He smiled at them. Now at last his muscles unlocked and he felt he had the strength to step away.

On the other hand, there was a YFG above him, and Joe knew from his upbringing that while G.o.d might not dish out His grace too frequently, when He did, there was no stinting and a wise man filled his boots.

He brought to mind what Chip Harvey had said.

Eye on the ball, head still, swing easy.

He swung so easy, without any sense of contact, that for a second he was convinced he must have missed. Except that the ball that the eye in his perfectly still head was on wasn't there.

On the terrace the spectators forgot about the sirens and fell silent again, a silence quickly broken by the hiss of in-drawn breath. Of many in-drawn breaths.

He looked up and saw his ball. At least he saw someone's ball, though it was so distant and receding so fast he couldn't really believe it was his.

It was still high in the air when it pa.s.sed over Latimer's, it made first contact with the ground a yard or so beyond Surtees', its first bounce took it past Rowe's, and it continued for a good fifty yards before finally coming to rest in the middle of the fairway.

From the terrace above came a rattle of applause, a rumble of cheers, and even, despite the fact that this was the Royal Hoo, a skirl of appreciative whistles which turned into gasps of horror as the first police car appeared, making directly for the clubhouse straight up the sacred fairway.

One thing about Willie Woodbine, he knew how to make an entrance.

Joe turned and walked off the tee.

Chip had been right. It was an easy game. And the roar of the b.u.t.terflies was nothing but applause for a job well done.

The Bermuda Triangle stood stock still, looking as petrified as he'd felt only a few moments earlier.

As he pa.s.sed them, he gave them an almost sympathetic smile.

'Gotcha!' said Joe.

A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR.

Reginald Hill is the author of the outstanding crime novels featuring Joe Sixsmith. He has won numerous awards, including the Golden Dagger for his acclaimed Dalziel and Pascoe series, and in 1995 received the Crime Writers' a.s.sociation's Cartier Diamond Dagger Award for his lifetime contribution to crime writing. He is married and lives with his wife in his native c.u.mbria.

Copyright 2008 Reginald Hill.

By the same author.

Dalziel and Pascoe novels.

A CLUBBABLE WOMAN.

AN ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.

RULING Pa.s.sION.

AN APRIL SHROUD.

A PINCH OF SNUFF.

A KILLING KINDNESS.

DEADHEADS.

EXIT LINES.

CHILD'S PLAY

UNDERWORLD.

BONES AND SILENCE.

ONE SMALL STEP.

RECALLED TO LIFE.

PICTURES OF PERFECTION.

ASKING FOR THE MOON.

THE WOOD BEYOND.

ON BEULAH HEIGHT.

ARMS AND THE WOMEN.

DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD.

DEATH'S JEST-BOOK

GOOD MORNING, MIDNIGHT.

DEATH COMES FOR THE FAT MAN.

Joe Sixsmith novels.

BLOOD SYMPATHY.

BORN GUILTY.

KILLING THE LAWYERS.

SINGING THE SADNESS.