‘Ahhh, no.’ Sister Cassie wagged a finger. ‘I have an advantage you lack. I commune with the Lord daily. Matins at midnight, Lauds at dawn, Prime at breakfast, Terce in the morning, Sext at Midday, None at mid-afternoon, Vespers in the evening … Compline before bed. I enjoy His full protection.’

‘And what does He feel about your heroin habit? Or the tricks you turn?’

Sister Cassie shook her head with an air of disappointment. ‘You try to express concern for your fellow creatures …’ She turned and limped haughtily along the arcade. ‘It’s our Christian duty to survive, Lucy. Any way we can.’

Lucy fell into step alongside her. ‘Survive? On heroin?’

‘At present, I can’t shake the need. But at least I can suppress it.’

‘Or feed it.’

‘Call it what you will. My medicine enables me to look after my regulars.’

‘What about Fred Holborn? Was he one of your regulars?’

‘Poor Fred.’ Sister Cassie sounded sad but kept on walking, or rather limping. ‘He had an appetite for the carnal pleasures, but at heart he was decent. A ship’s mate in his youth, I believe. Past seventy now. How fallen are the mighty?’

‘Sister, I know you’ve reported Fred Holborn missing. But are you quite sure something bad has happened to him?’

‘It certainly looked bad.’

‘Looked bad?’ Lucy turned, grabbing her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. ‘Sister, did you see something?’

‘Why yes.’ The ex-nun seemed surprised. ‘Did I neglect to mention it?’

‘I’m not sure … I had my mind on other things. But tell me now.’

‘It was here. This very place.’ She veered to the left and a jagged portion of outer wall that hadn’t burned away. At its base, sheets of brown-stained newspaper covered an old mattress. ‘This was where Fred preferred to sleep.’

‘So tell me what happened,’ Lucy said.

‘Well, I was making my nightly rounds.’ Fleetingly, Sister Cassie sounded disapproving. ‘I had considered cutting Fred off my roster because of his lewd behaviour. But …’ She sighed. ‘One mustn’t exaggerate. They were suggestions, not actions. In short, well, to be frank, on one occasion he asked me to—’

‘Sister, I’m not worried about that … just tell me what happened to him. And when.’

‘It was … I’d say a week and a half ago.’

‘As recently as that?’