‘Thank you,’ Collingwood answered; his heart swelling with gratitude that these unknown police officers should risk their careers for him, or more precisely, his imperilled daughter. ‘Thank you all.’
A shuffling of feet, coughing and stretching, and the coppers got ready to move, waiting only for the word from their senior officer.
‘Right men, you know your duty,’ Rayburn announced. ‘You follow Mister Collingwood’s order to the letter. To the letter and do not forget, our primary objective is the rescue of Lucy Collingwood. All other considerations are secondary but take care. Take care. Let us go quickly now.’
It seemed to Collingwood that the briefing had been endless, that hours of precious life for Lucy had been wasted, drained away in the ponderousness of Leatherbeck’s pedantry, bu
