There was cloud in the middle of the day, but in the afternoon the sun came out again, stronger than before. The home islands of the bailiwick were hazy hills behind them, Alderney a shimmering...

Billy was gasping for breath when he came up with him, and had been sobbing; his face was stained with dirt and the tracks of tears. He looked at Matthew, full of guilt and trust....

It was, as Le Perré had said, the sense of unease which was worst. Matthew had walked out occasionally, on an ormering tide, and been conscious of the strangeness, the altogether alien quality, of the...

His preparations, since they had to be made without attracting attention, occupied the better part of two weeks. There was another spell of bad weather towards the end, but they all crowded into the main...

‘I tell you, it’s like committing suicide!’ ‘That’s a matter of opinion. At least, it doesn’t concern anyone else.’ ‘Doesn’t it, by God! A little group like this, we need every pair of hands. We...

Listen,’ Miller said, ‘you’re an intelligent girl. You know better than that. If it hadn’t been for Matty and me organizing things, you’d still be down in that cellar. You don’t think the rest of...

Miller had gone off somewhere along the cliffs, and in his absence their most recent recruit, De Portos, had gone to sit with the girl, Shirley. After a time, De Portos apparently persuaded her to...

‘She’s dead.’ ‘Thank God for that,’ Miller said. ‘I’ll have the bottle, then.’ He put his hand out and, after a momentary hesitation, Ashley gave it to him. Miller took the stopper out and wiped...

Codeine was one of the things they had found in the tangled litter that had been the chemist’s shop. Matthew pounded half a dozen tablets up, and mixed them with water in one of the...

Miller planned the operation. His idea was that they should head for Torteval by way of Forest, coming back through King’s Mills. Matthew had reservations about the possibilities of completing a sweep of this extent,...