‘Oh, shit.’

‘What?’

‘It’s Hades.’

‘It can’t be. You killed him.’

‘I killed Acheron. He had a brother named Styx—why couldn’t he have a sister?’

We exchanged nervous looks and stared at the mnemonograph in front of us. Some of her features did seem to resemble those of Acheron now I stared at her. For a start, she was tall. And the way her lips were thin, and the eyes—they had a sort of brooding darkness to them.

‘No wonder she’s pissed off with you,’ murmured Landen ‘You killed her brother.’

‘Thanks for that, Landen,’ I said. ‘You always know how to relax a girl.’

‘Sorry. So we know the “H” in “A.H.” is Hades—what about the “A”?’

‘The Acheron was a tributary of the river Styx,’ I said quietly, ‘as were the Phlegethon, Cocytus, Lethe—and… Aornis.’

I’d never felt so depressed at having identified a suspect before. But something was niggling at me. There was something here that I couldn’t see, as if I were listening to a TV from another room, hearing dramatic music but having no idea what was going on.

‘Cheer up.’ Landen smiled, rubbing my shoulder. ‘She’s ballsed it up three times already—it might never happen!’

‘There’s something else, Landen.’

‘What?’

‘Something I’ve forgotten. Something I never remembered. Something about… I don’t know.’

‘It’s no good asking me,’ replied Landen. ‘I may seem real to you but I’m not—I can’t know any more than you do.’

Aornis had vanished and Landen was starting to fade.

‘You’ve got to go now,’ he said in a hollow-sounding voice. ‘Remember what I said about Jack Schitt.’

‘Don’t go!’ I yelled. ‘I want to stay here for a bit. It’s not much fun out here at the moment. I think it’s Miles’s baby, Aornis wants to kill me, and Goliath and Flanker—!’

But it was too late. I’d woken up I was still in bed, undressed, bedclothes rumpled. The clock told me it was a few minutes past nine. I stared at the ceiling in a forlorn mood, wondering how I could have got myself into such a mess, and then wondering whether there was anything I could have done to prevent it. I decided, on the face of it, probably not. This, to my fuddled way of thinking, I took to be a positive sign. So I slipped on a T-shirt and shuffled into the kitchen, filled the kettle and put some dried apricots in Pickwick’s bowl after trying and failing to get her to stand on one leg.

I shook the entroposcope just in case, was thankful to find everything as normal, and was just checking the fridge for some fresh milk when the doorbell rang. I trotted out to the hall, picked up my automatic from the table and asked:

‘Who is it?’

‘Open the door, Doofus.’

I put the gun away and opened the door. Joffy smiled at me as he entered and raised his eyebrows at my dishevelled state.

‘Half-day today?’

‘I don’t feel like working now that Landen’s gone.’

‘Who?’

‘Never mind. Coffee?’

We walked into the kitchen. Joffy patted Pickwick on the head and I emptied the old grounds out of the coffee jug. He sat down at the table.

‘Seen Dad recently?’

‘Last week. He was fine. How much did you make on the art sale?’

‘Over two thousand pounds in commission. I thought of using the cash to repair the church roof but then figured what the hell—I’ll just blow it on drink, curry and prostitutes.’

I laughed.

‘Sure you will, Joff’

I rinsed some mugs and stared out of the window.

‘What can I do for you, Joff?’

‘I came round to pick Miles’s things up.’

I stopped what I was doing and turned to face him.

‘Say that again.’

‘I said I came—’

‘I know what you said, but… but—how do you know Miles?’

Joffy laughed, saw I was serious, frowned at me and then remarked:

‘He said you didn’t recognise him that night at Vole Towers. Is everything okay?’

I shrugged.

‘Not really, Joff—but tell me: how do you know him?’

‘We’re going out, Thurs—surely you can’t have forgotten?’

‘You and Miles?’

‘Sure! Why not?’

This was very good news indeed.

‘Then his clothes are in my apartment because—’

‘We borrow it every now and then.’

I tried to grasp the facts.

‘You borrow my apartment because it’s… secret?’

‘Right. You know how old fashioned SpecOps are when it comes to their staff fraternising with clerics.’

I laughed out loud and wiped away the tears that had sprung to my eyes.

‘Sis?’ said Joffy, getting up. ‘What’s the matter?’

I hugged him tightly.

‘Nothing’s the matter, Joff. Everything’s wonderful. I’m not carrying his baby!’

‘Miles?’ said Joff. ‘Wouldn’t know how. Wait a minute, sis—you’ve got a bun in the oven? Who’s the father?’

I smiled through my tears.

‘It’s Landen’s,’ I said with renewed confidence. ‘By God it’s Landen’s!’

And I jumped up and down with the sheer joy of the fact, and Joffy, who had nothing better to do, joined me in jumping up and down until Mrs Scroggins in the apartment below banged on the ceiling with a broom handle.

‘Sister dearest,’ said Joffy as soon as we had stopped, ‘who in St Zvlkx’s name is Landen?’

‘Landen Parke-Laine,’ I gabbled happily. ‘The ChronoGuard eradicated him but something other happened and I still have his child, so it’s all meant to come out right, don’t you see? And I have to get him back because if Aornis does get to me then he’ll never exist, ever, ever, ever—and neither will the baby and I can’t stand that idea and I’ve been farting around for too long so I’m going to go into The Raven no matter what—because if I don’t I’m going to go nuts!’

‘I’m very happy for you,’ said Joffy. ‘You’ve completely lost your mind, but I’m very happy for you.’

I ran into the living room, rummaged on my desk until I found Schitt-Hawse’s calling card and rang the number. He answered in less than two rings.

‘Ah, Next,’ he said with a triumphant air. ‘Changed your mind?’

‘I’ll go into The Raven for you, Schitt-Hawse. Double-cross me and I’ll maroon both you and your half-brother in the worst Daphne Farquitt novel I can find. Believe me, I can do it—and will do it, if necessary.’

There was a pause.

‘I’ll send a car to pick you up.’

The phone went dead and I placed the receiver back on the cradle. I took a deep breath, shooed Joffy out of the door once he had collected Miles’s stuff, then had a shower and got dressed. My mind was set. I would get Landen back, no matter what the risks. I still didn’t have a coherent plan, but this didn’t bother me that much—I seldom did.

The doorbell rang as I was putting my shoes on. But it wasn’t Goliath. It was Agents Lamb and Slaughter. I was really quite glad to see that they were still alive; perhaps Aornis didn’t regard them as a threat. I wouldn’t.