Sefton put down his tea, took the notebook, opened it, recognized Quill’s handwriting. He flipped to the most recent page. He looked to the Rat King again, amazed. ‘This is brilliant.’

‘Glad to be of service. You haven’t drunk your tea.’

Sefton felt a little abashed as he put the notebook inside his jacket pocket. ‘In everything I’ve read, if you go somewhere outside of the real world, you’re not supposed to eat or drink anything that’s given to you. Sorry.’

The Rat King laughed. ‘Clever fucker. I nearly had you obliged to serve me. See, you made a judgement call. You can do it. Even in this horrible new world you people have made. Bye then.’

Sefton looked in puzzlement between the Rat King and the woman, both of whom were now bowing to him as if this was the end of a play. ‘What—?’

The Rat King clicked his fingers and the lights above them suddenly went out.

Chapter Twenty-Three

TWENTY-THREE

Sefton woke up. He looked around. It was early evening. He was sitting on the pavement, just along from a bus shelter. People were walking past him without looking at him. He sniffed. He’d pissed himself. So much sweat as well. He realized he knew this place. This was exactly where he’d come back last time he’d taken a trip to the outer boroughs; he was near Cannon Street tube. Why this place? He had no idea.

He remembered what had happened and urgently looked inside his jacket. There was Quill’s notebook. Incredibly. He’d brought back evidence from outside the world. Somehow. He was exhausted, beyond fatigue, but he’d done it. He’d done it. He felt … too tired to come to any conclusions about how he felt, but there was a kind of level playing field in his head now. He had sorted something out inside himself. He reached for his phone, but his fingers were too numb to dial. He felt his throat and was sure he wouldn’t be able to say anything if he could.

A car pulled up beside him. The window slid down, and to his surprise, there was Superintendent Lofthouse. ‘Get in,’ she said. ‘I put some newspaper on the seats.’ She sniffed. ‘Now I realize why.’

*   *   *