I had nearly nodded off again when Jackaby, once more loaded to nearly twice his body weight with paraphernalia, took the clipboard from Charlie and scrawled his mark. “Always a pleasure, Thomas. See you next time!”

The clerk took the clipboard with a grunt, then waved us away, trudging back to the recesses of his office.

I was surprised by how late it had gotten when we exited the police station. The sun was already approaching the horizon, and the innocuous shadows of the daytime were stretching to form a foreboding carpet of dusk. Lights had begun to sprout in a few city windows, reflected in broken patterns on the damp streets. They served only to darken and add menace to the shadows around them—although, admittedly, my perception was tinted by the knowledge that a serial murderer, one with motive to deliver us to our own horrific deaths, was lurking free in the city. My only consolation was that we were, at least, traveling with an escort. In spite of my earlier doubts about Charlie, I found I was once again grateful for his company.

“I think I had best excuse myself.” Charlie’s words drew us to a stop at the first intersection. “It has been a very long day. I’ll be no good to anyone until I have had some rest.”

It was no use arguing. The bags under Charlie’s eyes had collected bags of their own. His face was wan and badly in need of a shave, and the sweat and rain had plastered short, dark curls of hair to his temples. Weather and weariness had done nothing to diminish his strong jawline or the luster of his deep brown eyes, however, and I found myself doubly relieved that he was neither our villain nor the latest victim.

“Certainly,” Jackaby answered. “Do see that you are safe and secure before retiring, of course.”

“Of course. You, as well,” Charlie replied. “I have seen more bodies this week than I ever care to see again. I should not like to wake tomorrow to find yours.”

With a nod, he turned down the street and quickly plunged into the shadows. Jackaby continued on straight, and I double-stepped to keep close. It was hard to ignore the eeriness of the deserted roads and encroaching chilly dark. While I doubted very much that one more companion would cause our dastardly villain anything but the slightest delay in dispatching us, I still lamented Charlie’s absence, and mentioned as much to Jackaby.

“Really?” My employer zigzagged up the cobbles in his usual rush. “You seem to have a renewed faith in the man.”

“Well, it is certainly a relief to know he’s an ally, after all.”

Jackaby slowed his pace and faced me, an eyebrow raised in my direction.

“What?” I asked. “You can’t still suspect him! You saw him at the station, same as I did. He’s as much at risk as we are.”