Slightly more prominent on the left-hand pillar was a notice suggesting that tradesmen and others of the ilk might care to continue another half-mile till they encountered a lane on the left which would take them to the rear of the clubhouse. Joe was momentarily tempted. But he hadn't changed into his best blue slacks and yellow polo shirt for nothing, so he boldly sent the Morris rolling between a pair of gates containing enough wrought iron to make a small battleship.

Instantly he knew he was in a different country. Luton might be only fifteen minutes drive away, but this was somewhere else.

The driveway wound along an avenue of tall and probably ancient trees. Horticulture wasn't one of Joe's areas of expertise and the best he could say about them was that they weren't silver birches, palms, or monkey puzzles. Between their huge trunks he could see sweeping lengths of manicured greensward and from time to time he got glimpses ahead of what looked like the kind of stately home the proles were permitted to rubberneck around for a substantial fee a couple of days a week during the summer. Presumably this was the clubhouse. Eventually as he got closer, the driveway forked. Another of those signs so discreet he'd have missed it if he'd been doing more than five mph indicated that cars should bear to the right.

The car park, screened from the house by a colourful shrubbery, was full of serious machinery. You parked a Beamer here, you were anonymous. Couple of Rollers, lovely old Daimler, a vintage Bugatti, at least three autograph Range Rovers, Jags across the spectrum, a scarlet Ferrari that you tiptoed round in case you woke it up, several other sports jobs of varying degrees of flashness. But nowhere any sign of Porphyry's Volante.

Not surprising. He was deliberately early. It was something he'd read in Not So Private Eye, his PI Bible. When a meet's been set up on ground you don't know, get there first to suss things out.

He got out of his car and strolled over to the Bugati to take a closer look.

'Morning, sir? That your Morris?'

He turned to see a fresh-faced youngster of eighteen or nineteen coming towards him. At least it wasn't a heavy in a security uniform alerted by CCTV that a dodgy-looking character was prowling round the car park, but it probably amounted to the same thing.

'That's right,' said Joe. 'Not in the wrong car park, am I?'

Maybe at the Hoo they had auto-apartheid.

'Oh no, this is fine. Nice motor, but I think you could do with a bit of air in your front offside.'

'Could all do with a bit of air,' said Joe, checking it out. The kid was right.

'Wouldn't be Mr Sixsmith by any chance, would it, sir?'

'That's me, yeah.'

'Mr Porphyry mentioned you might be coming,' said the youth. 'I'm Chip Harvey, a.s.sistant pro.'

He held out his hand. Joe shook it. The kid seemed genuinely pleased to see him.

'First time here, is it, sir?' he said. 'I hope you like the look of us. It's a lovely course. It would make a marvellous championship venue, but as I'm sure you know if you're looking to join us, the membership here doesn't care for that sort of public exposure. Let me show you to the clubhouse.'

If you're looking to join us, thought Joe. Said without the slightest hint of some hope! In the light of morning, the doubts sown by Merv had withered considerably. Porphyry had struck him as straight and he was used to backing his own judgement. However daft the membership story might play to outsiders, what was the guy supposed to say? That he was bringing a PI to lunch with a view to casing the joint!

Really he would have preferred to hang around the car park till Porphyry appeared, but that would have looked a bit odd, so he let himself be guided through the shrubbery.

Close up, the clubhouse had even more of the feel of a stately home about it. French windows opened on to a long terrace spotted with parosoled tables. No plastic DIY superstore stuff these, but the kind of old-fashioned, twisty wrought-iron jobs you'd look to find in the gardens of folk who didn't have to buy their own furniture. Not that Joe spent much time among such people, but he was a great fan of heritage movies. Come to think of it, the scatter of people drinking coffee or long fruit drinks in elegant gla.s.ses could have been carefully arranged there by Messrs Merchant and Ivory. Of course these days, when cla.s.s can be cloned as easy as sheep, anyone could buy the gear and walk the walk and talk the talk. But there's always a pea under the mattress, and to Joe's keen eye, where real kiss-my-a.s.s cla.s.s showed through was in the way your born-to-its sat easy. Folk like him either slumped or, at best, lolled. Somewhere towards the top of the heap you learned the art of reclining gracefully. Most of these folk here either had it, or were working very hard at getting it.

One end of the terrace overlooked a huge circle of lawn only slightly smaller than Kensington Gardens. From the numbered flag at its centre he deduced it was the eighteenth green. Green was the right word. It was so green it could have played for Ireland. Considering there'd been a hosepipe ban in the Luton area for a fortnight, reducing most gardens and public parks to dustbowls that would have made a dromedary cough, Joe couldn't understand why everyone here wasn't under arrest. And it wasn't just the actual green. The undulating crescent of tree-lined fairway stretching into the distance didn't look like it was dying of thirst either. Maybe here at Royal Hoo they had their own special cloud which sprinkled a little rain during the hours of darkness.

Chip Harvey sat him at a table and said, 'This do you, sir?'

'Yeah, this is fine,' said Joe. 'You don't have Mr Porphyry's Chris's number, do you? I could give him a bell, see if there's a hold up?'

He pulled out his mobile. The young man grimaced and said, 'No can do, I'm afraid, sir. Use of mobiles is strictly forbidden on the course or in the clubhouse. Heavy fine even if it just rings! You'd need to go back to your car to use it, but I'm sure Mr Porphyry will be here soon. Relax, have a drink. The steward will be along in a minute. Enjoy your day, sir.'

Nice boy, thought Joe, taking in his surroundings. This was OK, this was the real deal. Comfy seat under a parasol, lovely view, four crisp new monkeys in his pocket, steward would be along in a moment, even a breath of what must be the only breeze in the whole county, what more could a man ask? Envy and resentment didn't play a large part in Joe's outlook. Social injustices and inequalities had to be personalized before they hit his indignation b.u.t.ton. If as he sat here he saw another black, balding, middling aged, vertically challenged, slightly overweight, redundant lathe-operator being given the runaround because of all or any one of these conditions, he would have groaned regretfully, stood up, and taken sides with the guy. But long as these folk didn't mind him, he certainly wasn't going to mind them. He'd learned his Bible the hard way, meaning Aunt Mirabelle's way, and that meant it stuck, especially her favourite bits, one of which was what Paul wrote to them Ephesians, whoever they were. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against princ.i.p.alities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Well, that was OK for Paul and Rev Pot, and good luck to them. Let all them preachers and politicians and newspaper columnists and such sort out the princ.i.p.alities and powers. Joe was happy to restrict his wrestling to good old-fashioned flesh and blood.

Out of the corner of his eye, he observed that one of a trio of men sitting a couple of tables away had caught Chip Harvey's attention as he pa.s.sed and seemed to be questioning him closely. Oh shoot, thought Joe. Is good old-fashioned flesh and blood going to get to me before I can order a drink?

It looked like it. The man stood up. He was maybe forty, solidly built but mostly muscle, little flab. He was wearing a pale brown sports shirt and matching tailored shorts which made Joe glad he'd grounded the Technicolor parrots. His vigorous dark brown hair was rather becomingly tipped with grey and he had the kind of square open face which gets people buying double glazing or giving cash advances to jobbing builders. He was smiling but Joe didn't let this lull his fears. Places he did most of his drinking in, if a guy came at you with intent to smash your face in, he usually had the decency to look like a guy whose intent this was. Here, he guessed, different conventions might apply.

But it seemed he was wrong.

'Mr Sixsmith, I believe? I'm Tom Latimer, club vice-captain. Young Chip tells me you're waiting for Chris Porphyry.'

'That's right,' said Joe, taking the outstretched hand and returning the warm handshake. 'Nice boy, that Chip.'

'Yes, we have high hopes of him. Think he might make it on the tour. He'll need backing, of course, but we've got big hearts as well as deep pockets here at the Hoo.'

This didn't mean a lot to Joe, who in any case was preoccupied by the fact that the handshake had become a tow rope drawing him out of his seat as Latimer continued, 'Wonder if you'd care to join us? Chris isn't the best of timekeepers, I'm afraid. Always. .h.i.ts the first tee at a run!'

Unable to think of a good way to say, No, thanks, I'd rather sit here by myself, Joe found himself moving towards the other two men who were also brushing up the welcoming smiles.

One was less successful than the other. His name was Arthur Surtees, thirty something, his head close shaven presumably to hide the fact that he was bald anyway, and his deep sunken watchful eyes giving the lie to his wide stretched mouth, like a poorly put-together police photofit.

The other was Colin Rowe, in his fifties, grey-haired, with a lean intelligent face which would have looked well on a college professor. His smile was perfectly natural, nothing exaggerated about it, the kind of wryly sympathetic expression which would, Joe imagined, encourage an errant student to admit he hadn't done his homework.

But why do I get the feeling these guys know exactly who I am? thought Joe. That was impossible. Had to be his own sense of being out of place talking.

The steward, wearing a linen jacket as white and crisp as a h.o.a.r-frost, appeared as Joe sat down. Thinking that maybe a pint of cold Guinness might strike a wrong note, Joe asked for coffee.

'Hot or iced, sir?' the steward enquired. He had a lovely voice, like an old-fashioned actor's. You probably needed a public school education just to get a job keeping bar at places like Royal Hoo.

Joe hesitated. Cold coffee? You got that down at Dot's Diner, you sent it back to be put in the microwave.

'Iced, I think, Bert,' said Latimer. 'And the same again for the rest of us. Well, Joe all right if I call you Joe? We don't stand on ceremony here how do you like the look of us so far?'

Joe had no natural talent to deceive, which could be a bit of a drawback in his chosen profession. He was working on it, but on the whole he made do in most situations by looking for straws of truth to get a firm hold of.

'I'm impressed,' he said. 'Weather like this, it beats sitting in my office.'

'We all know the feeling,' said Surtees. 'So where do you play, Joe?'

Why the shoot can't folk make conversation without asking direct questions? Joe wondered, as he marshalled the few facts he knew about golf to ascertain if there was an answer like 'left wing' or 'in goal'. Didn't seem likely, so presumably they were into geography. Could tell them Luton Munic.i.p.al Pitch'n'Putt and watch their faces, but that two hundred nestling against his left b.u.t.tock was beginning to feel very much at home there.

He said, 'I travel around a lot, so anywhere I can, really.'

'And welcome wherever you go, I'm sure,' said Latimer heartily.

A silence. With a bit of luck, thought Joe, it might turn into a siesta and stretch to fill the minutes till Porphyry appeared.

But luck wasn't on offer.

'So how's your game, Joe?' said Colin Rowe.

'Well, you know what it's like, up and down,' said Joe.

Rowe laughed and said, 'Part of its charm, eh? Pity they didn't build its fluctuations into the handicap system. Doesn't matter if I feel like c.r.a.p, when I step on that first tee, I'm playing off 5. Arthur here's a bandit 7. And Tom's 9.'

'On a good day with the wind behind me,' said Latimer lightly. 'So how about you, Joe?'

'Sorry?' said Joe.

'Just wondering what your handicap was,' said Latimer.

Joe found a dozen smart answers crowding his tongue. He guessed a couple of them might be floating around Latimer's mind too. So don't give him the satisfaction, just play it straight. Which sounded a lot easier than it was. That golf had a handicap system he knew, but how it worked he had no idea. The only other game he knew that used handicaps was polo, and that was only because it had come up on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Joe, who was quite keen to be a millionaire, had been trying to improve his general knowledge by making a note of all the correct answers till Beryl had screamed with laughter and said, 'Joe, this stuff you're trying to learn is exactly the stuff you don't need to know, 'cos they've asked it already!' But the polo question had stuck.

What is the best handicap a top-cla.s.s polo player can have?

The four alternatives had been 0, 10, 24, 36.

The answer had been 10. Seemed that beginners started at 0 or even minus something, and 24 and 36 didn't exist.

Which fitted very well here. Rowe had said he was 7 and Surtees was 5 while Latimer, the club vice-captain and therefore presumably one of its best players, was 9.

So play it safe.

'Oh pretty low, you know,' he said vaguely.

'Pretty low? Come on, Joe, don't be modest!' said Surtees with just the hint of a sneer.

He's trying to provoke me! thought Joe. Wants me to claim I'm a top gun, then he'll look for a way to show me up. Well, hard luck, mate. One thing I've learned is if you have to lie, keep it in bounds of reason.

'No, really,' he said. 'My handicap's nothing. A big 0.'

In other words I'm a rank beginner. Put that in your pipe!

'Scratch, eh? Thought as much,' said Rowe. 'Soon as I set eyes on you, I thought, there's a scratch man if ever I saw one!'

Scratch man. Now that sounded really offensive, but Rowe didn't say it in a particularly offensive way, and in any case a guy who was actually boasting when he said he was a lousy golfer didn't ought to get hot and bothered when he was told that's just what he looked like.

'Yeah? Well, like the man said, what you see is what you get,' said Joe pleasantly.

Rowe smiled but the other two were looking at him speculatively and he began to wonder if maybe Porphyry had told Chip Harvey something different and he'd pa.s.sed it on to these guys. Well, if he had, that was Porphyry's problem. Where was the man anyway? He didn't like to look at his own watch but he managed to cop a glance at the chunky gold Rolex on Latimer's wrist and saw that it was after ten thirty.

Bert, the steward, materialized at the table bearing a laden tray. He set it down and began distributing the drinks.

'Your iced coffee, Mr Sixsmith,' he said.

'Right,' said Joe, thinking, I'm only here five minutes and already the staff know my name.

He sipped the coffee. It was delicious. This was the sort of thing people who joined the Royal Hoo knew from birth, he guessed. Luke-warm coffee tastes like ditchwater but, lose a few more degrees and you get this nectar.

Latimer glanced at his watch.

'What time are you meeting Chris?' he asked.

'Ten thirty.'

'Pa.s.sed that now. Bad form keeping a guest waiting, but Chris is always a bit of a law unto himself.'

'In more ways than one,' said Surtees shortly.

'Now, now, Arthur,' reproved Latimer. 'But not to worry, Joe. Even if Chris does stand you up, we'll see you don't have a wasted journey. We were just trying to work up enough energy to play a couple of holes before lunch. We could do with a fourth. What do you say, fellows? Shall we persuade Joe to join us and show us his style?'

'Only if he gives us half a dozen gotchas,' said Surtees.

This was evidently a joke. They all laughed immoderately and Joe joined in, partly to give the impression he knew what they were laughing about, but also because, as a naturally sociable man, he always found mirth infectious.

But when the laughs died away, Latimer returned to the attack, 'So that's agreed. You'll do us the honour then, Joe? If Chris doesn't show?'

They were all regarding him expectantly.

'Love to,' said Joe. 'Only I haven't brought my gear.'

His long experience of trying to get out of Aunt Mirabelle's arrangements, which usually involved meeting homely spinsters who'd reached the age where hope's allegedly eternal springs were drying to a trickle, should have taught him that any excuse that wasn't rock solid was tissue paper to a determined arranger.

'No problem. Young Chip will fit you up in two minutes in the pro's shop.'

The rock-solid excuse produced after the sandy-based one has collapsed rarely sounds totally convincing, but Joe didn't let such a consideration bother him. He hesitated only to decide between the urgent hospital appointment to discover if his recently diagnosed brain tumour was operable and the need to meet his wife and seven children who were arriving at Heathrow from Barbados mid afternoon.

Then over Latimer's shoulder he saw the air shimmer as if at the flutter of an angel's wings and a moment later salvation appeared in the form of a YFG.

'That's most kind of you,' he said. 'I'd really love to play with you guys ...'

He paused to enjoy the shadow of surprise which ran across each of their faces, then he said, 'But, hey, it will have to be some other time. Sorry. Here's Chris now. Thanks for your hospitality.'

He stood up as Porphyry reached the table.

'Joe,' he said. 'So sorry I'm late.'

'No problem,' said Joe. 'Your friends have been making me really welcome.'

'That's kind of them. We're a welcoming club. Catch you later, Tom.'

'Why don't you and Joe join us?' said Latimer pleasantly.

'Thanks, but no. We're a bit pressed for time and I wanted to show Joe round.'

'Well, I hope you like what you see, Joe. And don't forget. You've promised us a game so we can see your style.'

Joe gave him the big grin.

'No problem, Tom,' he said. 'That's one promise I definitely won't forget.'

Meaning, if ever I come here again which at this moment don't feel likely, I'm going to buy me a plaster cast from the Plastic Poo Joke Shop and wrap it round my leg!