'Robert Adam's never heard of him,' says Malcolm when Ros appears over his shoulder.

'Neither had I until now, but according to the Home Secretary up until seven years ago he was a member of the JIC whose wife died in suspicious circumstances.'

'Mace?'

'Almost certainly but never proven which is why as a priority we need speak to every sixty something Robert Adams living in Dorset and when we find the right one set up a meeting. Until then we keep this information to ourselves, because not only do I not want to give Harry false hope but outside of this room a word out of place could send this whole rescue mission tits up.'

'When you say priority, I hope you're not suggesting that I stop looking for Ruth, because if needs be I'll stay here all night and continue to run both traces.'

'Malcolm you're exhausted.'

'We're all exhausted Ros including you, so either you call Jo and ask her to come back in and ply me with cups of coffee to keep me awake or leave me to get on. And before you tell me that I don't have a say in what I do or don't do I've known Harry for more years than I care to remember Ros and whatever you might have heard I can promise you I've never been more worried about him than I am right now.'

.

'I'm afraid it will have to be for a month or not at all at this time of year,' says the bespectacled man who reminds Ruth of Colin, but is in fact the agent who having taken her to what had once been a lockkeeper's cottage, where she is going from room to room where the only sounds are of water and birdsong. Not knowing that the moment she had seen it providing it had connection to the internet, which he assures her it has, she had found what she sees as a haven.

So why not for longer she thinks and then suggests, reeling him in by adding 'my father was a linguist and French is such a beautiful language that it was inevitable that I fell in love with your country.' Only changing the subject after he nods by asking, 'how far to the nearest shops?'

'Half a mile in that direction along the towpath unless you intend to hire a car?'

'I'm used to walking so I'll be fine,' is what she does no did she hears herself saying whilst making a note to buy not only a stronger pair of boots but a waterproof jacket and a map of the area. When what really she needs, no wants, is for Harry to knock on the door and tell her that this is all a mistake, well the being dead bit. That he loves her and he wishes she had let him tell her are a given. Whereas anything more than that is wishful thinking and is why she makes herself a cup of tea before wandering outside to take in her surroundings.

That the garden as is the interior of the cottage well maintained, suggests that the owners themselves or someone they employ come in regularly during the season. But this is out of season so will she see anyone at all during what is going to be a long dark winter is a question that makes her think of Fidget and how he used to wind his way around her legs as soon as she came home. Will he be doing the same with Harry and how will Scarlet react to having what she will probably see as unwanted competition for her master's attention? And why are you thinking about Harry again, is a question that sends an involuntary shiver through her body that has her going back inside and locking the door. Which of course makes no difference whatsoever other than to remind her that it is what Harry would tell her to do if he knew where she was.

.

If the hotel where Harry and Adam are staying is nondescript, then the menu when they go down to dinner is anything but. That fish dominates reminds Harry of the meal he and Ruth had shared, but having slept for the best part of three hours and with Adam having made the valid point that he is not on his own in looking for Ruth and that at least he is on the right side of the channel as opposed to sitting behind his desk, he is feeling marginally less of a wreck than he was.

Highlighted when Adam who having poured himself a glass of wine when he himself is still sticking to water says, 'we can't just sit here waiting for news from the grid, so tomorrow why don't we drive along the coast and take a look at the D Day landing beaches?'

Wanting to tell Adam that he has no idea how he feels which having lost Fiona is as far from being the truth as it can be, he settles on, 'this isn't a holiday Adam and I accept that sitting in the hotel isn't the best option but we can't keep driving about at random to fill up our days.'

Good to have you back thinks Adam but keeps the thought to himself until they finish their meal when the question arises as to where they continue the conversation that Harry had cut short. Which with a sprinkling of guests who are occupying the bar makes for an easy decision and because Harry's room is at the back of the hotel and much quieter, they settle themselves down there. Harry sitting on the bed with his legs stretched out in front of him and Adam in the one and only chair.

'This bolt hole we think Ruth will have found, where and for how long before she moves on?' Is another attempt from Adam to get Harry to open-up about the inner Ruth that only he knows.

'If it was anyone other than Ruth, I would say that moving to somewhere warm would be a priority but Ruth's not like that is she, I mean she's a creature of habit.'

And in love with you thinks Adam, 'so she could even have made the decision to stay somewhere near here in which case we have to think like a cartographer,' he suggests, waiting for Harry's reaction.

Which when he does speak is to say, 'in the morning Adam, now you need to get some sleep.'

'And you need to start believing that we'll find her Harry.'

'Or better still lie here imagining you beside me Ruth warm and beautiful. Neither of stumbling to find the right words as to how we feel. Then because we've been totally honest with each other and as this is nothing more than a bad dream, spend what for so long I have been imagining will be a coming together that loving each other as much as we do will be wonderful,' he tells the darkness outside the window once Adam has gone.

.

'I've been waiting for someone other than Harry to take me seriously for seven years,' says Robert Evans. A man who looks a great deal older than his sixty something years when he's ushering Ros and Zaf into the cosy sitting room of his mid terrace property in Sherborne.

'Is it alright if my colleague makes us all a nice cup of tea why we chat?' Ros asks, given that they left the grid as soon as Malcolm had come up with the address, which had been two and a half hours ago and now at five in the morning she is barely functioning.'

'Yes,' he says, then without taking a breath, 'we were discussing a procurement of arms deal which meant that the vote had to be one hundred percent. Harry and I opposed it as we generally did when it came to Mace's nasty little schemes which always involved a backhander of some sort or another. Then when my wife died it seemed right that I came here.'

'I know this must be very painful for you but can tell me what happened after that meeting.'

'Harry and I went our separate ways and it was only in the evening when I got the call to say that my wife had stepped out in front of a bus. I mean why would she when we were so happy? I was too stunned at first but I eventually concluded that that Mace had singled me out because I was married whereas Harry was very much on his own. Although I can see by your expression that there is more to this visit that just to hear me reminiscing?'

Ros had stopped listening when Robert said that his wife had stepped out in front of a bus. Mace had set Ruth up on the evidence of a video suggesting she had pushed Maudsley under a train. Put the two together and they had the evidence they needed to put him away for life. How to respond though reminds her of Malcolm and how him putting her in her place had been what she'd deserved, so adopting a more gentle approach says, 'not at all and again I apologise for the intrusion. But what I can promise you is hope. Because Harry is currently looking for his partner who Mace set up and we think is going to target in the same way he did your wife,' sounded better in her head than girlfriend, 'which means that when we do find him, he will face the consequence of his actions not only now but when your wife died.'

'Has she got a name, Harry's partner? Am I even allowed to ask?

'She's called Ruth.'

'Then throw all your efforts into finding Mace and leave Harry to find Ruth. And when you next get to speak to him, please remind him how as our younger selves we promised each other that if we were lucky enough to find someone who loved us as much as we did them that we would act upon it. I failed miserably but it would be a comfort to know that one of us has succeeded.'