's relationship flourishes whilst they are in Spain even though the strange happenings continue around them.

Chapter Fifty Six

Terence had got to the stage where he could wait no longer. The more he thought about Rod having left a legacy of information the more agitated he became. He was aware that Alvin Tewell and his wife were regular churchgoers so he waited until he was certain that they would be home before he rang.

The fact that they had found nothing whatsoever at Wulfrum Manor concerned him. Had the widow got the film and, if she had, did she know she had it – and if she did, what had she done with it? Or is it possible that Rod would have entrusted it to someone back in South Africa for safe keeping or as a safeguard against anyone who could have grassed up the organization. Likely not, he thought. If he had given it to anyone else then he would only have given it to him. There was no one else he trusted enough but worry was a strange animal. However his mind kept coming back to his first thought, that the only place they could logically be was here in England with the widow, whether she knew about it or not.

After breakfast he left Stan with the morning paper and went out to a public telephone box to make the call. The first time of dialing was unsuccessful. He must have mixed up some of the many numbers on the back of the phone card.

He dialed again and after a pause, while the connection was made, he heard the ringing tone.

"Alvin Tewell."

"Alvin, Terence, have you got anything for me?" He didn't feel the need for any niceties nor did he want any in return. All he wanted was to know was where that frigging film was.

"As a matter of fact I have. I've made a lot of phone calls and one call led me to make another which told us what we need to know. I found out that …."

"Alvin, get to the bloody point. I don't want to know how you found out, just what you found out."

Alvin could hear the agitation in his voice so did not protest.

"Remember I told you he had everything reduced to microfilm."

"Yes and where is it now?"

"You know that antique gun he had in a display case."

"I've seen it."

"It's hidden in the butt."

"Where's the gun?"

"As far as I know it's in England. I did ask and no one knows anything of it here."

"Thanks Alvin, I'll see you all right over this." Without waiting for a reply he hung up and left the phone box.

"Did he know?" Stan was almost as concerned as Terence, not that his name featured very prominently in Rod's records but more because he was feeding off Terence during their search.

"Yes," replied Terence, obviously deep in thought. "You don't remember seeing an old gun, I mean an antique, when we went through that house?"

"No."

The answer came back without any thought.

Even so, Terence asked "Are you sure?"

"Certain."

"Well we can't go back and look again. Chances are that if we didn't find it the first time we wouldn't find it a second time. What the hell could she have done with it?"

Although he now knew what he was looking for it hadn't helped at all, in fact it had confused him even further. He was happier when he didn't know about it. Now he would never rest until he found the film. Perhaps if he couldn't find it then no one would. He shook his head – he just could not take that chance.

"Do you think she sold it?"

Stan's question cleared the thoughts from his head.

"What? Oh no, I doubt it. It's not as if she would have needed the money."

"True."

"She never liked guns, perhaps she gave it away."

"Who to?"

"Stan, if I knew that I wouldn't be pulling my bloody hair out over it would I?"

Stan immediately realised what a stupid question it was. "Sorry." He was surprised when Terence said, "That's okay, I'm just worried about it."

He must be worried, Stan thought, he never apologizes.

Chapter Fifty Seven

Even though Saturday had been a late night, the Sunday morning rain beating against the hotel window had woken Jennie at around six forty-five. She had presumed that it was the rain, although she had difficulty in getting to sleep the night before, because she had been so happy with the way things had gone with Bill.

She had looked forward to her telephone conversations with him before she had even met him. Something had told her that they would get on well on a personal level but when she saw him at the airport she knew at once that it would almost certainly be something more. She saw from the look in his eyes that it was the same for him. Spending Saturday together had shown her that this was happening very quickly.

Another thing that had impressed her was that Bill had been such a gentleman. Most men, after a great day like that would have tried to get into her room, but Bill hadn't. She wasn't too sure whether she was pleased or disappointed. She was in England for a few weeks and was sure that they would sleep together before she left. If he didn't suggest it then she would. As things were going she had no intention of letting the relationship fade when she went back to South Africa.

She was lying in bed with a big silly smile on her face when the telephone rang. A quick glance at the alarm clock told her that it was not yet seven. She picked it up after three rings.

"Hello."

"Hi, it's me."

"Bill."

"I couldn't sleep and wondered if you were awake. If you hadn't answered then I was going to hang up."

"I'm glad you didn't."

"I'm sorry if I woke you."

"Don't be. You didn't, I've been awake for awhile."

"I wondered, if you were awake, if you fancied going down for a coffee or a cup of tea or just to watch the rain?"

"I'd love to. Are you dressed already?"

"No, I'm still lying in bed."

"Me too. Give me about twenty minutes and I'll be ready. Give me a call and we'll go down together."

"Ok, see you soon."

Bill had probably been awake a little longer than Jennie and had he known, he would have been well pleased that all the things that had been going through his mind were almost exactly the same as had been going through hers. God, he had wanted to stay with her last night but really wanted her to know that he wanted her for the person she was first and foremost. He didn't want to take any chances of ruining this one. This was going to be the one if he had anything to do with it.

Precisely twenty minutes later he knocked on her door.

"It's open," she called.

He pushed it inwards and went in. She was just putting the hair brush down on the dresser and standing up. "Perfect timing, I'm just ready."

She walked over to him and they kissed as if it was the most natural thing in the world. It was certainly beginning to feel that way.

"And how are you this morning, Mr. Allington?"

"I was feeling good, now I'm feeling better."

She smiled. It was such a wide happy smile that it was hard to imagine that she had only been up for less than half an hour. "Let's go and watch the rain then," she said, picking up her handbag and leading him to the door. As they left the room he was surprised to see that her bed was already made. It made him feel somewhat lazy as he had left his for the maid.

When they got downstairs they realised just how hard it had been raining and still was. "That's British weather for you."

"It happens in South Africa too, usually in the afternoons."

"Well at least with the underground we can move around without getting too wet."

"Maybe by the time we've had breakfast it will have stopped."

"According to the forecast it's supposed to keep on until early afternoon."

She smiled at him, "I'm sure we'll survive."

"I'm sure we will. Do you want breakfast now or do you want to wait for the lads?"

"Let's eat now, we can always have a coffee with them when they come down."

They ordered their breakfasts and had just been served when Charlie came down. He saw them straight away as the dining room was far from full and came over to them.

"You two are up early," he said, sitting down.

"The rain woke us up so we thought we'd come down and get an early start," Bill said.

"Yeah, it's pissing down, isn't it?" He looked at Jennie.

"It's all right Charlie, I've heard worse. Are the others coming down?"

"I'm sure they'll be down just in time to catch breakfast and not a minute earlier."

He was right. They had well finished breakfast and had sat chatting for three quarters of an hour when Dave and George appeared. Neither one had yet shaved and they had allowed themselves ten minutes before the end of scheduled breakfast time.

"I see it's raining," said George as they sat down.

Dave looked towards the window, "So it is."

The other three looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Where are you guys off to?" Charlie returned his attention to Bill and Jennie.

"Well this morning as it's raining, I thought we'd go over to Kensington and look around the science museum.

"I've always wanted to see that. Do you mind if I come with you?"

There was a slight hesitation before Bill replied, "No, of course not."

Charlie looked at Jennie. She was trying to hide her disappointment. Charlie grinned broadly.

"Got ya. I'm only joking. We've got our own plans."

"Bastard."

"Jennie, that's not ladylike and it's Sunday," he said, trying to sound indignant.

"Come on Bill, let's go before you have to arrest me for grievous bodily harm."

As they got up Bill said "We'll see you guys later on and Charlie, we'll make arrangements for meeting on Thursday."

"We'll do that Bill. Enjoy your day."

It was still warm out so they took a waterproof slipover each and an umbrella and left the hotel. When they came out of the science museum the rain had already stopped and the sun was doing its best to peep through.

They spent the afternoon in Hyde Park, an hour of which they spent on the Serpentine in a hired row boat.

As Bill had reason to talk with Charlie they decided to eat at the hotel and planned to arrive back at around six, in time to shower and be ready to eat around seven to seven-thirty.

Chapter Fifty Eight

With the holiday nearing conclusion Gerald had taken Rosemary into Marbella for another meal at the restaurant that they had visited on their first night. Again, because of the time they arrived there was no problem in getting a good table by the window.

They were, in fact, a little later arriving than they were the first time so by the time they had eaten the restaurant had more or less filled up with only a couple of tables over by the kitchen still empty. There were people waiting to be seated but apparently they did not want either of those tables and were prepared to wait for better ones to become free.

As before, the meal was excellent and as the bar area was fairly crowded they elected to take their coffee at the table.

Up to this point he had mentioned nothing of his concerns to her but had resolved to do so before they returned to the villa. He had only been aware of two more instances whereby he felt strange without any apparent reason to explain it. He hadn't noticed anything to suggest that Rosemary had.

When the coffee arrived he reached over and gently placed his hands over one of hers.

"Rosie, I'm sorry to bring this up again but I think we should talk before we get back home. For one thing, there's a lot less pressure here."

She looked at him with some apprehension, as she was fairly sure as to what he wanted to talk about. She waited for him to continue.

"I think that you can guess what I want to talk about."

"I think so."

He looked down at their hands on the table and then returned his eyes directly to hers. He had some reluctance but now he had started he had no choice but to keep going.

"For the last few days, on several occasions, I've felt, how can I put it?. That when we've been alone that we haven't been. I know there's been no one else there, it's just that it's felt as if there was. Do you understand what I'm trying to say, because I can't think of any other way to put it?"

"I understand exactly." She put her other hand on his. "I've felt the same way myself. In fact I was going to talk to you about it when we got home. I'm glad that you have brought it up because I wasn't sure how I was going to broach the subject."

He permitted himself a small smile of relief. This is not going to be as hard as I thought, he said to himself.

She removed her top hand. "Coffee's getting cold."

He sat back and they both picked up their coffees. They were barely warm enough to drink.

"I didn't tell you but the last time we came here, on the way home you were sleeping and just for a couple of seconds I looked in the rear view mirror and I'm sure that I saw a faint glow that was human shaped sitting in the back seat. It gave me the impression that it was looking back at me."

"I've seen something like that on a few occasions," she took his hand again, "there was a definite glow, a definite shape, but nothing obvious. It was there yet it wasn't."

"That's exactly it, that's just what I saw in the back seat. I knew that you had been aware of something because I've seen you looking over my shoulder beyond me on several occasions when I knew there was nothing to look at. Sometimes, however, when you have done that, I've felt as if there was something there but I couldn't see anything. The only time I saw anything was that night in the car."

"I've seen the glow three times now and each time it was the same density and size. It was never strong enough to make out what it was except that, as you said, it was human shaped."

He decided to take the bull by the horns. "I know that you are pretty well convinced that it's Rod and I can't blame you. Even I am starting to believe that, I just can't think of anything else to explain it."

"You're right. I am convinced that it's Rod. These things have been going on too long for any other explanation, certainly not a rational one."

"Remember the other night when the barbecue almost exploded?

"Yes."

"Wasn't the timing a little coincidental? It happened immediately after we toasted to our future."

"Yes it did, didn't it?" She obviously hadn't realised it at the time.

"And I'm sure you will recall that when we first arrived we were about to kiss each other when the doorbell rang, only for no one to be there. It would certainly appear that someone is not too keen for us to get together and I can only think of one person who would be of that mind."

"The more you mention it the more it does appear to be Rod, doesn't it?"

"Yes it does." He was loathe to admit it but what else could it be? There really was no other explanation, even for his organized mind.

"Well, I can say one thing, Gerald. Rod has been gone a very long time and I have waited all that time before becoming interested in anyone else – and now I've found someone I want to be with, nothing is going to ruin that, not even Rod."

They were still holding hands.

"I feel the same way. Whatever happens you are more than worth it. All I ask, and I think that this will benefit both of us, is that if anything else does happen, no matter how trivial it may seem, that we don't hide it from each other but talk about it at once."

"Of course, he has to see just how much you mean to me," she paused as if she had something else to say but wasn't sure whether she should.

After a moment she decided to say it.

"He has to see that I've fallen in love with you."

He shook his head. She sat back, more upright, and pulled her hand back. At once he knew that she had misinterpreted his shake of the head. "No, no, no – it's just that I've felt that way about you for some time now and you saying it was something I'd hoped for. You'll never know how much."

She returned to her original position. "I'm sorry, for a moment I thought I'd made a fool of myself. I really am not very experienced in such things. I . . ."

He gently touched his forefinger on her lips. He then stood up and leaning over the table gently kissed her. When he sat down again he could see that her face was glowing. He could feel that his was.

"It's still early, let's pay the bill and go for a walk down by the sea."

"I'd like that."

As he helped her out of her chair he was facing the window. For a moment he thought that he saw that luminous glow again reflected in the glass, only for a very fleeting moment. Even though they had only just agreed to tell each other of any other instance, he decided not to say anything. He wasn't sure and it had been so brief that he didn't want to risk ruining the moment over it. It could have been a car headlight. He was getting to the stage where he was expecting to see something.

They left the car in the restaurant car park and walked to the sea front. It was only a few days away from a full moon and the sky was clear. Looking up at it he half expected a cloud to appear from nowhere and obscure it.

They must have walked for at least an hour and a half. Neither one of them would have wanted to be anywhere else at that moment. For the rest of the night Rod was forgotten.

Chapter Fifty Nine

"You must come down for a weekend when Rosemary gets back," Vic said to Ruth through the open window of Rosemary's Mercedes. Michael was working and they had said their good-byes earlier.

"We will. We have to find out how she got on with Gerald."

Vic smiled, he knew that Ruth was speaking more for herself than for Michael. Although Michael would be interested he would not burn with the quite the same curiosity as Ruth would.

"Thanks again for having me," he said as he pulled away.

"Our pleasure," she called after him and waved until the car had turned into the road and vanished from view. He honked a last good-bye as he drove out of sight.

His weekend had been quiet. They had stayed in each evening. He had been pleased not to have been on his own and Ruth and Michael were always good company. He had stayed and had breakfast with Ruth and, allowing for a leisurely drive, expected to get back to the Manor around midday.

He made it easily. What little traffic that there was, was heading into Cheltenham. As soon as he turned into the drive he knew something was wrong. All the curtains were drawn and he had only drawn a few of them

The front door was locked. He unlocked it and went in. The house was a mess. Everything that could be moved had been. He swore silently to himself and without considering that whoever had done it was still there he quickly went around the house, checking if he could notice whether anything was missing.

He couldn't understand, when he got to the lounge, that if it was just a robbery why was only the money taken from the now open safe. There were so many other small valuables, both antiques and jewelry. He reached forward to close it, then told himself not to. He went straight to the phone. He decided not to call the police station but to ring Bill Allington direct on his mobile.

Bill and Jennie had spent the night together. She had told him that she didn't want him to leave her. He, for his part, didn't want to. To spend the night together had somehow seemed to be the most natural thing in the world.

It was good. It was so good so natural.

They had fallen to sleep lying in each other's arms. In the morning they woke up early and just laid together talking for an hour or more before getting up. With some reluctance they eventually got up and after showering went down to breakfast.

Charlie, Dave and George were already there and almost finished. They joined them, but after ten minutes they were on their own as the others left to give them some time together.

"Jennie, we'll pick you up when we come back down," Charlie said as he walked off with the others. "Ok Charlie, I'll be ready."

They finished their breakfasts and sat talking until the others reappeared.

"Ready Jennie?" Charlie said and looked at Bill, "speak to you later in the week Bill."

She and Bill stood up. Bill walked her to the door where she held back from the others. "Don't forget to call me, I'll be back here by six."

"You can count on it."

They kissed and she ran off after the others.

Bill went back into the hotel and up to his room. He had intended to pack the previous night, but as he hadn't been back to his room he still had it to do. There wasn't much, he had brought very little with him. He paid his bill and was on his way by nine-thirty.

It took him almost an hour to get through central London and on to the M25. He was thirty miles out of Cheltenham doing well over the speed limit when his phone rang. He slowed down and pulled over to the slow lane, cutting his speed to under fifty.

There was nowhere to stop so he had to take the call on the move. "Hello?" He didn't recognise the number.

"Bill?"

"Yes."

"This is Vic Bannerman."

"Vic, how are you?"

"I'm fine personally, but I have a problem that I'm sure will interest you."

"Go on."

"I was away for the weekend staying with Dr. Curzon and his wife and I've just got back to find that the Manor has been ransacked."

"Bloody idiot," Bill shouted. "Sorry Vic, I didn't mean you. Some idiot just cut in front of me. Was anything taken?" His voice was normal again.

"Cash from the safe, but I think that's all."

"Do me a favour and don't touch anything until I get there. I'm actually heading back to Cheltenham. I'll be with you in about forty-five minutes."

"Ok, see you when you get here."

Bill stayed in the slow lane and called Gavin Groves. He told him what had happened and they arranged to meet at the Manor.

As he pulled up Gavin and Vic appeared at the door.

Getting out of the car he heard Gavin say "How'd the weekend go?"

"Pretty good," he replied, walking up the steps and shaking hands with Vic. "What have we got?"

"Well as Vic says, it doesn't appear that robbery was the reason for the break-in. It looks very much as if whoever it was, was looking for something specific."

Bill looked from Gavin to Vic.

"I have no idea," Vic said, anticipating Bill's question.

They went inside. "I see what you mean," Bill said to Gavin a few minutes later. "They took the cash from the safe, which they apparently found easy to open. Whoever they were, they weren't amateurs."

"Do you think it was the South Africans?"

"That would be my first guess Vic, but guesses aren't enough. We'll have the house checked again, but I doubt that we'll find anything."

Gavin was already on the phone making the arrangements. When he had finished he turned to Bill.

"You hungry?"

"I am."

"Come on then, I'll buy you lunch in the Rising Moon."

"Sounds good. Come on Vic, if he's buying we might as well take full advantage – it may never happen again."

"Shall I lock the house?"

"No need," said Gavin. "There's a uniformed officer on the way down at this moment."

As they turned out of the driveway on to the main road they saw the patrol car approaching.

Gavin flashed the officer down and on recognizing Gavin's car he stopped right next to him. Gavin told the officer what was going on and that the car in the driveway was Bill's. He let him know that they would be back soon, probably in about an hour and a half, and that he need only stay until either they or the fingerprint team arrived.

At the Rising Moon Bill asked Mike if the South Africans had been in. They hadn't but he offered to call the other pubs for him while they had lunch. Half way through lunch Mike came over and informed them that none of the other pubs had seen them either.

"Pity," said Bill. "I'd like to talk to them but now we have no idea where they are, although my gut feeling tells me that they're not too far away. The thing that suggests to me that they are involved is that it's the same as the break-in at Ronnie Salter's home in Johannesburg. I think I mentioned it to you Vic."

Vic looked a little unsure. "It was Rod's and Rosemary's old house."

"Yes, I remember. I just had to think about it for a minute. I'd forgotten the man's name"

His look returned to Gavin. "I think that we have to assume both break-ins were done by the same people and that those people were Terence Cragge and whoever is with him. What we have to try and do is ascertain exactly what it is that they are looking for. Of course they might have found it, but as the whole house was taken apart, they probably haven't."

"How's that?" asked Vic.

"Well, as soon as they had found it they would have stopped searching and got out, leaving part of the house the way you left it and not totally ransacked.

"Of course." Vic was annoyed with himself for asking such an obvious question.

"When does your sister get back?"

"Thursday, I think."

"Good. She will be able to confirm that nothing was taken and perhaps she will be able to shed some light on what they were looking for."

After lunch Gavin drove them back to the Manor. The fingerprint team was still at work. After telling Vic that he could start cleaning up after the team left, Bill picked up his car and followed Gavin back to the station.

Vic called Connie to see if she could come in to help. He was well pleased when she said that she would.

He decided not to telephone Rosemary about the break-in, there was nothing that she or Gerald could do about it and he could, therefore, see no reason to spoil their holiday. He and Connie could get the place tidied up, especially as Connie had agreed to help him all day on Tuesday.

Late Tuesday afternoon Bill called him and confirmed what they had expected, that whoever had broken in had left no clues. They were all of the mind that it was the work of Terence Cragge but, although they were reasonably sure, Bill had told him that finding Terence and then proving it was a different matter altogether. He had also advised him to securely lock the house at night when it was empty and also to get the burglar alarm fixed.

The latter, Vic informed Bill, he had already arranged and had an alarm company coming in on Wednesday morning, not only to repair it but to upgrade it.

Bill's final advice to Vic was to keep his eyes open in case Terence was still around and if he did see him not to approach him, but to call him immediately.

"You don't have to worry about that one Bill, I have no wish to get close to that man again."

"Good. What are you doing Wednesday night? If you're free I've got Charlie Randle coming down Wednesday night and going back Thursday. He's the policeman from Johannesburg and I think that your input would be very useful if you can make it."

"Even if I was busy, I'd make other arrangements – not just for my sake but I'd like to get it sorted for Rosie."

"Great. We'll pick you up around seven." He hung up and looked at his watch. It was still too early to ring Jennie. He had been on the phone to her for over an hour the previous night and she had called him back that morning. He had invited her down to Wulfrum for the weekend and she had readily accepted. He just hoped that the rest of the week would go a little quicker than it so far had.

Chapter Sixty

Gerald and Rosemary had spent their last night at the villa. They had still not slept together but both knew that the other only had to ask. Gerald had even considered proposing but didn't want her to feel that he was rushing her. Not only that, but he wanted to try and get their lives back to normality before they moved on. How he was going to do it he had no idea, but somehow Rod and the influence he was now having had to be removed. Neither one of them would ever be comfortable with such a huge albatross on their shoulders.

The holiday had been better than either of their expectations despite the feelings of being watched.

They hadn't gone out that night as they had to be up early in the morning to catch their flight home from Malaga at around nine, which necessitated being at the airport a good two hours before that to check in and drop off the hire car.

The flight back to Gatwick left on time and arrived on time. They drove across country and joined the A40 at Oxford. It was a late mornings early afternoon drive so the traffic, although busy, caused them no problems.

"Vic, we're back," she shouted from the hallway.

"I'm here," he shouted back. "Be right down."

Gerald put her suitcases down in the hallway and followed her into the lounge.

"It looks different, Gerald."

Gerald looked around. The room did indeed look different.

"If it was the old days I would think that my brother had had a party while we were away, but that obviously is not the case as he hardly knows anyone here. The furniture is not quite right."

"Hey."

They both turned round to see Vic coming towards them. He embraced Rosemary and shook hands with Gerald.

"How was the holiday?"

"Very good," said Gerald at the same time as Rosemary said, "Perfect." They smiled at each other. Any doubts that Vic might have had about them becoming a couple were blown away by the look that passed between the two of them

Rosemary turned back to Vic. "What's been going on?" she said with just a hint of suspicion hanging on the question.

"You noticed."

"Instantly."

"Sit down."

The both picked up on the seriousness of the request and sat down obediently.

"The house was broken in to." He raised his hands to prevent the obvious question. "As far as I can tell nothing was taken apart from whatever cash might have been in the safe."

Rosemary looked over her shoulder at the safe.

"I closed it." he said as she looked back at him. "The police have finished. They found nothing. Sergeant Allington is of the opinion that it has to do with Rod's past. There was a similar break-in in your old house in Johannesburg, again, nothing was taken. It's as if they were looking for something. The Sergeant has no idea what and was hoping you might have an idea."

"I have no idea at all, Rod never shared anything about his business with me."

"That's what we thought."

"Do they have any ideas, Vic?" Gerald asked.

"They think that Terence Cragge is involved."

"Terence Cragge? I never did like him. I always asked Rod to get rid of him, but way back then I though that Rod was in a legitimate business."

"Don't worry, sis, the police are looking out for him and they will be keeping an eye on the house.

"Who's Terrence Cragge?"

They had forgotten that Gerald did not know and quickly explained to him.

Vic thought that the break-in was enough for her to cope with at the moment so he didn't tell her that Terence was the one that Rod had sent to warn him off. Anyway it was unlikely that Terence would be bothered with him now that there was no Rod, he probably wouldn't even remember him.

The three of them chatted until six, in which time Rosemary had checked the house and was certain that nothing else was missing, and then Gerald went back to the Gables to unpack and change and Vic went upstairs to change in readiness for Bill and Charlie picking him up. Rosemary and Gerald intended going into Cheltenham for a meal – neither one of them looked forward to the prospect of cooking for themselves after the day's traveling.

After Bill had spoken to Jennie the previous evening she put him through to Charlie in order for him to make arrangements to pick him up at Cheltenham station. Dr Beeching had closed the one at Wulfrum in the sixties.

The arranged pick up time was spot on due to the British railway network's efforts to keep their trains on time. On the way back to pick Vic up they talked about life in South Africa, London, and, of course, Jennie. Bill deliberately kept away from the subject of Terence Cragge, preferring to wait until Vic was present.

Gerald was back round at the Manor within an hour, washed and changed. Vic was ready when Bill and Charlie arrived and after waiting a few minutes for Rosemary to come downstairs they set off leaving her and Gerald to their evening.

The few questions that Bill had asked her were of no help to him at all. She confirmed that nothing had been taken and told them what little she knew about Terence Cragge, basically that she had never liked him and was always a little afraid of him. Apart from that she could offer nothing.

Bill re-iterated what he had said to Vic about securing the house when they were out and told her that the new alarm that Vic had arranged to be fitted was as good as they could get. It was a silent alarm that was connected directly to the police station. The old box had been left on the outside wall to confuse any future burglars.

Vic had immediately taken to Charlie the moment Bill had introduced him. There wasn't anything to dislike about the man.

Bill didn't even ask them where they wanted to eat, he thought that as they were three men then a pub was the obvious place. With that in mind he drove straight to the Rising Moon.

As they walked in, Charlie looked around. "Now this is a real British pub."

Mike looked up from behind the bar. "Bill, Vic, how are you? For a minute I thought they were back again."

Bill knew straight away what he meant. "Mike, this is Charlie Randle."

Charlie shook hands with Mike. "Pleased to meet you Mike, nice pub."

"Thanks."

"Charlie's another copper, Mike, he's over here from South Africa for a couple of weeks, hence the accent," explained Bill.

"Sounds like this case of yours is getting serious."

"It is, but Charlie's not here in an official capacity although he is helping me all he can."

"I see, what can I get for you?"

"I'll try a Boddingtons," said Bill. "Vic?"

"Yeah, that sounds fine."

"If it's good enough for you then it's good enough for me," Charlie made it unanimous.

Mike set the beer on the bar in front of them. Bill offered him a ten pound note. He raised his arms in refusal. "No, this one's on me."

"Cheers, Mike, that's good of you."

"Yes, cheers," echoed the other two.

"This is good," said Charlie, taking a healthy swallow. Bill and Vic were more conservative with their first taste. They finished their pints and ordered another one each. This time Mike accepted Bill's tenner. Taking their beers they retreated to the dining area.

As they sat down Pru came over with three menus. Bill again introduced Charlie. "Pru is Gerald's sister," seeing a blank look on Charlie's face he quickly added, "you met Gerald at the Manor when we collected Vic."

"Of course, I'm sorry – I'm so bad with names, but faces . . . faces I never forget" he sounded proud of the fact.

Pru handed each of them a menu. "The special today is homemade mushroom and asparagus pie with garlic mashed potatoes. It's down to me tonight. It's Kevin's day off."

Bill at once handed the menu back to her. "I've had your homemade pies before so I won't need this, and if you two will be guided by me then you won't consider anything but the pie."

"Thank you, Bill," she was proud of her cooking and loved being complimented on it. Mike just accepted it, he ate it so often and always told her that she was good enough to be the chef herself, but never in front of Kevin. Chefs could be so temperamental.

Vic and Charlie both copied Bill and handed back their menus simultaneously. "Looks like three pies, Pru," said Bill.

While waiting for their dinner Bill brought up the subject of Terence Cragge. Charlie listened while Vic told him of his experience and then he told Vic of similar instances and worse ones that he knew of that had happened in South Africa.

Bill had not yet discussed the weekend's break-in at Wulfrum Manor with Charlie, but as soon as he did Charlie recognized the similarities with the break-in at Ronnie Salter's house.

"It certainly appears to be more than a coincidence considering Rod's connection with both houses and I totally agree with you that they were not burglaries but that the perpetrators were looking for something specific. If I was a betting man I would put a month's wages on it being Terence. The fact that he's in the area shouts it, but again as you say Bill, proving it is the hard bit. Whatever he was looking for must have once been in South Africa, but was brought here when your sister," he looked over at Vic, "moved back. Whatever it is must be in the house somewhere and it must have been Rod's rather than Rosemary's."

Again he looked at Vic. "Can you think of anything that your sister has removed, sold, thrown out, or in any way disposed of?"

Before he could answer, Bill thumped the table so hard that all the cutlery bounced. Somehow surprisingly no beer spilled over. "Jesus," he blasphemed loudly, then more quietly, "I'm so bloody stupid."

By now he had both men's total interest. "That gun that we've got in the lab. It was taken away after the McKay boy was shot and we've still got it and it was one of Rod's prized possessions. In fact Rosemary was surprised that it was here; she was sure that she had left it behind."

"You now Bill that could well be it," Charlie enthused.

Bill's pulse was racing, he realised that at last they possibly had something to go on.

"Tomorrow I'll get the lab to take it apart with a fine-tooth comb."

"Keep me in touch won't you?"

"Of course, Charlie. I'll speak to you tomorrow night when I ring Jennie."

"Oh I see, I'm second best," he joked in an attempt to settle things down.

"Of course you are, and a distant one," said Bill as he calmed down again.

He turned his attention to Vic. "I'm sure Rosemary wouldn't mind us taking it apart would she?

"Not at all, I know she hates it and wouldn't care if she never saw it again."

"Good, but I'd be grateful if you would mention it to her."

"First thing in the morning."

"Thanks. Now in the meantime let's have a few beers and forget all about it until tomorrow."

The pie was even better than Bill had said and all of them left totally clean plates before returning to the bar where Charlie and Vic had another beer each as Bill settled for a second coffee before driving Vic home. Rosemary and Gerald were not yet back so he left it, as arranged, for Vic to tell her about the gun.

After they had dropped Vic off, they drove off to the other side of town to Bill's house. He had invited Charlie to stay for the night. They stayed up chatting for about an hour, long enough for a few Glenmorangies before retiring.

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