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We will of course help tidy
it up if you have somewhere to store the bodies.”
    “ Are they French too?”
    “ What do we do with the dead men?” The inn keeper asked as his
friends hefted the Frenchman onto his feet.
    “ If you have a cold room, we will put them in there so we can
clean the room down while we are here. The prison cart should be
here by this afternoon and they will take the prisoners and the
bodies.”
    “ You say there is a fourth one still in the
village?”
    Rupert
glanced at Luke who nodded. “We think that he may still be around
here somewhere, but he is likely to be armed and
dangerous.”
    Grumbles
about traitors and murderous thugs swept through the assembled men
as they half carried, half dragged the semiconscious Frenchmen
downstairs and dumped them unceremoniously on the floor beside the
front door. With the threat of a French traitor still walking
freely amongst them, the villagers turned into something of a
vigilante gang. With horrifying speed they arranged themselves into
small groups. Two of the burliest men remained behind in the pub to
stand guard over the prisoners, while the rest of the assorted men
undertook a thorough search of the entire village.
    It was
early dawn by the time they all returned to the village pub,
exhausted, hungry and empty handed. The men from the Star Elite had
helped but, unsurprisingly, there was no sign of Fornier and there
was nothing to suggest that he had even been in the
village.
    “ We need to find Fornier as a matter of urgency,” Jacob
whispered to Marcus, Luke, Harry and Rupert, who had gathered in
the tavern to decide what to do.
    “ I think he will have headed south,” Marcus sighed around a
yawn. “I mean, he has contacts in London. The French have always
started their operations in London and worked their way around the
country. The people they have recruited to their cause have all
been Londoners, and we know that is where their financiers are
located.”
    “ He must have been the coachman in the top hat.” Bitter curses
littered the tension that hovered over them.
    “ Where did he go when he left here last night?” Rupert’s voice
was cold and hard.
    “ He headed over to Leicester but then simply vanished into
thin air. We searched an area that was at least five miles wide but
he just vanished as quickly and as silently as a ghost.”
    “ We have searched the house across the green from top to
bottom but there is nothing incriminating in there.” Harry slapped
his ale down on the scarred surface of the table they were gathered
around. “We have nothing.”
    “ Except two Frenchmen who can provide us with information,”
Luke added darkly.
    “ Does anyone have any information about where to find
Fornier’s contacts in London?” Rupert asked in hushed
tones.
    “ Does anyone have any other work ongoing at the moment?”
Marcus glanced at each man around the table in turn with raised
brows.
    “ We have all been seconded to this mission for the time
being,” Jacob replied with a shrug. “I suggest that we drop those
two off at Bodmin. We shouldn’t wait for the prison cart. These
villagers have mustered themselves far too quickly for my liking.
If Hugo is in London we can meet up with him there and get an
update on the information he has. I don’t know about you lot but I
am not giving up on this until Fornier is behind bars.”
    Murmurs
of agreement swept through all of them.
    “ Let’s head to London then,” Rupert suggested with relief. He
had had enough of the country for the time being, and would be glad
to enjoy the sights and sounds of the big city for a while, even if
it was going to be primarily the east end and docklands. He didn’t
really like the smog and over-crowded atmosphere in London, but it
was a damned sight better than freezing his backside off in the
middle of nowhere.
    “ I think it is safe to say that our elusive Frenchman isn’t
here. Now that his colleagues have been removed, there is