He went off to search, and Skulduggery picked up a thick felt pen off a desk that was littered with paperwork. “They’ve hidden the Machine in a public place,” he said, “and it’s somewhere on or near a tram line.”

Crasis came back with a tattered map and laid it out on a large, freshly carved table. Skulduggery started drawing lines down streets, drawing in the routes the Luas tram went down. Crasis and Valkyrie pored over the map and Ryan, not wanting to feel left out, did the same. He put his Coke on the table and did his best to appear as smart as the other people in the room.

When Skulduggery had marked all the routes they examined the map anew.

“Lot of public places,” Valkyrie murmured.

“A very large amount,” Ryan said, nodding like he was contributing.

“Ryan,” Skulduggery said, and for a moment Ryan thought that he’d accidentally solved the mystery.

“Yes?” he said eagerly.

“Could you take your Coke off the map, please?”

“Oh,” Ryan said. “Sorry.” He lifted his bottle. There was now a wet circle around Dundrum. To hide his blush he took a long swig from his drink.

“The heaviest population centres would be here, here and here,” Skulduggery said, marking the map with Xs. “If the Machine is hidden outdoors, we should be looking for areas that have had extensive construction work in the last few years. If it’s indoors, then we’re looking for new public buildings or shopping areas.”

The Coke went down the wrong way and Ryan choked, gagged, and spat a mouthful all over the map.

Skulduggery, Crasis and Valkyrie looked at him.

“Sorry,” he wheezed, before doubling over into a coughing fit.

“Maybe you should get some air,” Skulduggery suggested.

Ryan nodded, coughing too much to respond, and staggered out of the door. His eyes were streaming and he knew his face was glowing an attractive shade of red. He went to the Bentley and leaned against it, finally getting the coughing under control. Not his finest moment.

“How’re you doing, Ryan?”

He looked around as Valkyrie walked up.

“I’m OK,” he said. “Just choking a bit. Sorry about that. I hope I didn’t spit any on you.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

He became aware of her looking at him and he looked away.

“Why do you do that?” she asked.

“Why do I do what?”

“Why do you look away whenever I look at you?”

“Um,” Ryan said, “I don’t know. I think, once I realise that I’m looking someone in the eye, I forget how long I’m supposed to do it. So, I don’t know, I suppose I look away before it gets weird.”

She smiled. “You’re an oddball.”

“Yeah,” he said, sagging.

Valkyrie didn’t notice the sag. She was looking up the street, watching the people pass. “But that’s OK. We’re all oddballs here.”