On the way to the street I had a sheet over me, face as well. Lights glowed through it, coming and going. 'Hot under there, old boy, but it won't be long. You all right?' Said yes. In the ambulance he pulled the sheet away, hunched alongside on the tip-up seat. There wasn't anyone else in here. Under the dim pilot light he looked strained, his yellow eyes flickering sometimes. 'Thirsty?' 'Yes.' He gave me a plastic cup of chilled water. 'I couldn't stand the waiting,' I said, when I'd finished it. 'The what?' 'The waiting.' He thought about it. 'Oh. For Kishnar.' 'Yes. It was a question of time before he found me, so I thought the best thing to do was to get it over.' 'Was that your only reason?' 'No. I thought it'd get Shoda to the edge.' 'Hit her again on her weak point.' 'Yes.' 'You're right, of course. It could bring us the whole mission. This was major . You didn't only get Kishnar out of the way as a constant threat, but you actually turned him to good use as a tool. As a weapon. Could be the turning point.' I started to pull my shoulders higher against the pillows but he stopped me. 'Relax. You're going to need your strength later.' He didn't say why and I didn't think to ask. 'The thing is,' I told him, 'I had to bring him into the clinic.' 'I know.' Of course he knew. If I'd gone into the streets at night and waited for Kishnar and taken him on and killed him the hit team would have closed in at once, finis . 'I owe you an apology,' I told him. 'For what?' 'Blowing the safe-house, keeping you in the dark,' 'Ah.' He looked away and I couldn't see his eyes, their expression; then he swung his head back and put his hand on my shoulder. 'Don't worry, old boy. I knew you were going to do exactly that.'

'Bit fancy,' he said, 'I'm afraid.' We were in the main room, a big one, Victorian decor, faded red plush and gilt candlesticks, tapestries, a couple of dozen small round ironwork tables and chairs, bit of a stage or a dance-floor, the light coming from rose-shaded lamps, a smell of stale scent. ' This? ' I said. 'Don't worry, old boy. Everything's taken care of. Why don't we sit down for a bit?' 'What is it, a night-club?' 'It was. The owner couldn't afford to do it up to conform with the new fire laws, put a sprinkler system in and so on, so it's temporarily closed.' A faint smile. 'We're renting it now. How d'you feel?' 'Bit depressed.' I dropped onto a red velvet couch. 'Kishnar?' 'Yes.' He nodded, clasping his thin hands together, looking down. ' Post mortem animal triste est.' I didn't think it was funny. I know the bastard had been after my blood and I know his orders were to sev- er my head and take it to Shoda - do you know we found an empty cardboard box in that toilet, did I tell you, with a plastic bag inside? - and I know he wouldn't have given it another thought, I'd have been just another job done, another stiff shoved under the rug, but all the same I'd killed a man and it always slowed me up, made me wonder what kind of life I'd got into. 'When did you fix this up?' I asked Pepperidge. 'This place?'