Jackaby smiled, and his eyes glinted. Somewhere beneath the atrocious knit hat and that unkempt hair, cogs began to whir into motion.

“Is that understood?” Marlowe repeated.

“How quickly can you assemble every member of the police force at the town square?” Jackaby asked suddenly.

“What?”

“Every member. Every link in the chain. Highest to the lowest. If we’re going to capture him tonight, we’re sure to need every one of them.”

“What?”

“You’re right, that isn’t quite enough. I’ll need a few books, as well! Just call them, all of them. Miss Rook and I will meet you at the town square in—shall we say—half an hour?”

“What?”

“I daresay, Marlowe, we should work together more often. This is brilliant!” With a manic grin, Jackaby flung the door open wide and vaulted the steps. “We shall have him this very night!” he cried, his scarf and coat whipping behind him as he flew into the evening.

Marlowe stood, speechless, in the lobby. I shrugged my bewilderment to him before chasing my employer down the street.

Chapter Twenty-Four

I could barely keep Jackaby in sight as we sped through the city streets. The wet cobblestones had chilled to glittering patches of ice, and my feet slid out from under me on more than one occasion as I tried to round sharp corners. By the time I reached the red door with its horseshoe knocker, I was sore and winded, and as baffled as ever. Jenny was hovering by the open door to the office as I came through the hallway. She looked to me for an explanation.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” I said, and peeked inside.

The massive map had been stuffed to one side, and I noticed a few pins had managed to cling to their positions, dangling limply from the ruffled map, while the others must have been scattered across the floor. A book flew from behind the desk to land on the small pile beginning to collect in the leather armchair. Jackaby popped up, hurriedly flipping through the pages of another, and quietly cursing the lack of useful information he seemed to be finding.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Looking,” he managed, without glancing up. He tucked two of the tomes under his arm and leafed through a third as he brushed past me, back into the hall. Jenny scowled as he passed right through her shoulder before she had time to pull away.

“Haven’t you already been through all these?”

“Yes, but now I know what I’m looking for!” He zipped down the crooked corridor.