‘Because,’ said Castor, shifting back on his cushion to look at him, ‘I want to be sure of what happened out there, and that includes ruling out human error, however regrettable.’

Colby’s face darkened but his voice was even when he spoke. ‘There was no error. We did everything by the book. And it didn’t help because, like I said, they knew we’d be there! And we lost four men to them!’

‘And we’ve lost the madman, too,’ said Ucho, looking grim. ‘We won’t find another like him, not by a long shot.’

‘It is a great loss,’ said Father, shaking his head sadly. ‘He was truly one of a kind.’

‘But that’s not all, is it?’ said Castor slowly, looking at them. ‘Not only is Ollie gone, but thanks to this day’s work, June is here now, too. So, in one fell swoop, our entire organization up there has been dismantled. In short, we no longer have any way of knowing what’s going on in the Dome. We’re cut off now.’

Ucho brought his hand down on the table with a crash, sending things flying everywhere. ‘Unacceptable! Simply unacceptable!’

‘Whether you accept it or not makes no difference,’ said Castor. ‘The point is now to get to the bottom of this.’

He turned around, smiling at Albert. ‘As the one person nobody’s ever heard of before, you do realize this makes you prime suspect, don’t you?’

Albert said nothing. Colby spoke again. ‘I don’t think—’

‘Well, you haven’t been asked to think, Captain! Now, do you have anything to add to what you have told us? No? All right then, that will be all.’

Colby glanced at Ucho, who nodded. ‘Wait outside.’ He looked across at Kieran and Joe. ‘All of you. I’ll speak to you when I finish here.’

Castor waited for them to leave, then turned back to Albert. ‘Now,’ he said, smiling again, ‘What do you have to say?’

Albert looked at him. ‘Yes,’ he said.

‘Yes? What do you mean, yes?’

‘Yes, I realize I’m the prime suspect.’

‘Feeling flippant, are you? Well, permit me to assure you this is no laughing matter!’

‘I’m aware it isn’t.’

‘Well, then perhaps you can tell us what we want to know. And soon. The accusations are serious.’

‘He stands accused of nothing, Castor,’ said Father. ‘Nobody does. We are merely trying to ascertain what happened.’

‘I do not accuse him, Father,’ said Castor quickly. ‘Yet. I merely ask him how he got here, which I’m sure a lot of us want to know.’

Father turned to Albert. ‘Perhaps you had better tell us how you came to be here,’ he said.