“No, Lurcher. Can’t go. Missus can’t take you. Got to stay here and be a good boy.”
She dropped a kiss on the dog’s head, made him lie down on his rug again, and then slipped noiselessly out of the room, closing the door behind her.
She let herself out of the house by a side door and made her way round to the garage, where her little two-seater car was in readiness. There was a gentle slope, and she let the car run silently down it, not starting the engine till she was some way from the house. Then she glanced at the watch on her arm and pressed her foot down on the accelerator.
She left the car at a spot she had previously marked down. There was a gap there in the fencing that she could easily get through. A few minutes later, slightly muddy, Loraine stood inside the grounds of Wyvern Abbey.
As noiselessly as possible, she made her way towards the venerable ivy-covered building. In the distance a stable clock chimed two.
Loraine’s heart beat faster as she drew near to the terrace. There was no one about—no sign of life anywhere. Everything seemed peaceful and undisturbed. She reached the terrace and stood there, looking about her.
Suddenly, without the least warning, something from above fell with a flop almost at her feet. Loraine stooped to pick it up. It was a brown paper packet, loosely wrapped. Holding it, Loraine looked up.
There was an open window just above her head, and even as she looked a leg swung over it and a man began to climb down the ivy.
Loraine waited for no more. She took to her heels and ran, still clasping the brown paper packet.