to the promised ‘sunny intervals’.
‘Let’s go, then,’ Kingston said, getting out of the car, swinging the long wooden gate open, following its path along the arc that the bolt had gouged out of the dirt. Alex drove through and pulled into the same spot as the day before. Two other cars were parked nearby, a mud-daubed Land Rover and a shiny black new BMW. Kingston closed the gate behind him.
‘Ten to one that’s Compton’s Land Rover,’ said Alex, eyeing the cars. ‘I somehow don’t picture him as the BMW type.’
‘Who belongs to the BMW, then?’
Kingston nodded. ‘We’ll find out, won’t we?’
Alex took the camera case out of the Alfa and slammed the door closed. ‘You really think we’re going to need this?’
‘You may want a couple of pictures for your scrapbook,’ Kingston replied. ‘Let’s see if Compton’s in the office.’
‘More likely at the house, I would think, after a long flight. Didn’t Emma say it was close by?’
‘Yes, she did.’ Alex frowned. ‘I should have parked the car facing the other direction, just in case we have to make a quick getaway. Maybe we should have left the gate open.’
‘No, you never leave gates open in the country. The watchman chap, Archibald, would close it anyway.’
‘Talking of Baldie, that must be him.’ Alex was nodding towards the old barns, forty feet away. An elderly man was approaching. He wore a crumpled Barbour coat that reached to his shins. On either side of his checked cap, puffs of white hair protruded like candyfloss. He was wiry, with a face resembling a worn leather glove, and walked with a slight limp. As he came closer, they could see he had a shotgun under one arm.
‘That’s all we need,’ Alex whispered. ‘An armed guard.’
‘You don’t need to whisper. Emma said he’s deaf.’
‘You must be Archibald, ‘Alex shouted.
‘That’s me. You don’t have to shout. I’m not deaf, you know.’
Alex glared at Kingston.
Baldie gestured towards Alex’s camera case. ‘You must be them fellers from London?’ His accent had a rural singsong charm.
‘Yes, we are,’ said Alex, trying to sound as urbane as the three words would allow.
‘Emma said you’d be here to meet the boss. That’s his car over there,’ he said, pointing to the Land Rover. ‘But I ain’t seen him around yet.’ He tapped a bony finger on his temple, as if to jog his memory. ‘That’s what it was. Emma told me to tell you she took the dog with her – so no one’s going to bother you.’
‘What are you doing with the gun?’ Alex asked, now more at ease knowing that Tyson was no longer a threat.
Baldie put a cupped hand to his ear. ‘Eh? What was that?’
‘The gun. What’s with the gun?’ Alex mouthed the words as he said them.
‘Gonna see if I can get me a brace of rabbits up in the spinney in back of the village. You like a couple, too?’
‘That would be very nice,’ Kingston answered. ‘We’ll check the office then.’
‘You do that,’ said Baldie. He gave them a half-hearted wave and started toward the gate.
Alex and Kingston walked over to the office and knocked on the door. They waited for a moment, then Alex turned the doorknob. It was locked. Kingston put cupped hands up to his temples and peered into the window. ‘Nobody home,’ he said. ‘Let’s go and have a look at Sapphire.’
A ground fog had moved in, cloaking the area in a fine mist. Alex shivered, glad that he’d brought the scarf. Not surprisingly, the gate in the fence that circled the paddock was secured with a new padlock. Alex was relieved that they wouldn’t have to go in for a closer inspection after all. Kingston motioned to him with a beckoning movement. ‘Pass me the camera case, would you, Alex,’ he said.
Alex handed it to him, watching with curiosity as Kingston opened one of the outside pockets, fished around and produced a Swiss Army knife. He held it aloft for a moment and winked at Alex. ‘One of the world’s greatest inventions, me boy!’ he said, starting to probe the lock with the tiniest screwdriver Alex had ever seen. ‘Good – it’s not a tumbler type padlock. Shouldn’t be much of a problem,’ Kingston muttered as he probed with the miniature tool. Alex heard a click and the lock fell open. Smiling smugly, Kingston replaced the little screwdriver back in its ingenious housing inside the corkscrew tool, folded up the knife and put it back in the camera case.
‘I would never have guessed that burglary was among your many talents, Lawrence,’ Alex said. ‘You never cease to amaze me.’
The gate swung noiselessly and easily on its galvanized hinges and they entered Sapphire’s sanctum. A rabbit scurried along one side of the fence looking for a way of escape. The sudden movement made Alex flinch.
They had now reached the planter box. Alex lowered the camera bag gently to the ground. Kingston walked slowly around the box, studying the rose from all angles, occasionally bending down for closer inspection. Seemingly satisfied with what he saw, he stood back and folded his arms. ‘Doesn’t seem credible, does it, Alex? That something so innocent-looking could be capable of such evil. I’m not sure why we need them, but we might as well take a couple of pictures while we’re waiting.’
‘The light’s very bad,’ said Alex, ‘but what the heck.’ Taking out the Nikon, he put it up to his eye, framed the rose in the viewfinder and adjusted the focus. Just as he was about to take the shot, Kingston walked into the frame, bent down and picked something up from inside the planter box. ‘You’re in the picture – what’s that?’ Alex asked.
‘A marker of some kind.’ He held it at arm’s length attempting to read it.
‘What are you two up to?’ a loud and commanding voice barked.
Alex spun round, lowering the camera, to see two men walking toward them across the paddock.
The shorter of the two had slick black hair, a well-groomed beard and wore a long trench coat. As they came closer Alex could see that his features were slightly Asian. ‘I bet you anything that’s Tanaka,’ Alex whispered to Kingston.
Kingston nodded imperceptibly.
The other man was balding with greying sideburns and ruddy cheeks. He wore a sleeveless leather jacket over a khaki rib-knit sweater and corduroy trousers that were tucked into his boots.
‘I’m Charlie Compton,’ he said in a measured tone. ‘You must be the two chaps that Emma mentioned – from the magazine.’
‘Yes, we are,’ Kingston said, stepping forward. ‘She mentioned us, then? About wanting to interview you?’
‘She did,’ said Compton.
‘Well, I’m afraid that’s not the case.’
Compton looked perplexed. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I’m sorry to say, none of it is true. We told her that as a cover, to gain access to your property to search for this rose,’ Kingston said, nodding in the direction of the rosebush. ‘By the way, I’m Dr Kingston and my friend here is Alex Sheppard.’
‘Search my property?’ Compton folded his arms across his chest and glared at them. ‘You’ve got a hell of a bloody nerve! That’s all I can say.’
‘I apologize for the deception,’ said Kingston. ‘But there was no other way.’
‘This had better be good,’ Compton grunted.
‘Don’t worry, it will be,’ said Kingston. He paused. ‘Actually, that’s not entirely true,’ he added. ‘You’re not going to like what I’m about to tell you.’ He glanced at Tanaka. ‘Particularly you. You are Kenji Tanaka, aren’t you?’
Tanaka’s eyes narrowed. ‘It’s none of your business who I am.’ He turned to Compton. ‘These two have no business here, they’re trespassing. I think you should tell them to leave.’
Kingston ignored Tanaka’s remark. ‘Compton, you should know that this rose is stolen property. It was taken from the garden of a friend of ours in Market Drayton over a week ago.’ He nodded at Tanaka. ‘Taken by him.’
‘You’re lying,’ Tanaka snapped. ‘I purchased this rose for a client of mine. Legitimately. Mr Compton–’
Kingston didn’t let Tanaka finish. ‘This rose belongs to Alex Sheppard, and you damn well know it.’
Clearly upset and lost for words, Compton scowled at Tanaka, then at Kingston.
