‘Wasn’t going to,’ said Markham. ‘It’s a good idea. The presence of a neutral third party might calm things down a little.’ He turned to Jane. ‘Walk with me, please.’

They stepped outside into the garden.

‘You appear to be the brains of your team – let me give you this.’ He passed her the cloth-wrapped gun. ‘Here. I’ve made it safe.’

She took it reluctantly. ‘Why?’

‘Because while they thought they were being clever using a weapon that couldn’t be tracked back to them – actually they weren’t.’

‘If you mean fingerprints,’ said Jane, doubtfully, ‘Anders was wearing gloves.’

‘No, I don’t mean fingerprints. Just trust Ellis. Keep this safe for him until you get back to TPHQ. He’ll know what I’m talking about and he’s a good officer.’

‘Is he going to die?’

‘He’s under Max’s tender care. He wouldn’t dare.’

Jane stared at her feet. ‘I don’t want to die, either.’

‘Well, mostly, no one does, but it’s the one thing we all have in common, isn’t it? It comes to us all in the end.’

Still staring at her feet, she nodded.

‘Listen,’ Markham said gently. ‘I’ve been in trouble all my life and expect to be in a great deal more. Especially now I work with a bunch of hooligans who can’t even go to the bathroom without triggering an apocalypse. Can I give you some advice?’

‘Please.’

‘We all pass through the Door of Death.’

He paused. Jane waited but that seemed to be it.

‘Well,’ she said eventually, and wanting to be polite, ‘that was very helpful. Thank you.’

‘I hadn’t finished. I just paused for effect.’

‘Sorry.’

‘Where was I?’

‘Passing through the Door of Death.’

‘Yes. Anyway. It’s not the passing through, it’s the approaching that’s important.’

‘Is it?’

‘Yes. You have to decide. Do you tiptoe up to the door, tap gently and whisper a request for admittance, or do you stride up, give it a couple of kicks with your hobnails and demand to be let in before you have the bloody thing off its hinges?’

Jane considered this. ‘But the end result is the same. You’re dead. It doesn’t make any difference.’

‘Not after you’re dead, it doesn’t, but it makes a hell of a difference to your life.’

‘Oh.’ She thought again. ‘Oh.’

‘Precisely. Shall we go back?’

Back in the pod, another argument was raging.

‘Max . . .’ said Ellis.

She knelt beside him, saying very quietly, ‘You can see the state of Matthew. He can’t look after himself. You’re not firing on all cylinders. Jane and Luke are inexperienced and I’m not sure about Grint. Either I come with you or Matthew stays behind here, where he’s safe.’ She put her hand on his forearm. ‘Don’t make me embarrass him in front of his friends.’