by Mark Hayden
‘Good. I passed Part One today.’
‘Of course you did. Any updates on the book?’
‘I’ll find out this afternoon. Have you heard anything?’
She breathed out, air catching in her nose and echoing. It sounded like she was exhaling a breath she’d been holding for over a year.
‘Yes. I saw the probation officer, and he has graded me low-risk. I have to register in Gloucester, and after that it will be by telephone.’
‘Really? They do that?’
She gave a hollow laugh. ‘You don’t know the half of it. I also have a date: Friday twenty-second of May.’
‘I can’t wait, love.’
‘Me too. Oh, and I have other news. I saw the governor yesterday, and I asked him if he’d seen any good videos lately, meaning Bollywood, of course.’
She didn’t mean Bollywood (although Mina has started a trend with them). She meant the video of Mina being racially assaulted by an inmate while a prison officer watched.
‘And had he?’
‘He had. He has moved me from numeracy workshops to supporting the IT teacher. I will be able to start on Project Midas next week.’
There was a bleep on the line – the ten second warning. You can say I love you a lot of times in ten seconds.
14 — Of Dwarves and Coneheads
‘Good afternoon, Mr Clarke. Not a good day for your leg, is it?’
I hadn’t even got to the top of Merlyn’s Tower when Tennille Haynes’ voice carried down the stairs. She has very good hearing. It wasn’t a good day, actually. My titanium tibia has taken to getting hot, which it shouldn’t, being an inert metal object. I was beginning to worry about it getting infected, though again, that shouldn’t happen. I waited until I’d emerged into her zone before I replied.
The King’s Watch has been based at Merlyn’s Tower since its creation in 1618. Our home is in the outer curtain wall of the Tower of London, squat and strong, and invisible. Even to satellites. Last year a drone flew into the roof because its operator thought our building was a terraced house.
The Peculier Constable has the top floor, with views over the Thames from a substantial office (and a back staircase to the basement). Outside Hannah’s robust oak doors is an open space where Tennille sits facing the staircase, protecting Hannah and striking fear into the young Watch Captains who have to get their expenses signed.
I was not looking forward to this. Tennille is Desirée’s mother and is fully versed in the ways of magick, even if she has none herself. Her stare said it all: she had received a full and frank account of the goings-on in Clerkswell from her daughter. I held up the flowers as a peace offering.
‘Did you get any for Maxine?’
Sadly, Tennille and Maxine don’t get on, and it can’t be just rivalry because both of them are good people and good at their jobs.
‘No.’ Nor would I dare: Tennille will check later. What she won’t see is the half case of Three Choirs Cuvée, a sparkling wine from Gloucestershire that Maxine and Cleo have already split and hidden away.
‘The vase is over there,’ she said. ‘I won’t make you go down and get the water. Have you got something for me that’s not a bribe?’
I carefully placed the flowers in the vase and turned round. ‘I emailed my expenses. You saw me when I was unconscious, so you can’t argue about my claim for a new uniform.’
She frowned. ‘Every fibre of my being wants to ask how you are, and say how sorry I felt for your poor mother on that day. Last night I prayed to Jesus for charity in my heart, but I am a mother.’
She is. We know this. I kept my peace while she tapped a pen on her desk.
‘I can’t help it,’ she continued. ‘My little girl was nearly called before her time because someone hates you, and because of you, she had to sup with the devil at your house.’ She leaned as far forward as she could get. Tennille and Maxine have contrasting figures. ‘But my Desirée is caught up in this, and so is her friend. Victoria is a good girl, Mr Clarke. You know that better than anyone. If my child is put in the line of fire, I want you there to protect her, and to do that you need to get your Firearms Certificate. Hand it over.’
There was a logic in there somewhere. Maternal logic, I suppose. I passed over the paperwork as we turned to listen to new footsteps. ‘And here they are,’ said Tennille.
Vicky and Desirée appeared from the stairs. Tennille really does have excellent hearing. Vicky gave me a grin; Desi didn’t. It was a good job her mother was there.
‘Guess what we’ve been doing,’ said Vicky.
‘Given the potential situation in Clerkswell, I hope you’ve booked some indoor net practice.’
‘Not until I get the all-clear for me foot. We’ve been decorating. See?’ She showed me some dark spots on her hand. They could be paint, I suppose.
‘Decorating?’
‘Aye. The Watch Office in Salomon’s House.’
The Watch has two rooms in the complete warren that the Invisible College calls its home. One is the Constable’s, and is quite grand. The other is a conference room that has the worst case of institutional decay I’ve seen for a long time. Even the picture of the Queen looks disappointed.
‘Project Talpa is going to be based there from next week,’ she continued. She also glanced at Tennille’s back and said, ‘We did have some help.’
Aah. That would be Maxine. Things have clearly got worse recently.
Tennille had got up to put the kettle on, and I went to help, but she waved me away.
‘You and Victoria go straight in. My girl can give me a hand.’
Desirée might be Vicky’s friend, but she’s not in the Watch. Hannah has very clear boundaries about that sort of thing, as Mina has discovered. I knocked and went in.
Hannah has a four-seater coffee table by the window, but today she was at the conference table, papers spread in front of her and two empty mugs already pushed aside. ‘Sit down,’ she said, pointing to the right side of the table. ‘I hear it went well, Conrad.’
‘By that, you mean there haven’t been any complaints, ma’am?’
She laughed. ‘I already knew you could shoot. Now I know you can play nicely with others. Sometimes. Seriously, all okay?’
‘I did enjoy using the MP5. Is there any chance…’
‘No. I am not giving you a submachinegun.’ She got up and moved to the window, stretching her arms massaging her back and staring at Tower Bridge. ‘I’m expecting visitors from Salomon’s House in a minute. The CobroM committee decided that Project Talpa would be extended to cover the operation to retrieve the Codex and investigate the bombing. They also insisted that it be a truly joint operation with the Invisible College.’ She turned round and made a face. ‘We’ll have to live with it for now. Today is just a briefing for your benefit. As soon as you get your Part Two certificate, I want you round here to collect your ammunition, and then you two are off on the Dwarf hunt.’
‘Yes, ma’am. I can’t speak for Vicky, but you know my views on that.’
She sighed. ‘I know that your priority is to find who was behind the bombing, and I’m not sure I wouldn’t feel the same, but you got the Pyromancer. You saved Rick and Myfanwy. The enemy couldn’t stop the summoning, and now the cat is out of the bag. We’re on to them, and the best route is to follow the Codex.’
‘Don’t forget those poor lasses,’ added Vicky. ‘Those catering staff didn’t sign up for this.’
‘I haven’t forgotten them. Trust me, you two. I might even have some news after the briefing.’
Vicky and I exchanged glances. It was good to know we were on the same page, and she gave me a tiny nod. We’d keep our powder dry for now. There was a loud knock, and Tennille opened both doors to usher in three visitors from the Invisible College.
Francesca led the way, accompanied by another senior member of their Inner Council. After dressing down for her visit to the country, Francesca was restored to her twin set and pearls. Now that I know her better, I�
��m sure that she wears them to upset some of the female Mages at Salomon’s House, the ones who hero-worship the woman with her: Heidi Marston, the Custodian of the Great Work and the most senior Artificer in the Invisible College. Desirée is in Heidi’s gang; Vicky is not.
Heidi’s magickal speciality is creating Artefacts, enchanted items of all descriptions. This can be an intricate process akin to jewellery making, or it can be hammering hot metal in a forge. Heidi is of the hot hammer persuasion. She wears her hair tied back by a leather braid, something that emphasises her strong jaw and full lips. For clothes, she favours ethnic smocks with broad belts, black jeans and boots. Vicky once said to me, ‘Somewhere there is a mother who looks at Heidi and thinks, “What happened to my little girl?”’
The first time we’d met, I hadn’t registered her spectacular enamel earrings. Vicky tells me that she makes a new pair first thing every Monday morning, just to show that she can.
Burdened with trays of refreshment, Desirée and Tennille brought up the rear. They put down the trays, and Tennille left, closing the doors behind her and leaving her daughter to distribute the cups. I had stood up, and made a point of shaking Heidi’s hand, just to show that there were no hard feelings. At that meeting of the Inner Council, she had voted against my registration as a Mage, nearly ending my career in the Watch before it had started.
Her hands were rough, calloused and scarred, but not dry, and her fingernails were painted a luminous pink. ‘Nice to meet you again,’ she said. ‘I can’t wait to hear about the Dragonslaying. According to rumour, there were some serious Artefacts in play.’
Her voice was what I’d imagine a soprano sounds like when not singing – high pitched but big, and with just a hint of flat vowels. Whatever the reason she’d had for voting against me, it clearly wasn’t personal.
Hannah got us to sit down. ‘This is only a briefing, not an operational meeting. Vicky, you’ve got the final word on the original Project Talpa files, I believe?’
‘Yes, ma’am, I…’
‘Ma’am!’ said Heidi with a hoot of laughter. ‘Since when did you get them calling you ma’am, Hannah? That’s a new one.’
Hannah stared at me for a long second, then turned slowly to the Custodian (that’s Heidi. Just reminding you of her title). ‘It’s him,’ said Hannah. ‘I had to write an order forbidding him from saluting me unless we’re in uniform.’
‘I’d forgotten that he turned up to Salomon’s House in uniform,’ said Heidi. ‘He does scrub up nicely, and I do love a man in uniform.’ She turned to Vicky, sitting almost in her shadow, and said, ‘And a girl in uniform, too. Obviously. Sorry, I shouldn’t have interrupted. You were about to say something?’
Vicky stared at a blank piece of paper. ‘Aye, well, erm, yes. Now that we have Conrad’s date of birth as the earliest time for the Codex going into circulation, we have a cut-off point.’ She looked up and managed a smile. ‘I suppose it fits, you being a Sagittarius. There’s nothing since then that we can definitively tie down to Codex material, except Helen of Troy and the Dragon. Of course, there’s a good few cases where we’ve no idea what the magick involved was.’
Hannah looked at Heidi and Francesca. ‘We did try to establish some connection – any connection – between Keira Falkner and Adaryn ap Owain, and we got nothing.’
‘I’m afraid that I haven’t got much to add,’ said Francesca. ‘Ten days’ ago, we had no idea that either part of the Codex existed, so we’re starting from a long way behind. All the direct records of what was in them have vanished, but there are plenty of references and stories about what the monks and scholars of England were up to in the fourteenth century; the challenge has been in sorting the wheat from the chaff. At least we have a few starting points now. It would be premature of me to say anything else, other than to thank Desirée for her help. The Dean has told her doctoral supervisor that Desirée will be working in the Library for the foreseeable future.’
‘Thank you,’ said Hannah. ‘That brings us to the Dwarf, Niði.’ She turned to me. ‘Like you, Conrad, the only Dwarf I’ve met is Hledjolf.’
‘And the same for me,’ said Francesca. ‘Despite my best efforts.’
‘Which is why I’ve asked the Custodian to come. You actually worked with Niði, didn’t you, Heidi?’
Heidi nodded. ‘A long time ago. I even lived in his Halls for a few weeks. You should get on with him, Conrad.’
‘Sorry? Why?’
‘Didn’t you know? Niði was the Dwarf who put Humpty Dumpty back together.’
I gave her a blank look.
‘Niði was the one who re-forged the Allfather’s Imprint. He found the shards buried underneath the battlefield. Somewhere in the Midlands.’
‘I thought…’
She was ahead of me. ‘Hledjolf made a huge fuss about it, but all he did was provide the Lux. Niði did the work, and that was at some point after he was seen leaving with the Codex under his arm.’
I recalled a box that Heidi had shared with me at my testing, a beautifully crafted piece of art with a diamond inside it. ‘Niði made The Heart of a Dwarf, didn’t he?’
Heidi nodded. ‘He did. It was a gift when I left him. There’s no such thing as a typical Dwarf. You won’t know this, Conrad, but there are only four in England, and Hledjolf is nothing like the others. When I saw him, Niði was your typical broad-shouldered, bearded blacksmith. He even smoked.’
‘Good heavens,’ said Francesca. ‘What does a silicon based life-form smoke?’
‘Something that produces germanium sulphide. You would not believe the smell.’
‘I’ve been to your workshop often enough not to be surprised by any odours, Heidi.’
‘Fair point. I don’t know that there’s a lot to add. I was there over twenty years ago, and Niði hasn’t dealt with anyone other than the Gnomes of Earlsbury for at least ten years. I don’t think that even Hledjolf is in contact. He’s gone very deep.’
‘Do you mean that literally?’ I asked.
‘Both. The further down they dig, the more dangerous it is.’
I could see Vicky going paler and paler, and she doesn’t have much colour to start with. Vicky does not like underground. She likes Gnomes even less, and I could see where this was heading.
‘Thanks,’ said Hannah. ‘Conrad, Vicky, I’ll set up a meeting with the local Watch Captain for Monday … no, that’s a bank holiday. For Tuesday the fifth of May. Any questions?’
Vicky clearly wanted to ask Do I have to? But she didn’t.
The intercom on Hannah’s desk buzzed, and Tennille’s voice came over the air. ‘She’s here.’
‘Send her in,’ shouted Hannah. ‘I think we’re done,’ she said to us. ‘And Heidi, I have a treat for you.’
Like most female Mages over forty, Heidi doesn’t look her age in any way. She must be at least sixty, but only Vicky (who has a magickal gift for this) could tell you how old she really is.
Tennille opened the door and showed in Hannah’s twin sister, Inspector Ruth Kaplan. In her police uniform. Hannah, that was very naughty of you. Funny, but very naughty.
‘What?’ said Ruth, going red as a variety of snorts, humphs and frowns greeted her appearance.
‘We’d better be going,’ said Francesca. As she stood up, she turned to me and said, ‘How’s young Mina getting on with Project Midas?’ When she heard the sharp intake of breath from Hannah, and saw the cringe on my face, she said, ‘Oh dear. Have I said the wrong thing?’
I got the distinct impression that she knew exactly what she was saying. There was going to be an uncomfortable conversation in the very near future.
Ruth stood aside as the Salomon’s House group left, then closed the door behind them. ‘What?’ she said to her sister.
‘Nothing,’ said Hannah. ‘Don’t worry. Heidi knows you’re a married woman.’
Ruth gave her twin a hard stare, then joined us and took out an opaque plastic wallet. Ruth and Hannah are not identical twins, Ruth being
darker and slightly taller. It’s hard to make further comparisons, given that Hannah has suffered so much trauma and that I’ve only met Ruth a couple of times. ‘I have some news on the bomber,’ said Ruth.
Hannah looked at me. ‘See? The old police cliché about several lines of enquiry is true in this case. And while I remember, Ian has started to draft that paper for the Occult Council on increasing our access to national data sources.’
Ruth rested her hands on the folder. ‘Given that we couldn’t get a forensics team down to Clerkswell, you all did a great job with gathering evidence. It’s paid off: we have a name for our bomber.’ She popped the snaps on the wallet, but left it closed. ‘There were no fingerprint matches in the UK, and I had to jump through all sorts of hoops to go international, but we got a hit. Here.’ She opened the wallet and took out a passport in the familiar blue and gold of the United States. She slid it across the table to her sister and said, ‘Meet Arcangelo Rossini.’
Hannah picked up the passport and opened it to the picture page, turning it so that Vicky and I could see. ‘This him?’
‘Aye,’ said Vicky.
‘Yes, ma’am.’
She flicked through the pages. ‘Brand new. First time out of the US. How did you get this?’
‘Once the fingerprints came through, it was a matter of old-fashioned police work, or picking up the phone as it’s now known. He had rented a room at Heathrow, and they kept all his stuff when he didn’t turn up to check out.’ She took out further papers. ‘The one thing we didn’t find was a phone, but I have credit card statements, some CCTV sightings around the airport. Not a lot to go on, and the whole identity was created less than a month ago. Before that, no official record of Mr Rossini anywhere.’
Hannah looked the passport again. ‘Coneheads or private enterprise?’
Ruth gave a very Jewish shrug, identical to Hannah’s when she was relaxed. ‘That’s your department, though I can tell you that no one has reported Mr Rossini missing.’
Hannah turned to me. ‘Before you ask, Coneheads is our affectionate nickname for my opposite numbers in the States.’
