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proof of a touching confidence, but now seemed far more likely to indicate that Audley was trying to forget how very nearly he had missed the chance of making a laughing-stock of his enemy.
    But he wasn’t going to get off as easily as that.
    ‘They pulled it down with a Land-Rover,’ said Roskill, ‘Not the whole tree – just one big branch. The tyre-marks are perfectly plain when you know what you’re looking for.’
    He reached under the dashboard for the envelope.
    ‘Photographs, diagram and report – all in there.’
    Audley slid the material half out of the envelope, riffled through the photos briefly and then pushed it all back.
    ‘You didn’t talk to anyone?’
    ‘I didn’t talk to anyone. Nobody saw me. And I developed the pictures myself.’ Roskill kept his tone neutral. ‘It’s our own little Top Secret.’
    ‘We’ll keep it that way, then.’ Audley slipped the envelope between the pages of his magazine. ‘I don’t want anyone round while we’re checking up on Jenkins. I don’t even want them to know that we’re checking on him, in fact. The chances are that they’ll find out sooner or later, but I want to put that off as long as possible. But I don’t want to tell any lies, so I think our lines should be what Kipling called “suppressio veri, suggestio falsi” – do you understand, Hugh?’
    Roskill understood very well, and bitterly too: once Llewelyn found out that they were investigating Jenkins he would soon put two and two together. And the moment he realised he was in no danger the joke was over. Indeed, to get a full and perfect revenge Audley needed to complete his assignment first, for only then would it become a matter of record and unsuppressible.
    But it was a sad thing that the only way Jenkins could be avenged was by enabling Audley to indulge his own private feud…
    ‘I understand that perfectly well,’ he said evenly. ‘We’re going to make him sweat.’
    ‘Make him sweat – yes.’ Audley turned in his seat and looked hard at Roskill for a moment. ‘But I don’t think you do fully understand, all the same. At a guess I’d say you’re thiking that there’s not much to choose between Llewelyn and me – a couple of right bastards. But I just happen to be the bastard who suits you at the moment – is that right?’
    It was a question that didn’t admit equivocation.
    ‘I think,’ said Roskill reluctantly, ‘that you can do the right thing for a paltry reason. In this case your reason doesn’t – dignify – what we’re doing.’
    Audley nodded thoughtfully. ‘A petty vendetta? Yes, I can see your line of thought. I ought to have seen it before. And there’s something in it, too. But you knew that when you came back to tempt me last night, and it didn’t stop you.’
    ‘I’m not complaining. You asked rne a question and I gave you an honest answer. And as you said, it suits me well enough.’
    Then perhaps I ought to question your motives too, my dear Hugh – I ought to wonder why they were so sure of you.’
    ‘I told you last night – I recruited Jenkins in the first place.’
    “Not good enough.”
    ‘I know his family too.’
    ‘Still not good enough. You also admitted last night that you weren’t to blame. There isn’t enough there for a guilt complex.’
    Audley paused, waiting in vain for an answer.
    ‘Very well, then! Let’s get back to my base motives for a moment. I admit that the chance of making a fool of Dai Llewelyn did attract me – it still does. But it wasn’t enough to make me change my mind. It was the fact that it was Jenkins and not Llewelyn who was the target – I find that very interesting. The poor boy said it was interesting the moment before he died, and by God he was right!’
    Roskill frowned. He had been so busy with practical problems that he hadn’t really faced up to the ultimate one. It had simply hidden itself at the back of his mind, nagging at him: why the hell would anyone blow up Alan?
    ‘You see,