‘Yes, and that was terribly frustrating, because I’d see them there on TV, dozing off on the back benches, and I couldn’t do anything about it. That barrier around the building would be something to do with those mysterious predecessors of yours, I should think. I wish you’d learned more about them.’

‘Me too.’

‘Meanwhile, I brought together the money and the resources to set up what you see tonight, what’s going on out there –’ he gestured towards what was outside the windows, making the ice clink in his whisky glass – ‘and the response to it. I encouraged thuggery on the far right, and made sure the Met and the other police forces were antagonized to the point of going on strike. The Herald’s been prophesying the Summer of Blood for months, and now here it is. You lot gave me the word for that: ostentation. Those I favour to take over will suspend government, step in themselves, order a crackdown, restore order with amazing speed. The army, thanks to what I know about several generals, is partly onside. I should think we’ll eventually return to some form of parliamentary democracy, but on our terms. I will have changed the whole political landscape.’

Quill could hardly believe the scope of this man’s dreams. ‘That’s why you’re doing this, but how? What’s the connection between the scrying glass and Jack the Ripper?’ Quill was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

Vincent nodded eagerly, as if this was the most exciting part. ‘I started to use the glass randomly to sweep important locations where people might be asleep, where I’d pop into a few minds, see what I could find out: the House of Lords; the Police Complaints Commission. In … one of these locations…’ Quill heard him pause, being careful. He was presumably aware of what Quill had seen in his shared dream with the woman in the barrow, but couldn’t know that Quill’s team had later pieced together where he’d been. ‘… I found a sleeping mind whose presence lit up the mirror with its power. I connected my mind to it, and … bam! It was enormous, it rushed into my head, and I went staggering around the mews flat, breaking things, having some sort of fit as I tried to deal with all that power rushing around my brain.’

‘That’s when your PA came in?’