Slowly he turned to Fairbairn, and answered in voice of suspense: "Nothing! I was just remembering--and wondering!" He remained sunk in abstraction for a long time.

"It can't be!" at grips with "If it could be!" and a rising inspiration that "It was!" A man had once tried him out with questions about Alicante, a man who was afraid lest he should have seen too much.

But Hillyard had learnt to hold his tongue when he had only inspirations to go upon, and he disclosed nothing of this to Fairbairn.
Later on, when darkness had fallen, the two men drove in a motor-car southwards round the bay and through a shallow valley to the fishing village of Torrevieja.

When you came upon its broad beach of shingle and sand, with its black-tarred boats hauled up, and its market booths, you might dream that you had been transported to Broadstairs--except for one fact.

The houses are built in a single story, since the village is afflicted with earthquakes.