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'Percy.' That was all Umber could find to say. There had been a risk of bumping into Nevinson. He had realized that. But the pub was not the man's natural territory. And it was clear that this encounter, unlike their last, was not a product of chance.

'Shall we go inside? Perhaps I could buy you a drink?'

'All right.' Umber struggled to recover himself. If Chantelle did turn up, the last person he wanted for company was Nevinson. Getting rid of the man would be next to impossible, however. Maybe it was safer for them to be inside the Red Lion than out. 'Let's do that.'

* * *

The bar was quiet. Nevinson bought Umber a pint and another half for himself. They sat at a table by the window, Umber taking the chair facing it, so that he had a view of the road and the stones of the henge's southern inner circle. Nevinson took off his hat and ruffled his hair, smiling at Umber with irritating mildness.

'You came to no harm in Jersey, then,' he said after a sip of beer.

'As you see.'

'When Abigail came back from shopping in Marlborough this afternoon, she told me she'd spotted you from the bus. I felt sure you'd come out here sooner or later if I waited long enough.'

'And you were right.'

'Gratifyingly so. Our last meeting was… rudely interrupted. It's good to have this opportunity to take up where we left off.'

'Look, Percy, I -'

'It's no good claiming to be in all kinds of a hurry this time, David. The last bus to Marlborough left at six fifteen. Even if you phoned for a taxi now, we'd have at least twenty minutes to chat.'

'All right. Let's chat.' Umber smiled grimly and flung himself into an attempt to lead the discussion, since discussion there clearly had to be. 'Talking of Abigail, did you tell her why you went to Jersey? Or are you sticking to the ufological-conference line?'

Nevinson pursed his lips. 'A white lie to spare my sister's feelings, nothing more. Naturally, I've… come clean since returning home.'

'Completely clean, Percy?'

'Well, I…'

'Did you mention hiring Wisby?'

Nevinson grimaced. 'That would only have confused her.'

'Why did you hire him?'

'I didn't. Not really. I asked him… to share his findings with me, that's all. Which he never did, beyond what he judged sufficient to extract an exorbitant fee from me.'

'Slippery character, Wisby.'

'Indeed.'

'What about standing idly by while I was grabbed off the street by a couple of heavies in St Helier? Did you mention that to Abigail?'

'There again…'

'You didn't want to confuse her.'

Nevinson grinned nervously. 'Exactly.'

'As a law-abiding citizen, shouldn't you have phoned the police? You'd witnessed a kidnapping, after all.'

'Is that what it was, David? To be honest, I considered the possibility that it was – how shall I put it? – staged.'

'Staged?'

'For my benefit, I mean.'

'Your benefit?'

'Besides, in a sense, I did consult the police. A policeman, that is.' Nevinson's grin broadened. 'Well, a retired policeman.'

'What are you talking about?'

'I'm referring to Mr Sharp.'

'You visited George?'

'There was no need to visit him. I spoke to him at the magistrates' court after his hearing. Well, near the magistrates' court, to be strictly accurate.'

'Near?'

'Yes. There's a pleasant little park just round the -'

'Never mind the bloody park. How come you've been strolling around St Helier with George? He's in custody.'

'Not since Tuesday. He was granted bail, you see.'

'What?'

'Bail. In consideration of his status as a retired police officer, apparently. A thousand pounds and the surrender of his passport. The conditions seemed very -'

'George is out?'

'Yes. That's what it amounts to. Out. Pending trial.' Nevinson's grin acquired a sickly thinness. 'I'm rather surprised you didn't know.'

Nevinson's surprise was nothing compared with Umber's. Larter had not breathed a word about this. Yet he must have been aware of it. He had actually mentioned speaking to Sharp only yesterday. For some reason, the two men had decided to keep Umber in the dark. 'Are you sure about this, Percy?'

'How could I not be? I was there when the magistrates said their piece. And I certainly didn't imagine our conversation in the park. We were standing by the statue of General Don. According to my Jersey guidebook, he was responsible for -'

'Forget General Don. What did George say?'

'Well, he was surprised to see me, naturally. But he rapidly deduced that news of Jeremy Hall's death had brought me to the island. He was very interested by what I had to tell him about you. And about Wisby, of course. It was at his request that I took the matter of your apparent kidnapping no further. He said he'd deal with it.'

'Deal with it?'

'I confess I'm not entirely clear what he meant by that.'

Neither was Umber. What in God's name was Sharp up to? How had he wangled bail, which Burnouf had said was next to impossible? And where had he been since? Where – and why?

'Wisby was up before the magistrates himself on Tuesday,' Nevinson went on. 'Caught trying to leave Jersey in possession of stolen money, apparently. No bail for him, of course. I think Mr Sharp meant to visit him before leaving Jersey himself.'

'He said he was going to visit Wisby?'

'Not in so many words.'

'And what about leaving Jersey?'

'I took it as read. Why would he stay when the next stage in the Hall family drama is about to unfold here in Wiltshire? Lack of a passport is no bar to travelling from Jersey to England, after all. Just as I'm surprised you hadn't heard about his release, however, I must confess to even greater surprise that he hasn't been in touch with you since, given your previous… collaboration. You look, if I may say so, more than a little dismayed yourself.'

'How very perceptive of you, Percy.'

'Why would he be avoiding you, I wonder?'

'I'm wondering the same myself.'

'Could it be that Wisby has told him something that causes him to doubt your loyalty? If so, he may suspect you weren't really kidnapped at all. Or that you were but subsequently struck some kind of deal to secure your release.'

'Suggest that to him, did you?'

'By no means. But the possibilities could have occurred to him. As I'm forced to admit they did to me.'

'Well, you can take it from me it wasn't a put-up job. And I've done no deals.'

'I'm happy to take your word on both scores, David. Despite all the evidence to the contrary.'

Umber would have felt angrier with Nevinson if he had not been so bewildered by the turn of events. 'What evidence?'

'Your current state of unfettered liberty, of course. Which I note you've conspicuously failed to explain.'

'Now just a -'

'None of my business, I'm sure. We must all shift for ourselves in this world. It was only a matter of time, after all.'

'What was?'

'Your removal from the chessboard.' Nevinson leaned forward, fixing Umber with a stare and lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. 'The powers that be have decreed there can be no queening of pawns in this game.'

* * *

The only way to shake off Nevinson, it became clear, was to return to Marlborough. And Nevinson had been uncannily accurate about the likely delay until a taxi arrived. Before he could make an exit, Umber had to endure a further twenty minutes of the man's infuriatingly smug assumption that he had in some way sold out.

Umber stopped listening once Nevinson had veered off onto his favourite topic: the role of the intelligence community in stifling research into the Martian origins of the stone circles and avenues scattered around Avebury. Umber's mind filled instead with doubts and questions concerning Sharp's activities since Tuesday.