‘I do,’ interrupted Drusher firmly. ‘But as you took pains to point out, I am a creature of sentiment. I won’t leave my friend to die. You can help me, or you can get on with waging your private war. I’m going to the cellars. I think that’s where she may be. If you come, we can get it done quickly, then we can both help you deal with Sark.’

‘There isn’t time,’ said Eisenhorn.

‘Then off you go, and good luck to you,’ said Drusher.

Eisenhorn glared at him.

‘Don’t try and pull rank,’ said Drusher. ‘You’re not an inquisitor, and I’m not one of your lackeys.’

‘You are a very aggravating man, magos,’ said Eisenhorn.

‘One of my few real skills. Tell me, did you suspect Jaff?’

‘I suspect everyone,’ said Eisenhorn.

‘Hence the levels of secrecy and confidence you exhibited at Helter. Telling no one anything. Sharing nothing. You don’t trust anyone do you?’

‘I can’t afford to, magos.’

‘I pity you,’ said Drusher.

‘I trust those I’ve known a long time,’ said Eisenhorn quietly. ‘Medea… Nayl…’

He fell silent as he spoke the name. Then he glanced back at Drusher.

‘I was sure there was a spy in my company,’ he said, ‘even before I arrived on Gershom. That is why I kept things classified. I thought it was Voriet.’

‘Voriet? Really?’

‘He was interrogator to Inquisitor Cyriaque. He is genuinely an officer of the ordos. He came to me two years ago, saying that he wished to join me, that he believed in my cause and felt that the ordos were blind to the real threat. In effect, he went rogue and joined me.’

‘But you didn’t trust him?’

‘Voriet is very able and was a decent addition to my party. But no, I never trusted him. I believed him to be a double-agent, claiming to be a renegade, but sent by the ordos to infiltrate my operation.’

‘Yet you kept him close?’ asked Drusher. ‘You didn’t kill him just in case?’

‘Voriet was useful, and he’s a good man,’ replied Eisenhorn. ‘I was aware of his true loyalties, so I treated him warily. But I hoped… I hoped that if I let him work with me, he might see the truth. He might become convinced of the danger. That the threat was genuine.’

‘And side with you for real?’ Drusher paused. ‘No, you wanted more than that, didn’t you? You hoped that he would report to his masters in the ordos and convince them your cause was true. Convince them that you were no rogue. He was your way back in. Your chance to be accepted back into the folds of the Inquisition.’

‘You are astute.’