Page 27 (1/2)

“How long will it take us to get to Portsmouth?” Rose asked when they were nearly at the houses

“We will be there before daybreak We ait until the docks get busy and then make our way into town,” Barnaby said

Rose stared straight ahead She hated to ask, but he see – well, al – the least he could do was tell her a few details about himself Irked a little at his complete lack of trust in her, she pierced him with a look that pinned him to the spot

Barnaby lifted his brows and braced himself for the inevitable

“Who are you?”

He blinked and looked at her “Pardon?”

“Who are you? You see and don’t seem to want to tell me who you are yet you expect me to embark on this journey with you and trust you with my life How do you know so much about criminals in London?” Their eyes met while she talked “Who are you?”

At first, Barnaby had thought she was asking about him, the person, but she wasn’t She only wanted to knoin his presence put he

r in It was a little disappointing to his ego if he was honest but at least she was talking to him

“My name is Barnaby Stephenson,” he said after several anisation called the Star Elite We are based at the War Office, but of late our work has taken us out into the Shires, andhaveon all sorts of crime”

“Like this Chadwick person?”

“Yes, Rose, like this Chadwick person During the e helped locate nuled into the country The Star Elite lers fro the spies with false identities, accommodation, and even money When the war ended, we turned our attention to other types of cri Then, about two years ago, our boss in the War Office began to hear grus from numerous led Not just anything was taken though Just some – not all, but soate, and a pattern eed Not just in how the crimes were colar walked past sos and objet d’art, and stole specific gems and jewellery sets We have traced a network of crooks who all see ood at what he does and has earned himself a formidable reputation” He looked at her and realised she had no idea what he meant “The East End of London is dockland It is full of ships, and hasconstantly It is a poor area; quite disreputable in fact It is not the type of place soo anywhere near unless you are catching a ship overseas Otherwise, steer clear because criminals like Sayers thrive there He has nurew up in deprived circumstances like him, on his payroll They are all out to make quick cash at someone else’s expense and don’t et it”

“Hoful,” she whispered She had witnessed first-hand how ruthless they could be “The two men in the yard weren’t people they stole from, were they?”

“No, they were part of Sayers’ gang We think they were trying to profit fro Sayers, and Chadas sent to stop theet some perspective on what he was truly involved in “Recently, the burglaries in London became less frequent, and a far less of a professional job was made of the thefts”

“But things got stolen?” she asked