‘This Crowley seems to pop up everywhere.’

‘Oh, yes. Many believe that he was such an influence on the Nazi occult movement that they were all part of the same dark brotherhood. Even though the Nazi Party officially disclaimed anything to do with mysticism and superstition, the infamous SS, with its death’s head symbol harking back to the ancient Celtic head cults, was shot through with black magic. Its leader Heinrich Himmler performed dark rituals and necromancy at his stronghold of Wewelsburg Castle in north-east Germany. We already know that his Nazi comrade Rudolf Hess had been a guest at Tredegar House, where he may have personally met Crowley. We can speculate that key players from the upper echelons of the Third Reich possibly attended ceremonies of the Pandemonium Club, before World War II and perhaps even post-war. Crowley was an active practitioner of the dark arts right up until his death in 1947.’

Wolf wasn’t impressed. ‘Fuckers.’

‘But with or without the Nazi connection, the cancer of Satanic black magic was steadily finding its way deeper and deeper into the heart of Britain’s political and ruling elite. In 1942 the Soviet spy Kim Philby reported to his KGB handlers that British Intelligence were investigating an alleged blackmailing racket that linked members of high society to, among other things, homosexual orgies and black magic rites. Now, guess who was involved in organising those rites?’

‘Crowley again?’ Ben ventured.

Shelton nodded. ‘MI5 were ultimately unsuccessful at penetrating his organisation, perhaps because he was too clever for them, or perhaps thanks to his own connections within the intelligence services. It’s entirely possible that the subjects of that failed investigation were Pandemonium Club members. Crowley’s cult is like a black stain running through the whole of modern history.’

Wolf was growing restless with the history lecture. ‘Yeah, but all this stuff you’re talking about is in the past. What happened then, happened. It’s the here and now that concerns us.’

Shelton shook his head. ‘You don’t grasp the enormity of what we’re up against here, do you? None of this is confined to history. It’s all still happening. I already told you about the rituals at Bohemian Grove, still every bit as active now as they were back in the 1870s. Then there’s the Lucifer Publishing Company.’

‘The what?’