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smiled and answered mildly, ‘Well, you shouldn’t doubt it. You could even be grateful for the chance. It’s not every day a country G.P. gets a chance to influence the future of humankind!’ He paused, half expecting a sharp retort, but Maddern took that reproach without any show of resentment. ‘The house will have to be surrounded. C.I.D. Special Branch men will be both inside and outside. Your housekeeper will probably hate it, and there’s no telling how long it will last.’
    For the first time, Maddern’s expression seemed to brighten in delight, and he gave a deep, pleased chuckle.
    â€˜I can’t imagine anything that would please Bertha Witherspoon more than to have a lot of young men about both night and day. I’ve a number of calls to make. May I make them?’
    â€˜Yes indeed. The more normal your movements the less suspicious our friend with the soft voice will be,’ Palfrey replied. ‘And I must be going.’ He sprang to his feet, very lithe, looking not only better but younger. ‘I’ll arrange for the watch,’ he promised. ‘Will you wait until more men arrive, and then meet me at Middlecombe Police Station?’
    â€˜Yes,’ Maddern said.
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    Within half an hour, six men were on the premises, two of them outside the door of the surgery, two in the garden near the surgery window and two moving freely about the house. And Maddern, after a word with Smith, who was in charge, followed after Palfrey.
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    Palfrey left Hallows End some time before the C.I.D. men arrived and drove in a closed Allard towards the local police headquarters. The Middlecombe Police Station was the local headquarters of the Corneshire County Constabulary, a modern building on the outskirts of the town. He was preceded by a local police car and followed by another. Being in the middle of a small procession did not appeal to him.
    This was as bizarre a case as he could remember; more frightening, more horrifying than any he had known. Maddern had seen right through to the heart of the matter. If this was the work of some human agency, then that agency could exert absolute control over mankind’s destiny, eventually over human behaviour. This was control over life and death in a way never suspected before. It was control over birth and so over all of human life. If someone wanted to wipe out mankind . . .
    He pushed the thought aside as he walked up the steps to the police station, and then up an open staircase to the Chief Superintendent’s office. He shivered, despite the warmth of a room lit by the sun through a huge window. The desk, set across a corner, was empty but a man came from an adjoining office.
    â€˜Mr. King won’t be a few minutes, sir. Please take a chair.’
    â€˜Thanks,’ said Palfrey.
    But he went to the window, shading his eyes against the sun with his hand. Beyond was a small square of old, timbered buildings and weathered brick walls; middle seventeenth century beyond any doubt.
    What would happen if there were no more births?
    â€˜Stop it,’ he said aloud, and almost savagely. He swung round from the window and as he did so, heard a man hurrying up the staircase, saying, ‘I saw him come in.’
    â€˜But Dr. Simister—’
    The policeman who called out to Simister broke off. Simister’s head and shoulders appeared suddenly at the open staircase. A policeman wearing uniform and a helmet was a few steps behind him, and behind him, came Maddern. Simister glanced into this room, caught sight of Palfrey, and exclaimed, ‘Here he is!’
    â€˜Dr. Simister—’ the policeman began.
    Simister said stormily, ‘Palfrey—you must be mad!’
    â€˜I’ve been told so on occasion,’ Palfrey said mildly. ‘What makes you think so?’
    â€˜To come and put the fear of God into us like that!’
    â€˜The fear of death, don’t you mean?’ Palfrey