A Thursday Next Digital Collection: Novels 1-5 by Jasper Fforde

but only referred to the other operatives by numbers. That done, he drew up a chair and sat down.
    â€œSo what happened?”
    I paused for a moment and then began, giving the story of my meeting with Tamworth right up until Buckett’s hasty departure.
    â€œI’m glad that someone seemed to have some sense,” murmured one of the SO-1 agents. I ignored him.
    â€œTamworth and I entered the lobby of Styx’s property,” I told them. “We took the stairs and on the sixth floor we heard the shot. We stopped and listened but there was complete silence. Tamworth thought we had been rumbled.”
    â€œYou had been rumbled,” announced Flanker. “From the transcript of the tape we know that Snood spoke Hades’ name out loud. Hades picked it up and reacted badly; he accused Styx of betraying him, retrieved the package and then killed his brother. Your surprise attack was no surprise. He knew you were both there.”
    I took a sip of water. If we had known, would we have retreated? I doubted it.
    â€œWho was in front?”
    â€œTamworth. We edged slowly around the stairwell and looked onto the seventh-floor landing. It was empty apart from a little old lady who was facing the lift doors and muttering angrily to herself. Tamworth and I edged closer to Styx’s open door and peered in. Styx was lying on the floor and we quickly searched the small apartment.”
    â€œWe saw you on the surveillance video, Next,” said one of the nameless operatives. “Your search was conducted well.”
    â€œDid you see Hades on the video?”
    The same man coughed. They had been having troublecoming to terms with Tamworth’s report, but the video was unequivocal. Hades’ likeness had not shown up on it at all—just his voice.
    â€œNo,” he said finally. “No, we did not.”
    â€œTamworth cursed and walked back to the door,” I continued. “It was then that I heard another shot.”
    I stopped for a moment, remembering the event carefully, yet not fully understanding what I had seen and felt. I remembered that my heart rate had dropped; everything had suddenly become crystal clear. I had felt no panic, just an overwhelming desire to see the job completed. I had seen Tamworth die but had felt no emotion; that was to come later.
    â€œMiss Next?” asked Flanker, interrupting my thoughts.
    â€œWhat? Sorry. Tamworth was hit. I walked over but a quick glance confirmed that the wound was incompatible with survival. I had to assume Hades was on the landing, so I took a deep breath and glanced out.”
    â€œWhat did you see?”
    â€œI saw the little old lady, standing by the lift. I had heard no one run off downstairs, so assumed Hades was on the roof. I glanced out again. The old lady gave up waiting and walked past me on her way to the stairs, splashing through a puddle of water on the way. She tut-tutted as she passed Tamworth’s body. I switched my attention back to the landing and to the stairwell that led to the roof. As I walked slowly toward the roof access, a doubt crept into my mind. I turned back to look at the little old lady, who had started off down the stairs and was grumbling about the infrequency of trams. Her footprints from the water caught my eye. Despite her small feet, the wet footprints were made by a man’s-size shoe. I required no more proof. It was Rule Number Two: Acheron could lie in thought, deed, action and appearance . For the first time ever, I fired a gun in anger.”
    There was silence, so I continued.
    â€œI saw at least three of the four shots hit the lumbering figure on the stairs. The old lady—or, at the very least, her image—tumbled out of sight and I walked cautiously up to the head of the stairwell. Her belongings were strewn all the way down the concrete steps with her shopping trolley on the landing below. Her groceries had spilled out and several cans of cat food were rolling