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 stepped back and flung it open with a great flourish.

“I wish you luck,” he said; “it will be a long task, finding and saving two men who either have  fled the country or are already dead.”

Linda turned back to speak her last word as she and Hugh and Carl went out together into  the dark.

“I know they have not fled the country,” she said, “and I am certain they are not dead. Had anything happened to them, their dog would have  been here to tell us. So I know they are alive since Nicholas has not come back.”