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Isobel hooked the bucket onto the improvised winch. "OK, Jamie," she called down. "Lower away." "The Doctor wasn't kidding about these gutters," Samantha said. "What I wanna know is, how did all this stuff get in them? Leaves and twigs and general muck, yeah, that's what you'd expect to find. Maybe even small trees. But ratchet screwdrivers? Felt-tip pens? Ball bearings?" "Edible ball bearings?" "I dunno, and I'm not going to put one in my mouth to find out." She wiped her forehead. "It's hot up here. No wonder the Doctor made off first chance he got." "He said he had to be in an audio." "More likely he was feeling the sun and Mel won't let him eat ice cream. What time is it?" Isobel checked her watch. "Half-past eleven exactly." "Fab. That's the end of our turn. Let's get out of here." They climbed off the flat roof and down the ladder. At its base, Jamie was tipping their last bucket of gutter scrapings into a wheelbarrow. "That's it for us," Samantha said. "Someone else can have a go now." Victoria reluctantly stood up. Before either Zoë or Gia could volunteer to join her, the sound of two people approaching could be heard. "Now who can that be?" Victoria wondered out loud. Her question was soon answered. The Brigadier rounded the corner of the building, followed closely by Captain Jack. "Hi, ladies and gentleman," the latter said. "Looking good as always." As if by conditioned reflex, the gutter-cleaners straightened their scruffy work clothes and dusted themselves down. "Thought you'd like to know how we got on with those smugglers," Jack continued. There was a general murmur of agreement. "A quantity of valuable information was extracted from the remains of the robot courier," the Brigadier said. "We also found the man Henry very cooperative. Given suitable inducement, of course, and the proper interrogation technique." "Nice cop, nasty cop?" Isobel asked. "Quite so." "I was the nice cop," Jack said, and flashed her a dazzling grin. "So you were the nasty one, Brigadier?" "The man's evidence," the Brigadier continued, straight-faced, "led us to a warehouse in the Barony of Norwood. Several arrests were made." "Norwood isn't a barony." "London Outside is quite a different place from the city you know, Miss Watkins." "Yeah," Jack said. "You should see their version of the Torchwood Tower. It looks like some Dark Lord's palace. All black marble and gold. Even got a spire on top, and a huge glowing eye and everything. No wonder Yvonne spends all her time there rather than here." "We also alerted the Navy and the coastguard service," the Brigadier said. "Captain Hart informs me--" "That's his Captain Hart, of course, not mine," Jack added helpfully. "I'm never getting those two mixed up again." "--Informs me that a vessel, supposedly a private yacht, was impounded last night. Several illegal plot devices were found aboard. That's all the news so far. If anything further comes up I'll let you know. Thank you for bringing the matter to our attention." He turned to go. "Hang on," Samantha said. "Don't we get a reward or a medal or something?" "Good heavens, no. Far too much of that sort of thing, in my opinion." "Only 'cos you haven't got room for any more ribbons on your jacket," Samantha muttered, as the Brigadier and Jack walked off. "That's just mingy. We don't even get sixpence for our trouble." "Back to work, then," Gia said. "Coming, Victoria?" As the two of them climbed the ladder and Jamie began to winch the bucket back up, Isobel, Zoë and Samantha sat down in the shade at the base of the wall. "Do you think we ended up in someone else's story?" Isobel asked. "Perhaps even now Scotland Yard's ace detective is sitting in his office wondering what on earth happened to those smugglers he was tracking down." "More like some gang of meddling kids on bikes who'd've spotted the gang stashing their loot and set a trap for them," Samantha said. "Now they'll have to do their homework instead. Serve them right." She paused briefly, then returned to old grievances. "And I still think we should've got a reward." "Why?" Zoë asked. "We stumbled across this thing entirely by chance. If Gia didn't break every car she touches we'd have been back here and none the wiser." "You may not wish to pursue that line of reasoning," Gia called down from above. "Bearing in mind that I've got a gutter full of sludge up here and you three are sitting ducks." "Point taken," Samantha shouted back. "So what do you have planned for next time?" Zoë asked Isobel. Isobel leaned back against the wall. "Next time?" she said. "I'm very tempted to do nothing and just put up with you and Jamie sulking all day." "Awww," Samantha said. "Spoilsport. Look, whatever we do, it can't be any more stressful than what we've just been through, can it?" "Now that," Jamie said, seating himself beside them, "is tempting Fate. And no good ever came of that." "Well, you tell Fate to bring it on." Samantha grinned at him. "Whatever he's got up his sleeve, we're ready for it." Epilogue: Good news yet to hear
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