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Willia but only caught a glimpse of the man as he turned the corner
‘Thanks!’ William shouted as he took up the chase on foot His eyes continually searching the crowd ahead, but he had to dodge between pedestrians, as he no longer had the help of a siren And then he spotted a rab hi a stroller with one hand and holding a small child’s hand with the other
Willia less and less confident with each step, but then he caught sight of another beige raincoat disappearing into Sloane Square tube station When he reached the ticket barrier he took out his ID card but didn’t give the inspector a chance to check it as he raced past He saw the man near the bottoain Willia coht up with the ht and headed for the eastbound District line
Williaed onto the crowded platforht before he spotted the es away Williaan to close, grabbed a handrail to steady hiht his breath When the train cae raincoat didn’t appear So, like the king on a chessboard, he advanced one square at a tie at each stop
The passenger in the raincoat didn’t get off, and four stops later Williae He took a seat near the front and glanced through theof the dividing door to take a closer look at his quarry TheStandard, and when they stopped at the next station he didn’t even look up This was going to be a long journey
By the time the man folded his newspaper, they had stopped twenty-one tih time to be sure
he was following the right ht stoop He didn’t need to hear his accent to know this was the saer of Hatchards had described to him
The enham East Williain with he was able to lose hiers thinned out he had to hang further and further back He considered arresting the man there and then, but first he needed to find out where he lived, so he would knohere the evidence was hidden
The man turned down a side street, and stopped at a little wicket gate Willia, and noted the number, 43, as the man unlocked his front door and disappeared inside When William reached the end of the street, he added Monkside Drive to his ht be wiser not to attempt to enter the house until he’d reported back to DCI Lamont and obtained a search warrant He felt confident that theanywhere soon
Willia triued He checked his watch: 721 Bethwhere he was
He ran all the way back to the station, but knew as he stood alone on the cold, windy platfor for the next train to appear that he had no chance of being in Kensington in tiress between each stop, which Williaenha to concentrate every second, seeton at 815 William ran up the escalator and out onto Thurloe Place, but by the ti was in darkness
As he walked slowly in the direction of Beth’s ho why he hadn’t turned up in time for the lecture He was almost word perfect by the time he reached her front door
He stood there for soentle taps on the knocker A fewman asked, ‘Can I help you?’
William felt sick
‘I was hoping to see Beth,’ he blurted out as a figure in a dressing gown appeared, a torapped around her hair