note, and we found the journal soon after. It took us some time to figure out the clues, though, and by the time we did the
Milligan shook his head. “I barely missed you. I even saw your train pulling away. But at that point I had to take Jackson and Jillson in hand. Yes, they’re in custody,” he said in response to the children’s exclamations. “And we had a nice talk. They’re stubborn, those two, but luckily they’re also quite stupid. They told me more than they realized, and I quickly gathered you were in no danger on that train. So once again I didn’t worry; once again I caught a plane — the ticket agent had told me you were headed for Thernbaakagen — and once again I arrived before you. But I didn’t take into account your own wariness. I should have guessed you’d get off at a different station . . . Ah, this is perfect.”
Milligan pulled the police car off the road and into a warehouse, which somehow he had deduced was empty despite its wide open bay doors. Shutting off the engine, he turned to make eye contact with all of them — first Kate, then the others, then Kate again. “You were brave to do what you did,” he said slowly. “And I know you did it out of love for our friends. But if you ever do something like this again, I can promise you that Ten Men and Executives are going to be the least of your worries — do you understand?” His expression was very severe, his jaw was set, and his words were clipped and terse as if spoken with much suppressed anger.
Kate burst out laughing. Milligan’s eyebrows shot up, and Kate, seeing this, laughed even louder. “Milligan,” she said, “I’ll bet you scare the wits out of bad guys, but as a dad you don’t scare anyone very much.”
“She’s right,” Constance said. “I can tell you aren’t really angry.”
Milligan frowned and looked at Reynie, but Reynie averted his eyes to avoid disappointing him — for he, too, had been unfazed by Milligan’s stern admonition. Only Sticky, furiously polishing his spectacles in the back seat, showed the effect Milligan had hoped for. But Sticky was easily unnerved and could hardly be used as a measure.
“Well,” Milligan said, his face relaxing. “At least I tried.” He jumped from the car and let them all out. Then he went to the trunk, out of which he took a large duffel bag and into which he put the Ten Man’s briefcase. Shadowing him, the children saw three other briefcases already inside. Milligan slammed the trunk closed.
“If this place is abandoned, why are the doors open?” Sticky asked.
“Broken,” Milligan said, reaching inside his suit jacket. He took out a small tool rather like an Army knife, and in seconds he had done something to the winch mechanism that allowed the bay doors to come rattling down.
It was dusky gray in the warehouse now, the only light being that which filtered in through dirty windows and a broken skylight. And though the day was warm, the warehouse was cold, and Constance began to shiver. Milligan took off his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders. The jacket hung all around her and down to her feet like a cloak.
“Time for a quick change,” Milligan said, picking up his duffel bag. “Excuse me a minute.”
Kate followed him into what once had been the warehouse office. She was so happy to see Milligan she didn’t want to be separated even for a minute. In fact, during the car ride she’d kept having the urge to hug him again — and now she did just that, throwing her arms around him and squeezing with all her might. Milligan winced, but as his expression was the same as that of everyone Kate hugged, she thought nothing of it until a minute later, when Milligan was changing shirts and she saw his torso covered with a shocking display of cuts and bruises.
“What happened to you?” she cried, staring.
“Hm?” Milligan looked down. “Oh. These. I told you, Katie-Cat. I was detained. That’s why I missed you in Lisbon.”
Kate was aghast. “I thought you got caught up in
“It was a sort of meeting,” Milligan said, pulling on a different shirt. “I’ve had lots of meetings lately. Not all go as smoothly as the one at the hotel.”
Kate suddenly felt worried about Milligan, which had almost never happened, and it was a very disagreeable feeling indeed. She felt guilty, too, for it occurred to her that if she was this worried about Milligan, Milligan must have felt at least as worried about her. Probably more so. She was his daughter, after all.
“Milligan,” Kate said, “I really am sorry to have worried you.”
“Well, you couldn’t have had better intentions,” Milligan said, winking at her. “I appreciate the apology, though. When I heard you’d gone — well, I know you’re very capable, Kate, but I don’t suppose I’ve slept two hours in as many days. I admit it’s taken its toll. I’m not Number Two, after all.”
At this, their faces grew somber, and Milligan laid his hand on Kate’s shoulder. “We’re going to get them back. Don’t you worry.”
Her father’s words were an unexpected comfort to Kate — who hadn’t realized till now that she really could use some comforting — and the effect was to bring tears to her eyes. Kate had always thought crying an acceptable thing for others to do, but she didn’t particularly care to be seen doing it herself, so she leaned out of the office door, pretending to check on her friends. (The boys had opened the police car’s trunk and were peeking in at the briefcases, while Constance was hopping up and down to keep warm.) By the time Kate had blinked her eyes clear and turned back to him, Milligan had almost completed his transformation.
Dressed in his usual weather-beaten boots, jacket, and hat, Milligan looked nothing like a secret agent and everything like someone who’d gotten a bad deal at a secondhand store. Kate was always impressed by the way his clothes so perfectly concealed his utility belt and tranquilizer gun. She thought he ought to look lumpier, somehow.
Milligan adjusted his hat. “How do I look? More like myself ?”
“Except for the black hair and brown eyes,” Kate said, appraising him. “And your ears look smaller. They’re — I don’t know, flatter or something.”
“Ah.” Milligan tugged a piece of transparent tape from each side of his head. His ears sprang out to their normal positions. Then he removed the colored contact lenses, revealing his natural ocean-blue eyes — eyes the same color as Kate’s — and put the lenses away in a tiny container. “Better? I’m afraid I’m stuck with the black hair for a while.”
