The room overlooked a service yard. A lorry stood beneath a floodlight, its engine running. Somewhere beyond the wall, a public-address announcement began and faded before Eleanor could make out the words.
Helen sat nearest the door.
Relf remained standing until an officer brought three cups of water. He thanked her, waited for the door to close, then pulled out the chair beside Eleanor.
"May I?" Eleanor asked, holding up the envelope.
He nodded.
She opened it along the flap. There were two sheets inside, closely written, and a folded photocopy.
Bull had dated the letter on the Monday of his death.
Dear Dr Harcourt,
We have not met. Your name was given to me by Michael Vale when he was looking for someone who could review the findings concerning a death overseas. He had read your work. I kept the details, although I did nothing with them at the time.
I am now regretting several things I did nothing about.
Eleanor stopped.
"What?" Relf asked.
"Michael."
She read the opening aloud.
Relf leaned closer to see the page.
"Which death?"
"He hasn't said yet."
She continued.
Michael sent me photographs of a plate fixed beneath a bell inscription in Hong Kong. He believed it had been added recently. I thought it was probably a repair record or some commemorative addition he had misunderstood.
After his death, I looked again. The groups on the plate correspond to entries in records held by Edward Lamb's company. They concern people moved through the network, and the arrangements made when a route was closed.
Michael was trying to identify one of those people. I believe that is why he died.
I cannot prove it.
Eleanor looked across at Helen.
"You knew about the plate?"
"My father's papers contained a copy."
"Did you know Michael had found it?"
"Not until Adrian showed me his photograph."
Relf opened his notebook.
"When?"
"The week before he died. We spoke first. I was still in Hong Kong."
"And he asked you to come here?"
"Yes."
Eleanor returned to the letter.
I have enclosed a copy of an instruction relating to the British route. The language is administrative, which makes it easy to overlook what is being ordered.
The numbered bells select the inscriptions used as keys. People have also been assigned numbers, but these are local designations and have changed. Customers are given explanations suited to the service they are buying. This is why an inquiry conducted through the people involved will produce several convincing and incompatible answers.
I made that mistake myself.
The person authorised to close a route is referred to in some records as Eight. It is an authority, not necessarily the eighth member of the original group. Hart exercised it in Britain. He did not hold it alone.
Please do not infer a person's identity from a number without checking the document in which it occurs.
Relf held out his hand for the photocopy.
Eleanor unfolded it.
It looked like part of a ledger. There were dates, amounts, initials and a column headed STATUS. Some entries had been marked TRANSFERRED. Others read CLOSED.
A handwritten note ran along the bottom.
British completion authorised. D.M.
Relf placed it flat on the table.
"Mercer."
Helen nodded.
"That's his handwriting."
"How do you know?"
"I have other instructions signed by him."
"Where?"
"In the company records."
"Which records?"
"The ones I've been trying to get out."
Relf looked towards the door, then at his watch.
23:26.
He asked the officer outside to join them.
"Find out whether Ms Lamb has a vehicle booking. I need the registration and where the car is now. Have someone stay with it."
Helen reached for her shoulder bag.
The officer moved a step nearer.
"My keys," Helen said.
She put them on the table.
"Blue hatchback. There's a document wallet under the passenger seat."
Relf took down the registration she gave him.
"Don't open anything," he told the officer. "Secure the car and call me."
When she had gone, he turned back to Helen.
"Why didn't you tell us this outside?"
"I wanted to know whether you'd let her read the letter."
"You could have come to me days ago."
"I could."
He waited.
Helen rubbed a thumb along the edge of her cup.
"My father recommended Mercer. He signed contracts for him. I've spent most of this week trying to work out how much he knew."
"That doesn't explain why you waited."
"No."
Eleanor lifted the second sheet.
Bull's writing became smaller towards the bottom.
Margaret Sayer can corroborate the financial entries. Claire Hatherley has agreed to take her a separate account of what I have found.
Helen Lamb holds the correspondence linking the instructions to the money. She was not involved in the early arrangements. I have asked her to preserve the originals.
If I am wrong about any of this, they will be able to demonstrate it.
Tonight I intend to examine the lower casting on the Rye tenor. Marris has agreed to help. I expect it to confirm the reference to Hart, but I have been wrong before.
Marris does not know what I have found in the company records. I have told him only what I need from him at the church.
If something happens to me, please examine the evidence of my death before accepting an account from anyone connected with these routes. That includes people who appear to be helping.
I do not expect to die. I have, however, come to think that leaving no account would be irresponsible.
Yours sincerely,\ Adrian Bull
Below the signature was a final line.
Michael deserved a better answer than the one we gave Martin.
Eleanor laid the letter down.
For a moment she could hear only the lorry outside.
"He didn't arrange it," she said.
Relf shook his head.
"He was going to read an inscription."
"And expected to come back."
"Yes."
Helen looked at the papers.
"He said he'd telephone me afterwards."
"What time?" Relf asked.
"Seven, perhaps later. I wasn't to worry if he was delayed."
"Did Marris know about you?"
"I don't think so."
"Did Mercer?"
Helen hesitated.
"I asked David for help finding the old contracts."
Relf put down his pen.
"When?"
"Before I spoke to Adrian properly. I knew him as a consultant my father had trusted."
"What did you tell him?"
"That a historian was asking about some of the company's early work."
"Did you name Bull?"
"Yes."
Helen pressed her lips together.
Eleanor watched Relf absorb that.
"Have you spoken to Mercer since?" he asked.
"He called after Weller's arrest. He wanted to know what Adrian had given me."
"What did you say?"
"That I had nothing."
"And tonight?"
Helen glanced at her telephone.
"That was him."
"The call at 23:18?"
"Yes."
"What did he want?"
"He told me not to board. He said the car would be collected and someone would take me to another crossing."
Relf reached for his own telephone.
"Did you agree?"
"I said I was coming back out."
"Why?"
"I wanted him to think I was doing what he asked."
Relf called the officer watching the car.
"Keep everyone clear of it. Tell me if anyone approaches. Don't let it leave."
Eleanor picked up the postcard from the papers Relf had brought into the room.
"Did you send this?"
Helen looked at it.
"Yes."
"Why make us decode it?"
"Adrian had written out the groups for me. He wanted them checked independently."
"Then why not tell us who you were?"
"I was afraid you'd contact David. Or Tom. Adrian said they were people you knew."
Relf's face remained still.
"The reversed picture?"
"Adrian's copy. I used it."
"And 'bring the doctor'?"
Helen looked at Eleanor.
"I wrote that. I knew you were leaving. I didn't want the letter passed into a file without you seeing it."
"You could have addressed it to me."
"I didn't know where you were staying."
Eleanor looked again at Bull's envelope. Her name had been written carefully, the letters separated enough to leave no doubt.
Relf's telephone vibrated.
He listened, then stood.
"Stay in this room," he told them.
Helen's hands tightened around the paper cup.
"What is it?"
"A man's approached your car."
"David?"
"The officers are checking."
Eleanor rose.
Relf looked at her.
"Here," he said. "Please."
She sat back down.
He took the photocopy with Mercer's authorisation and left the letter beside her.
At the door, he turned to Helen.
"Was anyone else supposed to collect those records?"
"No."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
Relf went out.
Helen watched the closed door.
"Do you think he'll catch him?"
Eleanor smoothed the crease in Bull's second sheet.
"I think you should tell him everything else you've left out."
Helen lowered her eyes.
Outside, the lorry's engine stopped.