‘No,’ I said, thinking quickly. During the sleepstate, loyalty was often all there was, and I certainly wasn’t going to break a pledge to someone who had saved my pulse twice. But then, I had a thought. If Toccata saw me as wonky on both sides, Aurora must see me as pleasingly physiotypical. Maybe that was why she kissed me at the Wincarnis. She’d found me attractive. I had an idea. Daring, true, but an idea.

‘I didn’t know she was you—’

Toccata thumped her fists on the desk, then rose to her feet.

‘She’s not me. Never assume that she’s anything even like me!’

‘Sorry, I didn’t know you and she  . . . didn’t get along. If I had, we wouldn’t have  . . . ’

‘Wouldn’t have what?’

‘Wouldn’t have  . . . bundled.’

Jonesy coughed almost explosively into her coffee, spilling it all over the carpet, while Toccata merely laughed.

‘We both know that never happened,’ said Toccata. ‘Aurora’s never been fussy over the who and what, but she always goes for lookers. Believe me, you ain’t one of them. I want the truth, or you’ll be mopping toilets until Springrise. With no teeth and broken fingers,’ she added, in case the option sounded in any way attractive.

I stared at her for a moment, then at Jonesy. Oddly, taunts over my appearance always gave me clarity, and renewed confidence.

‘She likes the snow but not the Winter,’ I said, recalling Birgitta’s impassioned description of her husband, ‘values the climb greater than the view from the summit. She doesn’t smile much, but when she does the world smiles with her. She wears Ludlow scent,’ I added in a quiet voice, ‘and has a birthmark the shape of Guernsey right here.’

I touched my fingertip to my chest. There was silence in the room. Toccata glared at me dangerously.

‘I realise it was a huge mistake,’ I said, ‘but an opportunity like that had never come my way before. I was  . . . flattered.’

Toccata stared at me, then at Jonesy, then back at me.

‘I had no idea it would anger you. It won’t happen again, I promise.’

‘It had better not or your tongue’s coming out – and not in the painless way.’

Toccata stared at me for a moment, trying to figure, I think, the best course of action. ‘Okay,’ she said, ‘couple of things: when you see Foulnap again you come and see me and me first and – are you listening to this bit?’

‘Yes.’

‘I want to know what Aurora’s up to. You’re not telling me the whole story – I’m not sure you even know the whole story – but I need to know more. Why she’s interested in you. And spoiler alert: it’s not your charm or your looks. She’s a user, and you’re either being used or are about to be.’

‘You want me to spy on her?’