Chapter 5
THE MAN WHO WANTED TO KNOW THE TIMET
HE autumn morning air was soft and smelled of rain and the London street scene was done in pastel shades under a sky of smoked pearl.
Young Richard Waterfield lingered on the corner a little longer than the ten minutes agreed upon in case Annabelle decided to return. Where the roads met there was a large double pillarbox and he was behind it when the man in the trench coat came hurrying out of the door in the garden wall. Richard was not only surprised to see him but, he noticed with astonishment, considerably irritated. He hung back for a minute or two to observe him.
The newcomer went over to the sports car which was parked on the opposite side of the road and was about to enter it when an idea evidently occurred to him, and he turned ba
