“Of course.” There was a smile buried deep in his voice as McGraw keyed in the address on his sat nav.

“Thanks for doing this.” Awkwardness had rusted Susan’s social skills sufficiently enough that even forcing out that platitude had been painful.

“Anything for a friend.”

“Yeah, Daisy’s a special one.”

“I wasn’t solely referring to Daisy.”

For a moment, Susan’s eyes flickered up to meet those of McGraw.

“Everyone ready?” he asked, leaning across to Ed Gemmell, who was looking exactly as uncomfortable as he was delighted, sandwiched between Esther and the passenger door. Both Ed and Esther gave McGraw a thumbs-up. His gaze returned to Susan, who replied with a single curt nod.

McGraw’s leg shifted as he pressed the accelerator, jeans brushing denim against denim for a moment, his arm reaching out to shift from first to second. Susan swallowed. She should have chosen to sit in the back.

As McGraw navigated the streets of Sheffield, the other three ran through the plan. Using her intrepid computer skills, Susan had hacked into the university system to reveal what they were up against: Jasper Tooley and Elise Fournier—a deadly combination of charisma and competence. Final-year students with perfectly respectable academic records who’d chosen to go rogue. Deep-diving into e-mail accounts she shouldn’t have access to, Susan had unearthed a slightly wobbly video someone had accidentally taken during something called the “Ceremony of Sharing.” Their phone had been placed in a bowl that Elise had carried around the circle and taken upstairs to the kitchen, where there was interminably long footage of her faffing about mixing herbal infusions and baking, presumably while Jasper did nefarious things in the basement.

It wasn’t much to go on, but it was enough.

When the van pulled up a little way along from number 21, the avengers assembled outside the vehicle for a debrief.

“Phones on silent.” Susan watched them all switch off the sound. “Yogi Bear?”

“Check.” Esther.

“Deliverance?”

“Check.” Ed Gemmell.

“Dry Old Stick?” No response. “McGraw. That’s you.” Still no response. “Fine. How about . . . Vengeful Kindling?”

McGraw twitched a smile. “Copy that, Ragnarök and Roll.”

They were ready.

A lifetime of practice had Esther well prepared for lurking in the shadows, watching as McGraw and Ed Gemmell, posing as Danube Delivery drivers, rang the doorbell to number 21. The whole operation hinged on someone answering the door. There was no Plan B.

The door opened, and Esther’s heart gave an extra little pump at the sight of the boy who’d opened it. Ginger, freckly . . . he’d fill out a Superdry polo shirt nicely, that one. As it was, his outfit was hidden by a black robe.

“Hello there, we’ve a delivery for Jasper Tooley,” McGraw said.

Target acquired, Esther fired off to Susan before scurrying out from the shadows and aiming for the house.