NINETY-FOUR

6.15 P.M.

‘The keyholder is on his way back,’ Penn called as he and Stacey got out of the car.

They had pulled into the car park of the Black Country Museum parking area just seconds after Kim and Bryant had.

‘From where?’ Kim asked.

‘Merry Hill.’

‘Too long. We’ve got forty-five minutes,’ she said, looking along the edge of the site.

Their killer had got himself and Nazeera in somehow, and she doubted that it was in full view of the main entrance.

The entire site was twenty-six acres. She was sure there were vulnerable spots around the perimeter, but she didn’t have the time to look. She considered calling for uniform assistance but even if she did, she couldn’t wait or spare anyone to stay here and brief them. The four of them knew what they were looking for, so it was all that she had right now.

‘Bryant, pull your car over there,’ she said, pointing towards the far side of the entrance and café. There was six-feet-high wooden fencing with a runner at the bottom that was too low to give a foothold to reach the second runner, about five feet up the fence.

Within a minute, he had reversed the car so that the long, rear part of his estate vehicle was only a few inches from the fence.

She opened the car door and stepped on the seat to get up onto the roof of the vehicle. She moved carefully to the rear of the car.

Kim was able to steady herself by hanging on to the top of the fence before she cocked her leg over and straddled the fence.

‘Jesus,’ Stacey said as Kim swung her other leg over and lowered herself to the ground.

Bryant followed suit, making it look even easier, before Penn and then Stacey made it safely over the fence.

Kim was beginning to see all kinds of careers for them if they didn’t bring Nazeera back alive.

‘Okay, anybody got a clue of the layout?’

It had been many years since Kim’s last visit, when it had been little more than industrial land reclaimed from a former railway goods yard, with disused lime kilns, canal arm and former coal pits.

In the years since it opened in 1978, over fifty historical shops, houses and other industrial buildings had been gathered from around the Black Country to create a living museum.

‘I brought Jasper a couple of years back,’ Penn said. ‘If we follow this path, we’ll come to a fork. I think left takes you towards the park and a café and right goes towards the main high street and the exhibition forges.’

‘Okay, we’ll decide who is?—’

Kim stopped speaking as they turned the corner and the junction Penn had mentioned came into view.

In the middle of the road was a single object. They all knew what it was.

Kim reached the lockbox first. The discovery confirmed they were exactly where they were supposed to be. She prayed to God their timing was spot on as well.

She opened the box to find nothing but a single card.

In the fading light, she was just about able to read it.

One last choice. Won’t come as a surprise. Pick the right way to come claim your prize.