‘My familiar.’

I scratched my head. ‘I thought you lived on the other side of town.’

‘She’s pretty smart. I called to her last night after you went to bed.’

This was some dedicated moggy. Despite her fluffy, delicate appearance, her temperament was clearly similar to Winter’s. She also had extraordinarily blue eyes to match his.

‘What’s her name?’ I asked, finding my voice.

‘Princess Parma Periwinkle.’

I tried very hard not to giggle. It didn’t work.

‘I’ve had her since I was ten,’ Winter informed me sniffily. ‘When my magic abilities first appeared. I was rebelling against my parents and I had a vivid imagination.’

‘Mmm.’ The fact that familiars live far longer than normal house cats means that their names are often amusing – but rarely on this scale.

Winter pointed at Brutus, who was still glaring suspiciously at the princess in question. ‘Like you can judge.’

True. ‘Is she here to stay?’ I enquired.

‘It makes sense. If I’m going to hang around here until this mess is sorted out, she should be here too. She can give Harold a break as well.’

‘Brutus and I are thrilled,’ I said drily. Actually, I was; it had been reassuring to know Winter was here all night. Plus, a problem shared was a problem halved and all that. The presence of Bell End and Alice in Eve’s flat bothered me less now that I wasn’t the only one who knew about them.

‘Anyway,’ Winter said, while Princess Parma Periwinkle made a move towards a very unhappy Brutus. ‘What were you going to say?’

My attention was momentarily diverted as I watched my cat decide what to do next. He threw me a look. ‘Bitch,’ he hissed. Then, seemingly without another thought, he flopped down on the floor and presented the new arrival with his belly.

Winter lifted an eyebrow. ‘You didn’t do that for me.’

Recovering slightly, I gazed at him mischievously. ‘I will if you want me to.’

Winter seemed on the verge of responding, his blue eyes darkening, then he shook himself. ‘We have work to do. There was something you were going to say.’

I took a deep breath. ‘Yes. But you’re not going to like it.’

His good humour vanished in an instant. ‘Go on.’

‘We can assume that the sceptre wasn’t the real target.’

‘Agreed.’

‘If we assume that you weren’t the target either but just a bonus side scheme for entertainment…’ Winter’s eyes flashed ‘…then there’s another motive behind all this.’

He smiled. ‘You see? You’ve been thinking about this all night, haven’t you? This is why this line of work is so satisfying. The more you chew over a problem, the more interesting it becomes. When a possible solution emerges, even if it’s at three o’clock in the morning, the feeling is like no other.’

I stared at him. I’d slept like a baby; the idea had come to me while I was brushing my teeth. ‘Yeah,’ I said unconvincingly. ‘Sure. Anyway, you’re the lead investigator when it comes to theft and missing objects. So if you’re out of the picture, the Order would have to scramble to find a replacement. Maybe the trap was simply to clear the field for more theft.’