A hall of mirrors greeted us, with a sign encouraging us to split up. We did so, but Emma and I bumped into each other before finding a way out, abruptly dumping us in a long stone corridor. Sensing an opportunity, we hurried down it, taking the last door at the end and shutting it behind us.
Emma checked her phone
"They've done it!" she said, her face lighting up. "They've got all our pictures - actually, they've got all his pictures and videos. They've swept the place for USB drives, CDs, DVDs and everything else. They've hacked his system and erased everything from his online storage, reprogrammed his cameras and wiped most of the disks."
"That's incredible!" I said. "Who are they? How can they do this?"
"I'll tell you when we get out of here," she said. "They're just cleaning up, but they only need another half hour - and we're an hour out of London by train or more by car. They also found enough money to cover the job, from his extortion and blackmail - although they haven't been able to find the people it should go to. We're covered. Free! Come on, let's go."
We opened a creaky window out onto the grounds and climbed out, dropping awkwardly onto the grass at the front of the mansion. A warden in an Audley House uniform approached us with a torch.
"I'm sorry," he said. "You can't come this way. Please go back in and continue the tour via the door."
"We don't want to continue the tour," Emma said. "We'd like to leave please"
"Very well," he said. "If you're sure, I'll take you back to reception and call you a taxi."
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