“Well. I was thinking about going home. Check my answering machine, make sure everything’s okay, reassure the neighbors that I’m all right, that kind of thing.” Make sure they haven’t found Paulie’s CD-ROM. Try to get a message to her to keep her head down. “I don’t have to stay for long,” she added hastily. “I’m not thinking about running away, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Roland frowned thoughtfully. “Listen, is it just your mail and phone that you need? Because if so, it would be a lot safer just to divert everything. We’ve got a telephone switch in the subbasement and we can slam your domestic subscriber lines right over. But it would be a good thing if you avoided your home for the next few days. I can send someone around if there’s anything you need, but—” he shrugged.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because.” He put his butter knife down. “We, uh, when there’s a succession crisis or a war within the Clan, things can get very messy, very fast.” He paused for a moment, then rushed on: “I wouldn’t want to risk anyone getting a clean shot at you.”

Miriam sat very still, blood pounding in her ears. “Does that mean what I think it means?” she asked.

“Yes—your house is a target. We have it under surveillance, but accidents can happen, someone can miss something, and you might be walking into a booby trap. Tripwires inside the front door. It won’t be secure until we’ve doppelgängered it, which might take some time because it’s way out in the sticks on this side, and we’d need to fortify the area to stop anyone crossing over inside your living room. It took days for us to find you, even with the office chair in the forest as a marker. But you might not be so lucky next time.”

“Oh.” Miriam nodded to herself, absorbing this new and unwelcome fact. So you found me by the chair? “What about my mother?”

Roland looked puzzled. “But your mother’s—”

“No, I mean my adoptive mother.” Miriam gritted her teeth. “You know, the woman who raised me from a baby as her own? Who is now all alone and wheelchair-bound? Is she at risk? Because if so—” she realized that her voice was rising.

“I’ll see to it at once,” Roland said decisively and pulled out his mobile phone. It obviously hadn’t occurred to him that Iris was of any importance.

“Do so,” Miriam said tersely. “Or I’ll never speak to you again.”

“That’s uncalled for.” Roland looked serious. “Is there anyone else I should know about?” he asked after a moment.

Miriam took a deep breath. Here goes, she thought. “My ex-husband is remarried and has a wife and child,” she said. “Is he at risk?”