Page 121 of We Chase Shadows

Ernesto leads Rosie away before she can reply. They head up the oak-panelled staircase.

‘You really think it’s him?’ Rosie asks. ‘You really think it’s Connor Brooks?’

‘Every time someone is killed, he’s there,’ says Ernesto. ‘Looking over their shoulder. He sent the dead blond gentleman to kill Vern Blackwood, so he’s here. Finger never on the trigger, but always nearby.’

A sign reads ROOMS 408–415 and Ernesto puts his finger to his lips as they make their way along a hideously carpeted hallway, towards the room supposedly occupied by an ‘Eric Jacobs’.

There are even more paintings of horses. Rosie is relieved when she finally sees a painting of a bowl of fruit.

They reach room 413. Ernesto takes out his gun and raps on the door.

‘Housekeeping.’

No answer. Ernesto raps again.

‘Housekeeping.’

No answer.

Ernesto stands back from the door, pistol raised, and nods to Rosie to open it. There is a noise to their right. An elderly couple, back from a stroll. Ernesto puts the pistol behind his back, and Rosie leans against the wall. The elderly couple walk very, very slowly, and Ernesto holds a big smile for them the whole way.

As they pass, the man says, ‘Standing in the corridor, is it?’

‘Yes,’ says Ernesto, quietly. ‘I’m Spanish.’

The man and the woman both nod, as if a mystery has been solved. They reach their room, two doors down, and, after some fumbling with their key card, go inside.

The instant their door shuts, Ernesto raises his pistol again.

Rosie holds the key card to the sensor. The lights blink green and she swings the door inwards. Ernesto rushes in, gun raised, and she follows.

The room is empty. A curtain billows from an open window, and Rosie rushes over to see a bald man navigating the fire escape as quick as his old legs will carry him. Connor Brooks in the flesh at last.

‘He’s on the fire escape,’ she shouts to Ernesto. ‘You’ve got a clear shot!’

Ernesto runs over and sees Brooks too. He points his gun, but shakes his head. Brooks disappears from view into a portico running along the back of the hotel.

‘Come!’ he says to Rosie, as he starts to climb out of the window. Rosie follows. Why not take a shot? It would have been noisy, but Ernesto is a police officer, and Connor Brooks is a wanted man?

Ernesto is running down the fire escape now, and Rosie can’t keep up. Heels and fire escapes. She sees Ernesto disappear under the portico.

Connor Brooks didn’t look too steady on his feet. Rosie knows that feeling well. Ernesto will have factored that in. Will have been sure he could catch the man without need for gunfire.

Rosie reaches the bottom of the fire escape and ducks under the portico. She sees Ernesto looking around him. He’s lost Brooks.

Rosie catches up to him. From the bottom of the fire escape, Brooks could have headed right into the trees, or left into a maze.

In one of her books he would have headed straight for the maze, and a good two or three chapters of cat-and-mouse could be written. But Connor Brooks is a real human being.

‘The trees,’ says Rosie, and they start to run.

‘Wrong again,’ says a voice to their left.

Rosie turns, and sees the beautiful sight of Steve leading Connor Brooks out of the maze.

‘We got him,’ says Steve. ‘We finally got him.’

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