Merlin rose. “No, no, it’s alright. I should be going really.” He suddenly felt very, very tired. “Well, very nice to meet you, Jan. I hope you have another good day tomorrow. And best of luck when you get back to the squadron.”
The men shook hands again. Sonia put down her cup of tea and followed Merlin to the door. “It was a lovely day, Frank, thank you.” They kissed gently and Merlin rested his hands lightly on Sonia’s shoulders. “It was perfect, darling, just perfect.”
Sonia looked at him shyly from under her eyelashes. “You don’t have to go, you know.” Sonia ruffled Merlin’s smooth black hair and then traced her finger down over his high forehead, his patrician nose and over the lips of his generous mouth. As she stroked his chin, Merlin’s stubble rasped against her touch. She stared into his warm, green eyes and then caressed his cheek. “You are a beautiful man, Frank. But you are working too hard. Look here. These lines under your eyes are growing and you are too thin. I will have to feed you up. We must try some nice Polish stew with much potato. I will have to see if Jan can use his charms to get me some good meat from the base. He managed it a few weeks ago, but you didn’t get to taste any as you were too busy.” Sonia sighed and kissed Merlin’s neck. “Please stay, Frank.”
Merlin hugged Sonia tight. “I’m sorry, I can’t. I have something to do very early tomorrow morning. Something not very nice. We’ll try and get together during the week. I’ll call you on Wednesday. Alright?”
Sonia nodded. The two embraced for a few seconds more and then pulled apart and Merlin slipped through the doorway into the dark. As the door closed behind him he looked up. The stars shone brightly in a clear sky. He couldn’t see or hear any aeroplanes above, but, as he came out of the mews onto the main street, he saw a red glow in the southern sky.
Chapter 2
Monday, September 2
Merlin walked slowly down the corridor behind the Governor and his assistant. Two uniformed warders followed him. There was a faint smell of urine mingled with the smell of cooking – was it boiled cabbage or something else? Merlin was happy for his mind to wander and think about anything other than what he was about to witness.
The small party turned a corner and then climbed some stairs. At the top was another corridor, which they followed to its end. Faint early morning light permeated through a prison window high above them as they entered a room on the left. Merlin couldn’t understand why he had agreed to do this. He’d been dog-tired at the end of a long day and he just hadn’t been able to resist the Assistant Commissioner’s browbeating – “Of course you should be present, Frank. You were the chief investigating police officer and you brought this disgusting man to justice. I think you owe it to the victims to see the penalty being paid, not to mention to yourself – after all, the man did shoot you!”
Merlin couldn’t see how the dead victims could feel any better for his attendance in Wormwood Scrubs this morning and he himself had no particular desire for personal revenge, but there he was. And so he took up his position on one side of the room next to the Governor. It was ten minutes to six. In front of him the infamous Albert Pierrepoint and his assistant fiddled with the noose of thick rope that hung down in the centre of the room. Someone had told Merlin that Pierrepoint’s assistant was his own son. A funny sort of family business if that was the case, he thought, as the assistant knelt down to check that all was in order with the trapdoor.
The Governor pulled a watch from his waistcoat pocket. “Should be here now,” he whispered to no one in particular.