12: Vain Vigil
"WE will have a look in the bar, first," Gees suggested. "It's not quite half-past nine, and I'd like to get the feeling of the meeting."
"Right you are, sir," Tom Cotton assented, and led way toward the main entrance of the Royal George. Gees spared a thought for Tyrrell, glooming at home alone. He had had an idea of accompanying Gees as far as the gateway of the castle, with a view to calling Gyda, but, when Gees had stated that he might stay at the vicarage talking to Amber up to any hour, had decided not to risk it. That, as Gees knew, would be the decision of everyone in the district, as soon as the news of Cottrill's death got about: nobody would venture out alone after dark, which, for Gees, simplified matters to some extent.
He followed Cotton into the bar, and sa
