He listened hard but the silence inside was absolute. Resisting the impulse to knock on the door, he pushed his hands deep into his trouser pockets and walked to the east end of the corridor. Sergeant Lane entered the building. Crabbe beckoned to him and led him past the office doors to a secluded alcove. ‘Has Pickering told you where they’ve taken Mitkhal or the horses?’ ‘He’s refusing to talk, sir. Going by the amount of blood on him, he’s been involved in a ruckus but he wouldn’t say whether it was with a horse or a man. You don’t think he’d kill Lieutenant Colonel Downe’s orderly or his horses do you, sir? I’ve seen the horses. They’re magnificent specimens. It would be a crying shame to slaughter them.’ ‘At the moment we don’t know anything, other than the horses and Lieutenant Colonel Downe’s orderly are missing.’ The door to the brigadier’s office opened. His adjutant appeared. ‘Major Crabbe?’ ‘Wait here, sergeant.’ Crabbe marched into the office.
