“I would like my name cleared.” Will had got hold of a couple of the papers, and read them with sick fascination until Kim took them away. They all had his name and photograph with a ‘have you seen this man?’ piece. It only said he was sought in connection for Quiller’s murder, but you couldn’t miss what it meant.

“It will be. Once the Bureau picks Knowle up, the frame will fall apart. I’ll make sure of it, I promise. But for now, we need to stay holed up and out of trouble.”

He was right, but that didn’t make Will any happier. “Stuck here with Chingford. Wonderful.”

“The house and grounds aren’t big enough for you?”

“Too cramped to bear. I’m going to fuck a duke next time.”

“Westminster is probably the largest landowner outside the Crown,” Kim said helpfully. “He looks like a trout, but if you must, you must.”

Will gave him a reluctant grin. “You’re a lot of use.”

“I want to get out of here too, you know. I want to be back in my own home, my own bed, and follow up those blasted books on approval—”

“No, you don’t.”

“I don’t?”

“You want to be in the Private Bureau where you belong, and you know it. You were sodding amazing today, Kim. You need your job back.”

Kim made a face. “DS might not want to give it to me.”

“You nailed Virgo and Leo without any help from the Bureau. Why don’t you talk to him? I bet he wants you back. And if he doesn’t, someone else will. It’s the work you ought to be doing.”

“I thought you thought it was bad for me.”

“The way you were doing it, maybe. But you need to work, and you’re good at it, and anyway I don’t think it’s so bad to get your hands dirty sometimes. Better than the way your father keeps his clean.”

“That is true,” Kim said. “Would you mind?”

“What, not having you underfoot all day?” Will bumped shoulders with him. “I’ll live. And if I’m wrong you’re pretty useful at the bookshop, but I don’t think I’m wrong.”

“The bookshop. The bookshop, the Bureau, my flat, our lives, because Chingford isn’t going to hang and I can leave this damned house and never return. Good God.” He tipped his head back. “God, Will. I’m only just realising the weight of it all now it’s lifting. Christ, I can breathe. We did it.”

“You did it.”

“I, and the ladies with their ruthless and remorseless charm, and you. My God, you. That was a truly terrifying performance.”

“You know I was putting it on, right?” Will said, and had to add, “Mostly.”