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'Roger said he wanted to meet me, and took me along to a party to introduce us.'
'Where was the party?'
'At Mr Urquhart's. He had the bungalow right next door to Patrick's, and it was he who actually took me over to say hello to Patrick.'
'Did Roger know Francis Urquhart particularly well?'
'No, not really. At least not until recently. As far as I know they had scarcely spoken to each other before the election, but they have talked with each other a couple of times on the phone since then, and they met for dinner. I don't think even now they are -were - very close, though. Last time they spoke Roger was upset. Something about a computer file which got Roger very angry.'
At last the pieces began to fit.
'One more question, Penny. I presume Francis Urquhart has a country residence as well as his house in Pimlico. Do you happen to know where that is?'
'No, I don't I'm afraid. I've only got a list of Cabinet weekend telephone numbers which I keep for Roger.'
'Can I have the Urquhart number?'
'I can't, Mattie, they are absolutely confidential. You must remember there have been terrorist attacks at Ministers' homes, and it would be totally wrong for me to give them out to the press, even to you. I am sorry, Mattie, truly.'
'Can you tell me the area in which he fives? Not the address, just the town or even the county?' 'I don't know it. I've only got the telephone number.'
'Give me the dialling code, then. Just the dialling code' she pleaded.
There was the sound of a slight shuffling of paper at the other end of the phone.
'Mattie, I'm not sure why you want it, but it is to help Roger, isn't it?'
T promise you, Penny.'
'042128.'
Thanks. You won't regret it.'
Mattie flicked the receiver and got a new line. She punched the area code into the telephone, followed by a random set of numbers. A connection was made, and a phone started ringing at the other end.
'Lyndhurst 37428' a drowsy voice announced.
'Good evening. I'm sorry to bother you so late. Is that Lyndhurst, Surrey, 37428?'
'No. It's Lyndhurst in Hampshire 37428. And it's very late for you to be telephoning wrong numbers!' an irritated voice snapped before the phone was disconnected.
The fire inside Mattie was roaring brightly now as she threw herself across the room towards her bookcase, where she ripped a road atlas from its place. She scrabbled through the maps until she found the South Coast section, jabbed a finger at the page and whooped with triumph.
It's him, Johnnie. It's him!'
He looked over her shoulder at where the finger was placed It was pointing directly at the Rownhams service area on the M27 where O'Neill had died It was the first service station on the motorway back to London from Lyndhurst. O'Neill had died less than eight miles from Urquhart's country home.
TUESDAY 30th NOVEMBER
The morning newspapers fell onto the doormats of a million homes like a death knell for Samuel's candidacy. One by one, editor by editor, they began to line up behind Urquhart. It was not surprising to the Chief Whip that all the newspapers in the Telegraph and United Newspapers groups came to the same conclusion - some with more enthusiasm than others, to be sure, but to the same conclusion nonetheless - but it was of even greater satisfaction that many of the others had also decided to throw their weight behind him. Editorial offices tend to provide little comfort for politicians who trail their consciences; and some still remembered how badly their papers had got their fingers burnt with Neville Chamberlain's pious bits of paper. Others had reached the same cynical conclusion as Woolton about the drawbacks of creating another 'era' so soon after Thatcher which, with Samuel's youth, could last another fifteen years or more. Phrases such as 'experience', 'maturity' and 'balance' were peppered freely around the columns. Still others wanted simply to play safe, wishing to swim with the tide which was flooding strongly in Urquhart's favour.
Only two newspapers stood out amongst the quality ' press, theGuardian for its habit of deliberately swimming against the tide, requiring it to support Samuel, and the Independent which stood proud and isolated like a rock withstanding the battering of storms and tide, refusing to endorse either.
The mood was reflected in the two camps, with Urquhart's supporters finding it difficult to hide their air of quiet confidence, and Samuel's finding it impossible in private to disguise their sense of looming disappointment.
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