‘That’s what I said,’ I countered, ‘but having seen the state of these’—I shook the bag of flattened slugs—‘I can see that Tamworth showed considerable restraint. We should have been carrying armour-piercing.’
‘Don’t even think about it.’
We had a break then. Flanker and the others vanished into the next room to argue while a nurse changed the dressing on my arm. I had been lucky; there had been no infection. I was thinking about Snood when they returned to resume the interview.
‘As I walked carefully down the stairwell it was apparent that Acheron was now unarmed,’ I continued. ‘A nine-millimetre Beretta lay on the concrete steps next to a tin of custard powder. Of Acheron and the little old lady, there was no sign. On the landing I found a door to an apartment that had been pushed open with great force, shearing both hinge pins and the Chubb door bolt. I quickly questioned the occupants of the flat but they were both insensible with laughter; it seemed Acheron had told them some sort of a joke about three anteaters in a pub, and I got no sense out of either of them.’
One of the operatives was slowly shaking her head.
‘What is it now?’ I asked indignantly.
‘Neither of the two people you describe remember you or Hades coming through their flat. All they recall is the door bursting open for no apparent reason. How do you account for this?’
I thought for a moment.
‘Obviously, I can’t. Perhaps he has control over the weak-minded. We still only have a small idea of this man’s powers.’
‘Hmm,’ replied the operative thoughtfully. ‘To tell the truth, the couple did try to tell us the joke about the anteaters. We wondered about that.’
‘It wasn’t funny, was it?’
‘Not at all. But they seemed to think it was.’
I was beginning to feel angry and didn’t like the way the interview was going. I collected my thoughts and continued, arguing to myself that the sooner this was over, the better.
‘I looked slowly around the flat and found an open window in the bedroom. It led out on to the fire escape, and as I peered out I could see Acheron’s form running down the rusty steps four floors below. I knew I couldn’t catch him, and it was then that I saw Snood. He stumbled out from behind a parked car and pointed his revolver at Hades as he dropped to the ground. At the time, I didn’t understand what he was doing there.’
‘But you know now?’
My heart sank. ‘He was there for me.’
I felt tears well up and then fought them down. I was damned if I was going to start crying like a baby in front of this bunch, so I expertly turned the sniff into a cough.
‘He was there because he knew what he had done,’ said Flanker. ‘He knew that by speaking Hades’ name out loud he had compromised you and Tamworth. We believe he was trying to make amends. At eighty-nine years of age, he was attempting to take on a man of superior strength, resolve and intellect. He was brave. He was stupid. Did you hear anything they said?’
‘Not at first. I proceeded down the fire escape and heard Snood yell out “Armed Police!” and “On the ground!” By the time I reached the second floor, Hades had convinced Snood to give up his weapon and had shot him. I fired twice from where I was; Hades stumbled slightly but he soon recovered and sprinted for the nearest car. My car.’
‘What happened then?’
‘I clambered down the ladder and dropped to the ground, landing badly on some trash and twisting my ankle. I looked up and saw Acheron punch in the window of my car and open the door. It didn’t take him much more than a couple of seconds to tear off the steering lock and start the engine. The street was, I knew, a cul-de-sac. If Acheron wanted to escape it would have to be through me. I hobbled out into the middle of the road and waited. I started firing as soon as he pulled away from the kerb. All my shots hit their mark. Two in the windscreen and one in the radiator grille. The car kept accelerating and I kept firing. A wing mirror and the other headlamp shattered. The car would hit me if it carried on as it was, but I didn’t really care any more. The operation was a mess. Acheron had killed Tamworth and Snood. He’d kill countless others if I didn’t give it my all. With my last shot I hit his offside front tyre and Acheron finally lost control. The car hit a parked Studebaker and turned over, bounced along on its roof and finally teetered to a stop barely three feet from where I stood. It rocked unsteadily for a moment and then was still, the water from the radiator mixing with the petrol that leaked on to the road.’
I took another sip of water and looked at the assembled faces. They were following my every word, but the hardest part of it was yet to come.
‘I reloaded, then pulled open the driver’s door of the upturned car. I had expected Acheron to tumble out in a heap, but Hades, not for the first time that night, had failed to live up to expectations. The car was empty.’
‘Did you see him escape?’
‘No. I was just pondering this when I heard a familiar voice behind me. It was Buckett. He had returned.
“Where is he?’” Buckett yelled.
“I don’t know,” I stammered in reply, checking the back of the car. “He was here—!”
“Stay here!” shouted Buckett. “I’m going to check around the front!”
I was glad to be given orders and spared the burden of initiative. But as Buckett turned to leave he shimmered slightly and I knew something was wrong. Without hesitating, I shot Buckett in the back three times. He collapsed in a heap—‘
‘You shot another operative?’ said one of the SO-1 crowd with an incredulous tone. ‘In the back!’
I ignored her.
‘—only it wasn’t Buckett, of course. The figure that picked itself up from the road to face me was Acheron. He rubbed his back where I had hit him and smiled benignly.
“That wasn’t very sporting!” he said with a smile.
“I’m not here for the sport,” I assured him.’
One of the SO-1 officers interrupted me.
‘You seem to shoot a lot of people in the back, Next. Point-blank range with fluted slugs and he survived! I’m sorry, this is quite impossible!’
‘It happened.’
‘She’s lying—!’ he said indignantly. ‘I’ve had just about enough of this—!’
But Flanker laid a hand on his arm to quieten him. ‘Carry on, Miss Next.’
I did.
‘“Hello, Thursday,” Hades said.
“Acheron,” I replied.
He smiled. “Tamworth’s blood is getting cold on the concrete upstairs and it’s all your fault. Just give me your gun and we can finish this all up and go home.”
Hades reached out his hand and I felt a strong impulse to give him my weapon. But I had turned him down before when he was using more persuasive methods—when I was a student and he was a lecturer. Perhaps Tamworth knew I was strong enough to resist him; perhaps this was another reason he wanted me on his team. I don’t know.
Hades realised this and said instead in a genial manner: “It’s been a long time. Fifteen years, isn’t it?”
“Summer of ‘69,” I replied grimly. I had little time for his games.
“‘69?” he asked, having thought about it for a moment. “Sixteen years, then. I seem to remember we were quite chummy.”
“You were a brilliant teacher, Acheron. I’ve not met an intellect to compare with yours. Why all this?”
“I could say the same about you,” returned Acheron with a smile. “You were the only student of mine whom I could ever describe as brilliant, yet here you are, working as a glorified plod; a LiteraTec; a lackey for the Network. What brought you to SO-5?”
“Fate.”
There was a pause. Acheron smiled. “I always liked you, Thursday. You turned me down and, as we all know, there is nothing more seductive than resistance. I often wondered what I’d do if we met again. My star pupil, my protegee. We were nearly lovers.”