Milo closed the door, and Amber checked her phone. “No word from Javier,” she whispered. “Whoever the Narrow Man is planning to take to replace Austin, he hasn’t made his move yet.”

“Or he has,” Milo whispered back, “but he’s killed Javier and Virgil before they could tell us.”

Amber glared. “Jesus Christ … Why would you say something like that?”

“Because I’m a bad man,” said Milo.

They went to one of the windows and waited for Novak to leave. They watched until they could no longer see the cruiser’s tail lights, and then they left the drawing room, moving quietly. Milo held his gun in both hands.

They found Jesper in his office, a large room of floor-to-ceiling bookcases and big windows. His desk was wide and sturdy and looked old, and Amber figured that it had probably been owned by some president or other, once upon a time. That was the kind of thing Jesper would appreciate.

He stood up as they approached, his hands empty save for the pen he’d been holding when they walked in. No weapons.

“I thought I’d be seeing you two again,” he said, worryingly calm. “No common sense, that’s your problem.”

“Lot of books,” said Amber. “Read ’em all?”

“Every one of them,” Jesper replied proudly. “You’d be surprised what you can get through if you have a few hundred years of reading time.”

Amber traced her claws along the spines of some leather-bound editions, leaving deep scratches. “Anything by Annalith Symmes?”

“I’m afraid I’ve not had the pleasure.”

“She writes the In The Dark Places series? It’s very good. They made it into a TV show.”

Jesper smiled. “Perhaps I’ll give it a try.”

“You do that. Probably better than most of the stuff you’ve got here. Do you have The Bell Jar? I had to read it for school. Dark Places is better. Less depressing. You’re very calm, by the way, for someone who’s about to be taken against his will.”

“Me?” said Jesper. “Oh no, you’re mistaken. I’m not going anywhere. You think now that the police are gone I am unguarded? Chief Novak and his officers are this town’s line of defence – not mine.”

“Talk while you walk,” Milo said, motioning with his gun.

“I’m not going with you,” Jesper replied. “Whatever you have in store for me, I have no interest in seeing. You really should have kept running, you know. Coming back here was a mistake.”

The door on the other side of the room opened and the burned man walked in without urgency, carrying a silver case. Beneath his mask, his scarred face betrayed no alarm.

“You’re going to want to stop walking,” said Milo, “or I shoot your boss.”

The burned man kept walking.