Read Threats at Three for Free Online Page A

said.
    Meanwhile Matthew and Josie seemed oblivious to anything but themselves, seated as they were at a cozy table for two. The others had grouped together, with a high chair for young Harry, and then made short work of sandwiches and coffee, anxious to get going.
    As they filed through the paying booths, Lois suddenly saw ahead of them a man going through the turnstiles and was sure he was familiar. When he turned to talk to a woman she recognized as Kate Adstone, she was sure it was Gavin. Following them, and clearly part of their party, came a tall, portly man with thinning ginger hair and a boozer’s nose, bright red to match the rest of his complexion. Lois and the others were still waiting in the queue for tickets when the Adstones and friend disappeared from sight.
    “Did you see him?” she said to Derek.
    “Who?”
    “Gavin Adstone. You know, from Farnden. On your SOS committee.”
    Derek shook his head. “Nope. Still, it could’ve been him. We might bump into him as we go round. His toddler’s a bit young for this, I’d have thought.”
    “Older than our Harry,” Lois replied.
    “Get on, then,” Derek said. “You’re holding up the queue.”
     
     
    “NO POINT IN OUR TRYING TO STAY TOGETHER,” DOUGLAS decided, as Susie said Harry needed a nappy change, and Matthew and Josie elected to start with the lift to the top of the rocket tower. “Let’s say we’ll all meet in the shop when we’ve seen everything. O’ course, I expect we’ll bump into each other going round,” he added, and Lois whispered to Derek that they might well get another look at Gavin Adstone and his funny-looking friend.
    “Lois!” Derek said sternly. “Forget it! Why shouldn’t the man be here with a friend? Nothing suspicious, no ferretin’ needed! For God’s sake, woman, forget all that rubbish and enjoy a family day out.” He marched off towards the planets and disappeared from sight into space. She hurried after him, and found him staring incredulously at a row of Heinz baked bean tins.
    A couple of schoolboys were also intrigued by this unexpected earthbound display of tins, and began to lift them up, one by one. Derek was now reading the text above, and turned to Lois. “Gravity, Lois,” he said authoritatively. “Shows you the different pulls of gravity on different planets. Have a go.”
    “Try the sun,” the biggest boy said, grinning at the other.
    Lois shrugged. Blimey, anybody could lift a baked bean tin. But when she tried, she couldn’t move it, and the boys chortled. Then she moved on to others, and felt distinctly different pulls, as if invisible hands of varying strengths were holding on, determined not to let her run away with the valuable exhibits.
    “Does that mean if we landed on one of them with not much gravity we’d fall off into nowhere?” she asked the boys. She trusted them rather than Derek to know the answer. But they had turned away and were heading for the weather forecast.
    “Oh, look, Derek,” Lois said. “Over there, where the boys have gone. That sort of cabin thing. Something to do with the weather satellite. See, there’s a television screen inside. Let’s go and look.”
    A small group of people had gathered, and Lois saw with interest that Gavin’s party were amongst them. The two boys had gone into the booth, and were staring at the screen and giggling. Lois edged her way forwards so that she could see what was going on, and saw the bigger of the two boys pressing a button and a weather map coming up. Then text appeared on the screen and the boy began to read, looking alarmed but ploughing on, using his hand as a pointer to indicate locations on screen.
    “He’s pretty good at it, Mrs. Meade,” said a voice behind her, and she turned to see Gavin Adstone looking down at her.
    “Fancy seeing you here,” she said, including Kate and Cecilia in a warm smile. “We Meades are here in strength,” she added, as if Gavin had threatened her with abduction. Why did