They crept up the stairs where the upper floor opened out on to a big stone landing hung with tapestries that once had been bright and glorious reds and yellows but were now muted to pink and ochre; there were lights up here, but they were faint, and there were too many shadowy corners for a madman with red hair to hide in. Annie didn’t like it at all.
As they turned a corner and approached the master bedroom, she breathed a sigh of relief. There, sitting in a chair on guard outside Constantine’s bedroom door, was a bulky minder. They went closer and Alberto signalled to the man, but he didn’t look round.
A look passed between Alberto and Max. Then as a group they all moved forward again. Steve put a hand out to the minder, touching the man’s shoulder, and he slumped sideways in the chair and hung there over the arm of it, unconscious. As he did so they could see a bloody egg-shaped lump on the back of his head. Annie felt a chill of dread. Somehow, Redmond had got in close enough to strike.
Alberto put a hand to the man’s neck, feeling for a pulse. He found one, nodded; and looked at the closed door leading to the bedroom. His father was in there. And so – without a doubt – was Redmond Delaney.
Alberto started forward but Max caught his arm. ‘Is there another way in?’ he whispered. He knew it would be suicide for the first person who walked through that door.
Annie spoke, very low. ‘There’s a secret passageway leading up from the hall. It opens in the bedroom, a false bookcase – I can show you.’
‘How long?’ Max asked her.
‘Three minutes, if we run,’ said Annie.
Max glanced at his watch and then looked at Alberto. ‘Three minutes,’ he said.
‘In three minutes my father could be dead,’ said Alberto urgently.
‘Less than that and you could be, too,’ Max hissed. ‘This bastard don’t take prisoners. Not that I give a stuff, but my daughter thinks the sun shines out of your arse, so go with it, OK?’
Alberto paused. Looked at the door, at Annie, at Max. ‘Three minutes,’ he nodded, and checked his watch.
Max and Annie ran.