I looked around, and realised for the first time that the others weren’t even looking at me. They were gathered around a body lying on the ground. I hurried over to them. Molly was kneeling on the grass beside Subway Sue, who was dead. No mark on her; the scavengers didn’t get her. But dead, just the same. Molly looked up at me.

“Sue didn’t make it,” she said dully. “Too much strain, too much magic; she never was strong.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Not your fault,” said Molly. “She volunteered.” She rose awkwardly to her feet. “We’ll come back for you, Sue. Later. We have work to do.”

“She’ll be fine here,” I said, because you have to say something.

Molly looked at me sharply. “Sue was my friend. She wasn’t always like this. You never saw her in her prime, rich and glamorous and a name to be reckoned with.”

“I know,” I said.

“She was my friend,” said Molly. “She only got involved in this because I asked her to.”

“Yes,” I said. “Lot of that going around.”

“The Sarjeant was a good man,” said Giles Deathstalker. “He knew his duty, and he stood his ground.”

“Of course,” I said. “He was a Drood.”

I looked around again. We were in a great grassy field looking out over Stonehenge, about half a mile away. There was no sign of Harry or Roger, or any of Truman’s Accelerated Men.

“We have arrived only a moment after we departed,” said Giles.

“How can you tell?” said Molly. “Even I can’t read the night sky that accurately.”

“I can tell because the clock implanted in my head just started working again,” said Giles.

“Smart arse,” said Molly. She looked at me. “I wonder how Jacob and Jay are getting on?”

“I doubt we’ll ever know,” I said. “It was one hell of a long shot. Either way, we can’t depend on them to save the day; we’re here, so it’s up to us.”

“There’s an entrance to an underground bunker, not far away,” Mr. Stab announced suddenly. He pointed confidently out into the gloom. He realised we were all staring at him and smiled briefly. “I have many abilities,” he said calmly. “I just don’t choose to display them unnecessarily. Shall we go?”

“By all means,” I said. “Lead the way.”