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Back The Name of the Star
Chapters (48)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. THE RETURN
  5. Chapter 1
  6. Chapter 2
  7. Chapter 3
  8. Chapter 4
  9. Chapter 5
  10. Chapter 6
  11. Chapter 7
  12. Chapter 8
  13. Chapter 9
  14. PERSISTENT ENERGY
  15. Chapter 10
  16. Chapter 11
  17. Chapter 12
  18. Chapter 13
  19. Chapter 14
  20. Chapter 15
  21. THE STAR THAT KILLS
  22. Chapter 16
  23. Chapter 17
  24. Chapter 18
  25. Chapter 19
  26. Chapter 20
  27. Chapter 21
  28. Chapter 22
  29. Chapter 23
  30. Chapter 24
  31. INNER VILENESS
  32. Chapter 25
  33. Chapter 26
  34. Chapter 27
  35. Chapter 28
  36. Chapter 29
  37. Chapter 30
  38. Chapter 31
  39. Chapter 32
  40. WHITE’S ROW, EAST LONDON NOVEMBER 9 2:45 A.M.
  41. TERMINUS TERIMNUS
  42. Chapter 33
  43. Chapter 34
  44. Chapter 35
  45. Chapter 36
  46. Chapter 37
  47. Chapter 38
  48. Acknowledgements

In reply, the unseen person shoved him forcibly up against the board, crushing his face into it. Then the lights came back on.

Richard heard a confused grumble pass around the room as they took in the sight of him splayed against the board, arms spread. As he backed up a few inches and tried to regain his poise, Richard saw something written on the board in large, bold letters:

THE NAME OF THE STAR IS WHAT YOU FEAR

INNER VILENESS

INNER VILENESS

Do we indeed desire the dead
Should still be near us at our side?
Is there no baseness we would hide?
No inner vileness that we dread?

—Alfred, Lord Tennyson,

“In Memoriam A.H.H.,”
part 51

Chapter 25

25

STEPHEN WAS DRIVING WITH A GRIM, FIXED INTENSITY. We sped past the school, past a huge cluster of news trucks and police cars surrounding Spitalfields Market. I had to sit in the back, because you can’t sit in the front seat of a police car unless you’re actually a police officer—so I must have looked like a criminal to anyone passing by. A young, crying criminal in zombie makeup.

“How did you know where we were?” I said, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand.

“She phoned me and said you had gone missing from the party, then again from the street once she found you.”

“I want to go to the hospital.”

“That’s the last place you’re going,” Stephen said, glancing at me through the rearview mirror. “You’re already in HOLMES.”

“In what?”

“HOLMES. The Home Office Large Major Enquiry System. You’re in the police database, that’s what it means. You’re a witness in the Ripper murders, and you’re under protection by us. And the police establishment doesn’t exactly know we exist. This all just got very, very complicated.”

“Complicated?” I shot back. “Boo’s back there in the road, possibly dead, and all you can say is that this is complicated?”

“I’m trying to keep you safe, to keep you both safe. There was nothing we could do to help her. The ambulance was right behind us. The best thing was to get you out of there.” He took off his policeman’s hat and wiped his forehead.

“Tell me one thing,” he said. “Did anything happen to the Ripper?”

“What?”

“What happened to him after the accident?”

“He walked away,” I said.

“Were there lights?” he said again, more urgently. “Sounds? Anything? Are you sure he walked away?”

“He walked away,” I said again.