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After he left Marta's village, Alex moved quickly and quietly across the fields. Nobody saw him. He walked and ran, and walked again. It rained all day and all night. He walked through the night, and the next morning -- the fourth day -- he was very tired and very hungry. He hid in some trees for an hour or two, then he went on south. Always south. To his home town.

"Where can I go?" he thought. "Perhaps I can escape from the country, but I want to see Olivia again before I leave… or before the police find me."

He came to a small town on a river, and found a food shop in a quiet street. He opened the door and went in. There were a lot of people in the shop, and he waited quietly behind them. People looked at him, and a man went out quickly. Alex wanted to run, but he was very hungry, so he waited. Then a woman with her young son came into the shop. The woman whispered to the boy, and the boy came up to Alex. "There are two policemen in the street," he said very quietly, "and they're coming here."

But first he needed food. He had some money in his pocket -- Marta's money. He remembered her words. You take it. I don't need it. An old woman doesn't need money. Alex smiled. What a wonderful old woman!

"Thank you," Alex said, and ran.

Three kilometres from the town Alex came to a road. He crossed the road quickly but a lorry came along at the same time. The lorry slowed down and the driver called out to him, "Where are you going?"

Alex looked quickly at the door, but he could not escape now. Then the shopkeeper called to him, "Hey, you!" he said. "Quick! Go out through the back."

Alex said the name of his home town, and the driver said, "Come on. I'm going near there. You can come with me."

Alex ran through the back of the shop, and the shopkeeper followed him. "I never help the police -- they're all bad," he said. He opened the back door and looked out. "It's OK," he said quickly. "You can get out of town along the river. Follow the back of the houses. Nobody goes there. Good luck!"

Alex said nothing, and waited. He felt very tired. The driver stared at him for a minute, then he smiled. "No, I don't know you," he said. "Get into the back of the lorry. Nobody can see you there. Are you hungry?"

Alex got into the front of the lorry, and the driver looked carefully into his face. "Do I know you?" he asked.

"DINON!" Felix shouted. He was very tired. "He escaped from prison five days ago. Somebody saw him in your shop."

"Dinon," the shopkeeper said slowly. "What did he do? Wait a minute. Yes! Did he write a book about the old President?"

But the shopkeeper was not helpful. "Alex who?" he said.

"Did Dinon come into this shop?" Felix asked.

"Perhaps this shopkeeper can tell us something," Adam said.

"We're always three hours or more behind him," Felix said to Adam in the car. "We drive up and down the country, but Dinon always moves on before we get there."

"I don't have prisoners in my shop," the shopkeeper said angrily. "And I don't want the police here."

"He killed the President," Adam said. "He murdered him."

The lorry drove slowly south. Alex ate all the driver's sandwiches and then slept like a dead man.

"Well, I've got some sandwiches. Here you are. Now, get in the back quickly. Before we see a police car."

"Yes, I am," Alex said. "Very."

"I do my job," Adam said, "and I don't ask questions."

"People never help the police in this country," Adam said. "People don't like us."

"Well, why did they put him in prison, then?"

After a minute or two Felix said, "Did Dinon murder the President? What do you think, Adam?"

"We can't get Dinon's book in this country. Do you know it, Adam?"

"Oh yes," the shopkeeper said. "I remember now. It was a good book. But the President's murderer did not come into my shop this morning."

Felix stared at the telephone on his desk. "Where is Dinon?" he said slowly. "People are helping him, but why? He's a murderer. And nobody wants to help us."

Felix watched the shopkeeper's face carefully. "My question", he said, "asked about Alex Dinon."

"No," Adam said.

Later, back in the office, Felix was very quiet. Suddenly he looked at Adam across the desk, and said:

"Why are we policemen, Adam?"

"It's a good job," Adam said. "And the money's good."

"That doesn't answer my question," Felix said.

Felix and Adam talked to a lot of people and asked a lot of questions in that small town, but they learned nothing.

Felix looked at him, but said nothing.

The shopkeeper looked at Felix and smiled slowly. "That's right," he said.