The Grosvenor Square goodbye

There's an eagle in Grosvenor Square, on top of the American Embassy. It looks out over the wealthiest, the most comfortable part of London. The houses have the quiet dignity and grandeur that come with a couple of centuries of gracious living; the cars are glossily handmade and driven by men in peaked caps; even the air, up there by the eagle, seems to have a cool, expensive purity.The shot that cracked through the rich stillness of the early morning curdled Mayfair's creamy complexion for ever.The tramp who died knew nothing about it. The police soon knew that there was a gunman holed up in a hotel, with two hostages, and he didn't seem to care who or what he shot. Richard Ireland, the actor, who was one of the hostages, knew that he didn't care about his television image, all he knew was he was scared as hell. The security men at the American Embassy were busy on a job of their own: they didn't know how involved they were. The U.S. Ambassador soon knew that he was going to have to go into the room with that madman and talk to him, because that's who he was asking for, and if he didn't go someone else was going to get killed.And Renata Lander knew, deep down in her heart, that she'd almost had enough; that last night's row with Harry had been the worst ever. He'd stormed out of the house again, but this time, for the first time, he'd not come back. It was when she discovered that he'd taken his rifle with him that she became afraid...