Murder to Order: Ten

Ms. Madison ran to Mr. Rake and embraced him stifling a sob. She pressed her cheek to his, clinging to him.

"Mike!"she exclaimed, "how..."

"Did I find you?" Mr. Rake chuckled softly. "My dear, I do worry about you, and when you vanished that day at the Savoy I started looking for you. When the Vaughan girl said you'd be at this place, I drove up here at once."

"Sylvia..." the blonde sighed, "and she didn't tell me! Typical of her. She's much too much like the Green Man when it comes to levelling with me."

"So the Green Man's behind all this." Mr. Rake shook his head. "I suppose I should have known this wasn't just you sulking. I suppose you know the cost of a funeral's rising every day. If you get yourself killed, your father won;t be able to bury you on a policeman's salary."

"But you could." Ms. Madison smiled. "Besides, the Green Man told me the job came with a complete burial package. Now, let me kiss you."

The young man duly obliged. Ms. Madison kept hold of him when their lips parted. He looked down at his love and shook his head.

"You do love me," he told her firmly. "Now, how can we get this over so that I can take you to meet my family?"

"We find just why the Green Man's had me come here and get caught," Ms. Madison told him, still holding his arm. "I wish I knew more than that, but I just don't. Still, the bad guys here are dealt with, so we need to go somewhere else." She led him out into another cavernous hall.

Mr. Rake sighed again, as they moved through the darkened mansion. A shot from upstairs told Ms. Madison that Lady Sylvia had found something. Mr. Rake started, only for a smile from his lady to persuade him to ignore it.

He moved to a window, opening the curtains to look out on the lawns, to see if there were any men outside.

Ms. Madison looked with him and gasped.

There, standing, looking out over the landscape, was the Green Man.