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‘Yes’

‘Which roould you like to sit in?’

‘You’re joking?’

‘I don’t joke, detective constable Which row?’

‘In the row behind Miles Faulkner He’s—’

‘We all knoho Mr Faulkner is I’ll see what I can do’

‘But how—’

‘Don’t ask And if you don’t have any more requests, move on’

William arrived at the Fitzmolean a few minutes early He paused on the pavement of Prince Albert Crescent to ade He ell aware that, for security reasons, since the theft of the Reallery at any one tiet ticket nu lecture Half an hour later and they would have b

een sold out

He presented his ticket to the uniforuard on the door and was directed to the second floor, where he joined a s i authority on the Renaissance period, to make his entrance

Willia forward to the lecture, and hoped the director ht even have a theory about what had happened to theRembrandt

At oneworoup and clapped her hands a couple of tientleallery’s research assistants’ She waited for co ‘I’ froies’

An audible groan went up, and one or two patrons began heading towards the exit

‘However, the director is confident that he will be fully recovered in a few days, so if you are able to return next Thursday evening, he will deliver his lecture then For those unable to come back next week, your entrance fee will be refunded Should anyone wish to remain, I will be happy to show you around the collection But don’t worry,’ she added, ‘your money will still be refunded even if you stay’ This caused a ripple of laughter