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watch then making a drinking motion with his
hand.
    It wouldn't do for a new boy to
be late. There's a post box by the porter's lodge so I'll drop this
in when I go down. I don't expect I'll be writing to you again, dear
Mr Pascoe. I hope that I've cleared the air between us. The past is
Hades, the past is the cities of the plain; look back and disaster
strikes. My eyes are set firmly on the future.
    I must admit to feeling somewhat
nervous, but also very excited.
    This could be the beginning of
the rest of my life.
    Wish me luck!
And
a Very Merry Christmas to you and yours!
    Franny Roote

    Ellie
Pascoe was a fast reader and soon she was picking up his discarded
sheets and she snatched the last one from his fingers before he could
let it fall.
    Pascoe watched her finish it then
said, 'So what do you think?'
    'Well it's always nice to have
one's judgment confirmed.'
    'Your judgment being like the
court's, that Roote is a devious amoral psychopath?'
    'Is that what
the judge said? I must have missed it. I thought he was found guilty
of being an accessory to murder. In any case, the judgment I refer to
is the one by which Charley Penn and me awarded him first prize in
the Gazette short-story competition. He writes very
entertainingly, doesn't he?'
    'Does he? I'd rather-read a gas
meter.'
    'Each to his own taste. But
you've got to give it to him. He's really making the most of his
opportunities.'
    'That's a good working definition
of most crimes.'
    'I didn't see any reference to
crimes.'
    'Killing Brillo wasn't a crime?'
    â€˜The fault, dear Peter,
lies not in our Fran but in the system that put him there.'
    'How about blackmailing Haseen to
get him into Butlin's? And what about conning Linda Lupin into taking
him under her wing? The poor cow had better keep her eyes skinned
else she'll find she's got a permanent stowaway on the European gravy
train.'
    'Haseen seems to have behaved
unprofessionally, so she had it coming. As for Loopy Linda, she
deserves everything she gets. And besides, I suspect she can look
after herself. She certainly doesn't waste much energy looking after
anyone else.'
    Pascoe smiled,
knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere inviting sympathy for Linda
Lupin, who was a Tory MEP and a particular bêtesse noire of
the left-wing feminist tendency. The fact that she was also the late
lamented Sam Johnson's half-sister and sole heir had come as a shock
to Ellie, but to Franny Roote it had clearly come as an opportunity
which he'd grasped with both hands.
    'And aren't you being a touch
paranoid?' continued Ellie. 'All he's doing is telling you he's doing
well for himself, so why should he be nursing grudges?'
    'Doing well for a criminal
involves criminality,' muttered Pascoe.
    'Maybe. But what better area for
the legitimate use of criminal talent than the life academic?' said
Ellie, who since being officially confirmed as a creator by
acceptance of her first novel tended to look back rather
patronizingly at her old existence as a college lecturer. 'Anyway,
he's paid his debt and all that, and he'd probably never have come to
your notice again if you hadn't gone after him in a not very subtle
way.'
    This was so unjust it might have
taken Pascoe's breath away if life with Ellie hadn't left him pretty
well permanently breathless.
    He said mildly, 'I only turned
him up in the first place because someone was threatening you and he
looked a possible candidate.'
    'Yeah, and the other times? Pete,
admit it, you've always gone in hard with Franny Roote. Why is that?
There must be something about him that bugs you specially.'
    'Not really. Except he's weird,
you've got to admit that. No? OK, let's look at it another way. Don't
you think it's just a little bit screwy to be writing to me like
this?'
    'You're acting like this is a
threatening letter,' said Ellie. 'Despite the fact that he goes out
of his way to say this isn't a threatening letter! What more does he
have to say?'
    'A man comes towards you in a
dark street,'