I drove out through the wrought-iron gates and crept up the road, around the bridge, then past the Cambrensis – all courtesy of the topography revealed on the H4S screen. There was even a radar return from Hooke’s abandoned Sno-Trac, a good deal farther on than where I’d guessed, but no sign whatever of the Gronk. While I navigated beyond the Cambrensis and towards the Sarah Siddons at a slow crawl, Foulnap sat beside me, his eyes fixed on the glowing green dots of the H4S, refreshed and updated by every sweep of the scanner.

‘So,’ I said, unable to keep quiet lest my nerves actually snapped with an audible twang, ‘who’s the current Kiki now Logan’s dead?’

‘It’s safer not to know,’ he said, ‘with the threat of Aurora and her interrogative use of Dreamspace. Webster worked to Logan’s instructions but never knew who he was, so couldn’t give him up. Hold it here.’

I pulled up and Foulnap pointed to a cluster of returns on the H4S.

‘We’re about forty yards behind another Sno-Trac. They’re waiting for us on the corner near the billboard.’

‘Can’t they see us if we can see them?’

‘With a bit of luck they’ll think we’re a friendly; I’m squawking a HiberTech ident on the IFF.’

‘You’re what?’

‘Just boring techy stuff,’ he said, making for the rear door. ‘I’m going to look for Toccata. If I’m not back in twenty minutes, assume own initiative—’

He’d stopped talking because in front of us there was a soft glow of orange light from within the snowstorm.

‘Cancel that,’ said Foulnap, ‘I think we’ve just found her.’

The snow was instantly cleared from the air, revealing a flaming Sno-Trac, the fire burning in concentric rings as the fuel mixture in the compressed parts of the torus ignited more brightly. It was a spectacle that was both beautiful and alarming – and short lived. For a fleeting glimpse I saw Toccata holding a Schtumperschreck twenty feet in front of us, and then, once the pressure had equalised, the water condensed back into ice and all was dark once more.

Within a few minutes the rear door opened and Toccata jumped in.

‘Raising overkill to an art form?’ asked Foulnap.

‘As dead as the Winter and good luck to them,’ she said with a look that seemed mildly unhinged. ‘It was payback for Jonesy. Actually, no, that was just the interest on the payback for Jonesy. Open Network says it was Hooke and a HiberTech newbie who killed her.’

‘The newbie died,’ I said, suddenly thinking that Lucy didn’t have to be named again, not ever.

‘Good,’ said Toccata. ‘Where’s Hooke now?’

‘Taken by the Gronk,’ I said. ‘He was  . . . unworthy.’

She stared at me for a moment.