Skinner’s round

As Ski

'cause it's got a couple of loose bricks.

“For openers, I remember quite well meeting that dozy greenkeeper — on Monday — and giving him an autograph. I was heading off to practice and I signed it in a hurry. Golfers are notorious among collectors; half the autographs we do are written on the march, so no two signatures look the same… apart from those on cheques. That's how it was with Webb.'

At least that's what you'll say in court,' said Ski

Exactly! And you know better than I do what a good QC will do to Hughie Webb in cross-examination. After five minutes he won't be able to swear what month it was let alone what day of the week. I don't fancy your star witness in the White case, mate.

`Tell you something else. I don't see Susan Kinture standing up in court. I'd have to say that she came to my room…' He looked at Ski

… climbed straight into my bed, muttered something about not having had any for years, and set about me. I'd have to say that I told her next day that if she ever did anything like that again, I'd go straight to Hector.'

He slowed, as they approached his ball. 'Those are two problems you've got. Here's another.

Masur only decided at the last minute to walk back to Bracklands, after he and Morton had their second barney. How the hell could Rick have known about that? There are a few claims of empathy in twins; you know, one experiencing the other's pain even when they're miles apart, but nobody in his right mind's going to suggest that they're telepathic.'

He stopped beside his ball, and knelt down to look at its lie on the soft, lush, velvety grass.

'Watch this, Mr Policeman,' he said, standing up. 'Driver, please, Mario.' McGuire looked at him in surprise, but Atkinson nodded in confirmation and held out his hand, snapping his fingers. Behind them the crowd murmured as they saw the white-bibbed policeman caddy remove the cover from the longest club in the bag, notoriously uncontrollable even from the best of positions on the fairway. Atkinson swung the driver experimentally.

Standing behind the ball he looked down the line of the 300-yard shot which faced him, nodding to himself as he pla

Ski

The view of the spectators behind the rope barrier was hampered by the bunker which guarded the green, and by the distance itself. Some cheered, but others stayed silent, not seeing where the shot had finished, thinking perhaps that it had gone awry. In the stands beside the clubhouse there was a moment of stu

The champion turned back to the policeman. 'Impossible shot that, wasn't it? To bend a ball like that with a driver, to hit it that far, and then to pull it up with backspin. You're right, Bob.

There's the rest, and there's me.

A hundred quid, I reckon.'

'It'll be worth it,' said Ski

They walked on, towards the next landing area, and Ski

`Dead simple, really. You've both got mobile phones. The latest digital GSM model by Motorola. They've got numbers in series, and they were supplied by a company in the South of England. They work internationally, so wherever you are, you can talk to each other. It is telepathy of a sort. One of you has a thought, and the other can share it seconds later.

`Remember the night of the PGA di

Embarrassed! You almost swallowed your tongue. That was Rick, calling you by mistake.

That's not a guess. I know it. I've checked, you see. This is your world, Darren, but I've got mine, and there I can do things that you couldn't imagine.

I know Rick called you during the di

They arrived at the detective's ball. He looked down the line to the green. The flag was guarded by the encroaching bunker but, from the line of Atkinson's shot, he knew that the hole was cut well back from it. ' "Play the card, not the course", you told me. Best golfing advice I've ever had, and I'll never forget it. Let's see if I can finish in style. Eighteen straight pars and Ski

`Five-wood, please Neil.' Mcllhe

I'll fill in the last part now, will I?' said Ski

Was he booked into a hotel near here? Hardly, not looking like he does, among all these golf fans.' He shook his head, and took from his back pocket a small white card, on which a few lines were scrawled.

On August 1, a Wi

`Before that, last March in fact, a Yamaha trail bike, 125 cc, was registered in the name of Reginald Atkinson, number N 763 LRC. Arthur thought he remembered seeing a bike mounted on the back of your last camper vehicle.