Murder to Order: Eleven

Ms. Madison and M. Rake waited until dawn, with no further incidents. The appearance of the Green Man, however, had convinced Ms. Madison that the end of the tale was near. Pausing to change, she followed Mr. Rake out into the grounds. Of the elegant Lady Sylvia there was no sign.

The house itself, a mock castle was unusually tasteful for a villain's lair, and she hoped that it wasn't going to be destroyed. She checked her handbag and was glad to find that it still contained the pocket pistol she liked to pretend she didn't rely on. And, when Mr. Rake put out his hand, she took it.

"We'll get to the bottom of this, Lynette," he assured her. "I take it you know who the villain is?"

"Well, I've only seen him from a distance," she was forced to admit, "but I know what his racket is. He runs an assassination agency. I was working in a call centre for it."

"Assassination bureaux have call centres?" Mr. Rake was suitably incredulous. "Lynette, you didn't take orders to kill, did you?"

"Of course I did," the blonde freely confessed. "But I always passed the details to the Green Man straight away."

"Hence the sudden and worrying rise in attrition among known hitmen." Mr. Rake shook his head. "Your father was saying only the other day..."

"You spoke to my father!" Ms. Madison looked put out, "what were you doing, Mike?"

"Strange as it may seem, Lynette," he sighed, "I was looking for you. I do worry about you, you know. After all, I do happen to be madly in love with you. He just let it slip in idle conversation."

"And, when Lady Sylvia spoke to you, you decided to come here." Ms. Madison shook her head. "This is dangerous, Mike. These people are killers."

"Well, you're here, aren't you?" he looked offended.

"But the Green Man arranged for me to be here," Ms. Madison shook her head again. "Who arranged for you to be here, Mike? Just you?"

"No," a voice from the shadows caused the pair to start. There, a grim expression on his face, was the Green Man.