Shakeup

45

Alfie Bing drove Eddie Craft down to Hampshire, keeping the saloon car right at the speed limit. He had no desire to attract attention; one had to be careful of the little things.

He drove past the main gate to Windward Hall and saw the hangar in the distance. There appeared to be a light on inside. Alfie passed the hangar, made a U-turn, and stopped, he and Eddie staring silently at the building.

“That looks awfully like a jet aeroplane in the hangar,” Alfie said, finally.

“It does, doesn’t it?” Eddie said. “A long drive for nothing.”

“Perhaps not,” Alfie responded. He drove farther up the road, until the Hall itself came into view.

“Light on upstairs,” Alfie said. “What’s the time?”

“Half past midnight,” Eddie replied. “Someone’s likely getting laid.”

Just beyond the lamp in the window, Stone and Felicity were getting laid. They performed slowly and artfully, as old friends will, each knowing what pleased the other. Then things heated up, until they made a point of climaxing together.

“That was just wonderful,” Felicity said.

“I can’t think of a better word,” Stone replied. “I love the afterglow.”

“Perhaps we would glow a bit better, if you switch off that lamp,” she said.

Stone turned and pressed the button that turned off all the lights in the house still burning, except those in the guest room, which were managed by the occupants.

Ah, there,” Alfie said. “They’re abed.” He pulled into the parking lot of the nearby pub, the Rose & Crown, shut off the car, and unscrewed the cap on a vacuum canister. “Coffee, Eddie, or will you kip for a bit?”

“I believe I’ll nap,” Eddie replied, and put his head back onto the seat.

“As you wish,” Alfie said. “I believe I’ll think this through while you kip.”

Alfie had committed the house’s plan to memory, and, in his mind, he watched Eddie and himself enter the building through the kitchen door. Then, using only a taped flashlight for a narrow beam, make their way, first to the control box for the alarm, then into the library, where the four Matilda Stones hung in their frames. After a bit, he dozed, too.

Eddie awoke first and checked his watch. “Alfie,” he said, quietly. “It’s just past two o’clock.”

Alfie sat up straight and looked around. “No moon, no traffic, no lights in the house. Ideal.” They both got out of the car and went to the trunk, where Alfie had black raincoats, watch caps, and cloth masks that would hang on their ears and cover everything but their eyes. “If we should encounter resistance,” he said, “under no circumstances remove the masks. If someone gets close enough to reach for them, I’ll use my cosh, and then I will decide whether to leave and, if so, what to take with us. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Eddie replied.

Alfie removed the canvas carryall that contained the forged paintings, closed the boot lid gently, and began walking up the road, on the opposite side of the house. “This is the last time we’ll speak, until we’re back in the car,” he said. “If traffic appears, just lie down next to the road, and it will pass us by.

Eddie nodded and followed his leader.

Stone got up in the night and found the bathroom in the dark. He relieved himself and then returned to bed, trying not to wake up.

Alfie had made it over the estate wall with a big assist from Eddie, and they both dropped soundlessly onto the grass beyond. Alfe held up a hand to say Be still, and he listened for a minute or two for a dog, a footstep, or the cocking of a shotgun. He heard only an owl, from some distance.

Alfie knew that the estate’s dog went home with a staffer, usually the retired Royal Marine, Major Bugg. And he was grateful for that. He had an air pistol in his pocket that fired a dart, but he was glad not to have to use it. The two men walked around the house, then slowly and silently up the steps to the kitchen door, where Alfie switched on his flashlight and examined the lock. Just what you’d expect on a country house kitchen door, he mused. He opened his zippered case and examined a selection of skeleton keys, choosing the largest one. Too big; wouldn’t go in. He returned it to the case and chose the next largest. It slipped in perfectly. He retracted it and picked up a small can of WD-40 oil, then sprayed the inside of the lock. The key went back in, and the lock turned smoothly and noiselessly. Alfie wiped any stray oil from the lock, returned the key to its case, and put a hand on the doorknob, turning it very slowly. The door eased open.

Alfie motioned Eddie inside and made closing motions for the door, then he moved as quickly as possible to a closet on the other side of the kitchen, where the control box for the security system lay, expecting it to chirp at any moment, signaling an entry of the house. To his surprise, the opened box made no sound. He pulled Eddie close by the lapel and whispered into his ear, “They didn’t arm the system. Piece of cake, now.”

Alfie walked in a measured way down the hall toward the study, keeping close to the wall to minimize creaking floorboards. The study door was unlocked, as he had expected; he ushered Eddie into the room and slowly closed the door behind him. He took the carryall containing the forgeries, walked across the room, following the needle beam of the flashlight to where the paintings hung. He went over each with the flashlight to be sure they were what he wanted, then examined the frames, motioning Eddie to remove the forgeries from the bag. His light played over both sets of paintings; the frames matched perfectly.

Alfie used his flashlight to examine what fastened the pictures to the wall and found exactly what he had expected. He needed only a small wrench and a paring knife to remove them from the wall and set them on the floor.

He beckoned Eddie to watch him work, and thus, to learn something. He slowly removed the screws from each frame, and set the pictures against the wall.

Then the thing Alfie had expected least happened; the lights came on in the room.

“Stand very still,” a man’s voice said, “or I’ll shoot you where you stand. Turn and face me.”

The two men turned around and found themselves confronted by a large naked man, who was pointing a small pistol at them.