The Broken Sun Read Online Free Page A

driveway. ‘Recent tyre tracks.’
    He went to climb over the gate when Scarlet asked, ‘Isn’t that trespassing?’
    â€˜Not at all. We’ve simply lost our way.’
    The metal gate had spikes running across the top. Jack and Mr Doyle navigated them
without difficulty, but Scarlet was momentarily ensnared by her dress. At the end
of the driveway was a two-storey Georgian home with a well-maintained garden. Mr
Doyle knocked at the front door. No-one answered.
    â€˜Should we break in?’ Jack asked.
    Mr Doyle gave a gentle laugh. ‘Breaking and entering is a crime,’ he reminded his
young assistant. ‘And we never break in.’
    â€˜Sorry?’
    â€˜But we do occasionally enable an entry point. Let’s look around.’
    They found an empty sunroom at the back. The windows were dusty and locked. Mr Doyle
knocked again, but there was still no answer. Scarlet glanced through another window.
    â€˜That’s the kitchen,’ she said. ‘There are tables and chairs, but no pots or pans.’
    â€˜Really?’ Mr Doyle said. ‘That’s odd.’ He peered in. ‘Hmm. No plates. No dishes.
No sign of habitation. You know what that means?’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜That the time has come to enable an entry point.’ He raised his elbow and knocked
it against the glass, smashing it out of the pane. Reaching inside, he undid the
latch.
    â€˜What will we say if someone is inside?’ Scarlet asked.
    â€˜We’ll tell them we’re lost,’ Mr Doyle said, ‘and seeking the road to Edinburgh.’
    â€˜I’ll go,’ Jack offered, starting to push the window open. But Mr Doyle suddenly
threw himself at him.
    â€˜Watch out!’

CHAPTER THREE
    They hit the ground and rolled as the window shattered, spraying glass and timber
everywhere.
    After a long moment of stunned silence, Mr Doyle calmly rose to his feet and inspected
the opening. ‘A rifle has been set as a booby trap. I saw it at the last moment.’
    Jack stood, his legs shaking. He tried to speak, but his throat was still blocked
with fear. He would have been killed if Mr Doyle hadn’t pushed him out of the way.
    â€˜Are you all right, my boy?’ Mr Doyle asked, gripping his shoulder.
    â€˜Fine,’ Jack said, his voice an octave higher.
    â€˜At least we have an answer to one question: no-one else is here. They would have
come running by now.’
    Scarlet nodded. ‘I should have realised that window was too normal.’
    Jack wondered if there could really be something to her Normal Strangeness theory.
‘Shame the house wasn’t gloomy and mysterious,’ he said. ‘It might have been safer.’
    Mr Doyle eased open the shattered window. Jack peered inside and saw that a rifle
had been harnessed to a series of pulleys and levers, ready to fire when the window
was opened.
    Jack shuddered. ‘Thank you, sir,’ he said. ‘You saved my life.’
    â€˜My pleasure.’
    They searched the house. Grey curtains with a peacock design hung in each room, swathing
them in dull light. The carpets were threadbare. Bald patches discoloured the walls
where paintings had once been displayed. A nursery, brightly clad in royal blue wallpaper,
was empty except for a solitary child’s alphabet block in a corner. The house contained
nothing of a personal nature. No pictures of family members. No crockery or cutlery.
No papers or clothing.
    Downstairs, other traps had been set under every window, as well as the front and
back doors.
    â€˜This is possibly taking security a little too seriously.’ Mr Doyle chewed on some
cheese as he examined the front door. ‘There is a piece of string here that deactivates
the trap.’
    Reaching a room lined with bookshelves without books, Mr Doyle nodded in satisfaction.
‘Ah,’ he said. ‘This is fortunate.’
    â€˜I already feel fortunate,’ Jack said, ‘to