‘They wouldn’t want to attract attention,’ George told her.
‘Apart from sending it through the streets of London to attack you two, you mean?’
‘It was foggy,’ George protested. ‘But even so, they must have brought it most of the way in a special carriage or something.’
‘We might find out if we watch,’ Eddie said impatiently.
‘We’re as safe here as anywhere, I suppose,’ Liz admitted.
‘That’s true enough,’ George agreed. ‘Like you said, this is the last place anyone would expect to find us.’
He froze as behind them in the fog, someone cleared their throat.
‘I must beg to differ,’ a voice said.
George turned so fast he sent the fog swirling. Liz gave a gasp of astonishment, and Eddie scrambled for cover.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Sir William Protheroe said, ‘did I startle you?’
‘I’d be lying if I said you didn’t,’ George told him when he had recovered.
‘What are you doing here, Sir William?’ Liz spoke in a loud whisper.
‘Well, believe it or believe it not, I was waiting for you.’
‘How d’you know we’d be here, then?’ Eddie demanded, reappearing from a clump of foliage.
‘I overheard an unpleasant gentleman talking to my assistant Mr Berry. I gathered several things from their conversation. One of those was that the three of you were on the run, sought after by Lorimore’s thugs.’
‘Lorimore — so we’re sure he is behind this?’
‘Oh yes. Quite sure.’
‘But how did you know we were
Sir William smiled. ‘It seemed the most likely place.’
‘But why?’
‘Because, Mr Archer, it is the best place to gather clues and evidence, and the last place that Lorimore would expect to find you. I think we all want answers to the various questions that Lorimore’s behaviour and actions have posed. This seems the most likely place to discover those answers.’
Eddie only half listened while between them George and Liz explained to Sir William what had happened since that morning. He stared into the fog, trying to make out details of the house.
Last time he was here — was it only last night? — there had been a guard patrolling with a shotgun. But tonight there was no sign of him — perhaps he had been sent to look for Eddie and the others. That would be a hoot, what with them all right here where the guard should have been.
But Eddie kept a careful watch in case the man was simply taking a break or lingering round the other side of the house. His ears strained to catch the telltale sound of boots on gravel.
What he did hear was the sound of voices. They drifted faintly through the fog. Eddie strained to hear, leaning forward. They seemed to be coming from the house — voices, moving now across the lawn. He could make out the vaguest of shadows through the heavy air.
Behind him, the others were discussing what they should do next. Eddie waved at them to be quiet.
‘What is it?’ Sir William whispered, crawling forwards to join Eddie at the edge of the small wood.
‘People. From the house. I think they’re going to the shed.’
‘I wonder what they’re up to,’ George said quietly.
‘We won’t find out just by hiding here,’ Liz hissed. ‘Why don’t we go and see?’
‘An excellent notion,’ Sir William said quietly. ‘I for one should like to know a lot more about this creature. It sounds fascinating, to say the least. But I would suggest that rather than all four of us trying to get close without being seen, we send one of our party to scout out and report back.’
‘I’ll go,’ George said at once, to Eddie’s relief.
But he could see that Sir William had his hand on George’s arm. ‘I’m sure you would do magnificently, but there may be someone here better suited to the job. Someone who knows exactly where this shed is located. Someone used to creeping about without being noticed and with a good turn of speed should they be spotted. Someone,’ he added, turning to look at Eddie, ‘small.’
Eddie stared back indignantly. ‘Who you calling small?’
‘He’s right,’ Liz said before Sir William could answer. ‘Eddie’s the best person for this.’
‘For what?’
‘Just creep over,’ George said, ‘and see what they’re up to over there. Find out what they’re talking about. Then you can come back.’
Eddie was furious. Why should he be the one to risk his life creeping up on Lorimore’s killers and the monster? ‘No way!’ he protested.
He felt a gentle touch on his shoulder, and turned to find Liz looking down at him. Her eyes were wide and appealing.
‘Please,’ she said softly, ‘we need your help, Eddie.’
Eddie crept towards Lorimore’s men. The problem was, that if he was close enough to see them clearly, then they could see him. He edged as close as he dared — until their voices were audible through the fog. Then he dropped to the ground and crawled slowly forwards.
There were four men. He could already tell that one of them was Blade. He was talking to a tall, spindly figure who seemed to be directing them — Lorimore himself, Eddie guessed. The other two were further off, standing by the shed. The door, Eddie saw, was open. With the figures outside to show how big it really was, the building looked more like a coach house.
‘It’s gone down the tunnel,’ one of them said. ‘But it’s on its way back now.’
‘It comes when I call,’ Lorimore said in his high-pitched whine. He sounded smug and self-important.
‘Expecting to be fed, probably,’ Blade replied. ‘It’ll be a bit agitated after all the excitement.’ Something was draped over his arm, but Eddie could not make out what it was. ‘You sure this will work, sir?’ Blade asked.
‘Your incompetence has left us few options, Mr Blade,’ Lorimore replied caustically. ‘But the olfactory systems remain preserved and should function, at least well enough for our purposes. The idiot’s brain I put in it should manage that. You say yourself that you believe the boy was in the street outside, possibly even in the grounds when you retrieved Wilkes. Find the boy and we find his friends. Find his friends and we find what remains of Glick’s last diary. Or at the very least someone who can apprise us of its contents.’
Blade nodded, but if he spoke the sound of his voice was drowned out by the roar from the open shed behind him. It was a sound that Eddie had heard several times before. The fog round the shed door swirled and thickened as smoke or perhaps steam billowed out. Slowly, terrifyingly, the grotesque shape of the creature’s head appeared as if from the ground inside the shed. The monster was hauling itself out of a huge pit that was hidden inside the building.
Eddie could see now that two men were standing either side, holding heavy chains that reached up and round the creature’s neck as it emerged into the open. Its head swung to and fro as if it was sniffing the air, as if it was searching for food.
‘Gently now,’ Lorimore said. His voice was soft as if he was talking to a child. ‘There’s nothing to worry about, my beauty. Mr Blade has a small task for you to perform.’ He turned to the big man. ‘Mr Blade?’
Blade handed him the thing that had been draped over his arm. As Lorimore took it and opened it, Eddie could see through the gusting smoke that it was a jacket. Lorimore held it out at arm’s length.
After a moment, the monster’s head dipped down. Steam erupted from its nostrils. It nudged the jacket with its nose, teeth glinting in the suffuse light.
‘Fetch,’ Blade said, and laughed. His men laughed too, until Lorimore turned on them.
‘That’s enough,’ he said. ‘It has the scent. Lead it to the gates and let it pick up the trail there.’
‘What if it’s seen?’ Blade wondered.
‘There won’t be many people out in this. And those who are won’t be certain. They will just see shapes and shadows, unless they get very close. And if they do …’ Lorimore laughed now — a nasal whine of amusement.
But Eddie hardly heard. He was staring at the jacket, now lying discarded on the ground at Lorimore’s feet as the smoke and steam swirled round it. The jacket that the monster had sniffed at to get the scent of its prey.
