Five days after the killing of Nora Birch, Salamander and Trench met again, this time the venue was the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. It was far enough out of mainstream London that they could consider themselves reasonably safe. It would also be the last time they would have contact. They walked side by side, Salamander tapping his tightly-bound umbrella on the stone pathway and Trench, with his hands pushed deep into his coat, walking in the Salamander"s wake as they admired the fauna on the route
“Did you get everything you needed from the woman?” asked the Salamander.
Trench nodded. “It was perfect. She gave everything up without too much trouble. She was playing games she had no right to be meddling in.”
Salamander grimaced. He"d seen the newspaper clippings regarding the discovery
