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Barry pointed out.
    Marshall laughed, but it was a laugh devoid of humour. ‘I didn’t kill Anna either, but I still had to serve nearly six years. My appeal only succeeded for lack of evidence, which hardly classes as a pardon. So I wouldn’t hold too much store by the fairness of British justice.’
    ‘Nonsense,’ Shirley’s tone was bracing. ‘We can do what we like. No copper’s going to push us around. If they try to come the heavy, all we have to say is we don’t believe you killed anyone. Let them go ahead and try to prove the accessory bit.’
    ‘I need someone I can keep in touch with locally. I’ve no idea where this is going to lead. I’ve got one tiny piece of evidence: this number.’ He held up the slip of paper. ‘That’s more than I had when Anna was killed. If I don’t go for it I’ll finish up back in Durham; or worse.’
    ‘How do you mean “or worse”?’ Shirley asked.
    ‘If it hadn’t been for Nell I’d already be dead. How much easier is it to pin the blame for Moran and his girlfriend’s murders on a man who can’t answer back? A dead man. Not only that,’ Marshall said grimly, ‘the killer can still use me as a scapegoat. He can do it far easier if I’m unable to deny the charges. To make his scheme work he needs to kill me. I’m in more danger now. Keeping clear of the police is one thing. The killer is a far more potent threat. That’s why I have to disappear. It’s my only chance of staying alive.’
    ‘You’re not going anywhere, the state you’re in. Not until I’ve seen to that wound,’ Shirley told him. ‘We’ve left it too long already.’
    He thought over what had happened. He reckoned he had two chances of survival. Slim chance, or no chance at all. The slim chance was finding the killer before the killer found him. The no chance was the killer finding him first. To take the slim chance meant desperate measures. Marshall was about to take the first of these. He was going to tell his story to the police.

    ‘Have you seen the headline in this morning’s paper, about Moran? What the hell’s going on?’
    ‘I’m afraid I’ve had to use Brown’s services again.’
    ‘Oh dear God no. Why? After all this time. I thought we were clear of all that. Why didn’t you tell me earlier?’
    ‘It was unavoidable, believe me. I thought you had enough on your plate at the moment and I didn’t want to burden you with this.’
    ‘Unavoidable? In what way, unavoidable?’
    ‘He was becoming difficult. He refused to cooperate with the next part of our plans for one thing. Besides which I found out he was planning to ditch us.’
    ‘How do you mean, ditch us?’
    ‘Not to the authorities. Even he wouldn’t be that much of a fool. I learned he was planning to go see someone, somebody who would be more than interested in what he had to tell them.’
    ‘Good Lord, you don’t mean Mar—?’
    ‘Careful, no names. Let’s just say someone we’ve upset.’
    ‘I see. I thought we’d got clear of the need for Brown.’
    ‘Far from it. The need is greater now than ever. It’s become obvious from certain other people’s reactions that our plans are in jeopardy. So I fear Brown will have more work to do.’
    ‘Is there no other way?’
    ‘Absolutely not. It isn’t a decision I took lightly, believe me.’
    ‘You must be sure nothing can be traced back to us.’
    ‘Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet too?’
    ‘Of course not. It’s just that we’ve so much to lose, and we’re close to achieving all we set out for. I dread to think of things going wrong.’
    ‘Your trouble is you worry too much.’
    ‘Yours is that you don’t worry at all. One of us has to.’
    ‘In that case, I’ll leave you in charge of worrying. One more point. As things are at the moment, I think we ought to consider our own security more carefully.’
    ‘Sorry? I’m not with you.’
    ‘We’re approaching a critical stage in the operation and we can’t afford anything