Penelope sat in the seedy pub, nursing a Coca-Cola. Seething. She'd been there an hour and seemed to have been, as the Americans said, "stood up."

The barman came by again and asked if she was named "Rutledge." Penelope admitted that she was and he said she was wanted in the back room. She followed him and noticed a cosh in his back pocket.

"In here. I gotta get back to the bar," said the publican.

Penelope opened the door and stepped into the room. There was a sharp odor of chloroform and everything went dark.

(Don't you wish you knew what's going to happen next?)