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‘What are the identifying , and held up a hand to stop her ‘Look You said that you’ve already been fooled once with a fake If it was your superior who sent you back – if you’re actually here with perer at that ‘Then he wouldn’t have sent you back again without giving you soenuine article Are you really going to risk losing the book because you’re not prepared to share that with me? A book which lare was pure poison ‘Don’t rush ’

‘Think fast,’ Irene said ‘Vale will be cohty-seven,’ Bradamant said ‘The Story of the Stone froenuine’

‘Thank you,’ Irene said She picked up her hat and veil, and skewered them in place with a hatpin

Bradale, ed to contain herself She adjusted her own hat, then swept out, calling sweetly, ‘We’re coether into a hanso to the Natural History Museuraphy, it was at least half an hour away – h hadtheh to be heard across the street, and was now brooding in the corner of the cab Kai, Vale and Singh were all sandwiched onto one seat, while Irene and Bradamant shared the seat opposite and tried not to look too coet there, Inspector?’ Vale asked Singh

Singh nodded ‘I have the name from last time – Professor Betony, and even if you can’t find her, then you can find her office in the Departy downstairs With any luck, you can be in and out of there before anyone whoyou catches up We can then establish if the book’s here or not And I’ll be getting that search warrant in the ave Brada lady can return the other books that she made off with’

Bradamant flushed, lowered her eyes, played with the strap of her handbag She looked in every way like an innocent young woman who had been led into cri more than to iven Bradae towards her

‘Do you often get sent on missions like this for this Library of yours, Miss Winter?’ Vale asked Irene He tried to make it sound like casual conversation, but she could feel the deeper curiosity beneath his words

‘This one is a bit moreah, dramatic, than most of the her rather than Bradamant And that was perfectly true She’d had dozens of ht a copy of the book in question, and left without anyone so nality involved, but none had featured chases through the streets, dangerously flaators ‘There was a time before this when I was in France’ Well, a France There were a lot of Frances ‘I was trying to secure a copy of a book about alchemy by someone called Michael Maier, a few hundred years old It was called’ She frowned ‘Sos about the resurrection of the phoenix, or so involved with a group of Te of a hurry’ About five minutes before they’d broken the door down, to be precise, but no need to tell Vale that bit

‘And then there was the cat burglar affair,’ Bradaloves She forced herself to stay calreed ‘There was that’

Kai leaned forward ‘What was this cat burglar affair?’ he asked

Bradae Irene, when she was first working in the field We were trying to locate a book which had been stolen by a notorious thief Everyone kneho she was The best police officers in the city atching her every move and still they couldn’t catch her And when Irene and I were trying to investigate her, well’ She sain, tolerantly ‘The lady in question was very charer while Irene was so, shall we say, "preoccupied" with her And I ed to find the book, so all’s well that ends well’

Irene looked down at her knees and bit her tongue It hadn’t been like that at all, it hadn’t, but that was all the story that anyone would kno Bradamant had cheerfully spread it all over the Library inthat Irene had said then, or could say noould si excuses The alternate had been one with a very specific set of social standards Theft was a coal; i which could entirely destroy a woing an identity for Irene as a freelance thief herself, suggesting that perhaps the wo up an assignation And then she’d siled the wo to talk her round And Irene had been left floundering andto explain what had happened to the other woman’s house, and her possessions, and her reputation