I was touched. It was worrying. A year before, I'd have bitten the head off any man who suggested I might not be up to looking after myself. Now, I was touched. Definitely worrying. 'It'll be fine,” I said. 'After we had that lucky break last night, I realized there wasn't anything more I could do till Alexis had positively ID'd the guy' I hadn't told Richard about my little excursion. Judging by his concern for my health, it was probably just as well.

He looked doubtful. 'I don't know,' he said through a mouthful of sausage. 'You drag me over to this God-forsaken hole, you make me eat the worst Chinese I've ever had in my life, with the possible exception of the one in Saltcoats where there was a prawn in the banana fritter, you send me off to endure the most derivative and listless music I've heard since Billy Joel's last album, then you tell me you're replacing me with an evening paper hackette! What's a man to think?'

'Just be grateful I'm not making you stay here for Sunday lunch, pal,' I replied with a grin. 'Look, I'll be fine. I promise not to take any risks.' That was a promise I could make with hand on heart. After all, I'd already taken all the risks I needed to take where T.R. Harris was concerned.

'All right,' he said. 'As long as you promise me one other thing?' I raised my eyebrows in a question. 'Promise me you'll force Alexis to take several risks. Preferably of the potentially fatal kind.' I told you he pretends they hate each other.

'Pig,' I said mildly. 'If Alexis heard you say that, she'd be cut to the quick.'

'Heard him say what?' Alexis boomed threateningly as she pulled out a chair and threw herself into it, waving at the waitress. 'Good morning, children,' she greeted us. 'Full English,' she added to the waitress.

'Kate's in no state for anything strenuous-'

'Lucky Kate!' Alexis interrupted Richard, ducking her head in a louche wink.

'So I said if anyone's got to take any physical risks, it had better be you,' he concluded, on his dignity.

'Well, of course, it stands to reason,' Alexis replied. 'First sign of danger, you're off over the nearest distant horizon, leaving us women to deal with the physical risks.'

I thought he was going to choke. 'You'd better get a move on if you're going to make it back in time for the match,' I said, treading on Alexis's toe under the table.

Richard glanced at his watch, said 'Shit!' and shovelled the rest of his breakfast down in record time. Then he pushed back his chair, got to his feet, downed a cup of tea in a oner and planted a greasy kiss somewhere in the region of my mouth. 'See you tonight, Brannigan,' he said, then headed for the door.

'Typical male,' Alexis called after him. 'When the going gets tough, the tough get going.'

"The only reason it's safe to leave things in your hands is that all the real work's been done already,' Richard shouted back.

By now, we had more viewers than BSkyB TV. The rest of the breakfasters were agog. 'Shut up,' I muttered through clenched teeth at Alexis. I waved goodbye to Richard, and he left, giving me a smile and a wink. 'Honestly,' I complained. 'What are you like? And don't tell me he started it, because you're each as bad as the other. Thank God we're not trying to do some quiet, unobtrusive undercover!'

'Sorry,' Alexis said unrepentantly. 'Anyway, now the Gary Lineker of the Press corps has departed, tell me all about it! You only gave me the bare bones over the phone.' She lit a cigarette and squinted at me through the smoke.

I started to tell her how I'd tracked down T.R. Harris, but she interrupted me impatiently. 'Not my stuff,' she said. 'You! Tell me how you are? I mean, I don't want to make you feel even worse, but you don't look like a woman who should be chasing the guys in the black hats all over Derbyshire. God, Kate, you shouldn't have been running around after Harris yesterday! You should have been in bed, recovering.'

I shook my head. 'With Richard ministering to my every need? Have you any idea what my kitchen would look like after he'd had a free rein in there for twenty-four hours?' I shuddered. 'No thanks. Besides, I was quite glad to have something to take my mind off what happened. Knowing there's someone out there who either wants to kill you or wants to warn you off so badly they're prepared to risk killing you isn't very relaxing.'

'Any idea who's behind it?' Alexis asked. She couldn't help herself. Once she'd established she was a caring friend, she just had to go into journo mode.

'I think it might have a connection to a job I'm working on. I should have a better idea in a day or two. Don't worry, you'll be the first to know when there's anything fit to print,' I reassured her.

That's not why I was asking,' Alexis scolded. 'Aren't you worried that they’ll have another go?'

'I suppose they might. But no one followed us yesterday. I've put a new face on the job in question, and I should be able to get it cleared up tomorrow. I feel like I've done everything I can to minimize the risk.'

The waitress arrived and dumped a steaming plateful in front of Alexis. It was the second time that morning I'd had to look at enough fried food to feed a Romanian orphanage for a week, and I began to feel faintly queasy. 'So, tell me about T.R. Harris,' Alexis prompted as she ground out her cigarette.

I filled her in on my search for the missing builder. 'And when I shone my torch in the garage window, there it was,' I ended up.

The other panel?' Alexis asked.

The same. The one that says 'T.R. Harris, Builder". Of course, I still need you to ID the guy, but I reckon that's just a formality'

'So Cheetham set the whole thing up?' Alexis demanded. 'I'll kill the little shit when I get my hands on him.'

'I'm still not sure exactly what his role in the whole thing was,' I said. 'He's obviously in it up to the eyeballs, but I'm not sure who's been pushing who.'

'Does it matter? The pair of them are crooks! Let me tell you, they're both going to regret the day they crossed me and Chris!' Alexis fumed. She ran a hand through her hair angrily then lit a cigarette, sucking the smoke deep into her lungs.

'We'll cross that bridge when we come to it,' I soothed. 'First things first. We've got to make sure we've got the right guy, that there's not some innocent explanation for what I've seen.'

'Oh yes? Like what?' Alexis scoffed. 'Like Cheetham is secretly working undercover for the Fraud Squad?'

“No like B. Lomax, Builder, is renting out his garage to T.R. Harris, Builder. Like B. Lomax, Builder, is an old friend of Martin Cheetham's who introduced them to each other, and Cheetham, like you, is an innocent dupe.' That shut her up long enough for me to explain I was going to check out of my room.

Back upstairs, I dialled Paul Kingsley's home number. It was a call that could comfortably have waited till later in the day, but I was desperate to know if the surveillance had worked out. Paul answered on the third ring. Luckily, he didn't sound like a man who's just been roused from sleep. 'How did it go?' I asked after we'd got the pleasantries out of the way.

‘Just as you predicted it would,' he said, unable to keep the disappointment from showing. They can't help themselves, can they? 'Our man turned up about nine o'clock, loaded up his hatchback with boxes and took off into the night.'

'Did he seem at all suspicious?' I asked.

'He drove all round the car park before he parked up by the loading bay. Then he did the circuit on foot,” Paul said.

'I take it he didn't spot you?' It was a safe bet. Paul's a good operator. He's a commercial photographer who thinks it's great fun to do the odd job for us. I think it makes him feel like James Bond, and he's probably got more professional pride in his work than those of us who do it for a full-time living.