supposed to know. And as it happens, I do know exactly where the secret headquarters of the Carnacki Institute are to be found. I know where their boss is, the very powerful, very forbidding Catherine Latimer. Her office is tucked away at the end of a corridor that doesn t officially exist, right at the back of Buckingham Palace.
Oh, that is seriously cool! said Molly. I ve always wanted to burgle Buck House!
One, I said, very firmly, we are not breaking in. We will be using the Merlin Glass to sneak in. And two, we are not stealing anything. Do you hear me, Molly Metcalf?
You are no fun sometimes, said Molly, slumping down in her seat and pouting just a bit. I ve got to do something to show I was there. I m the supernatural anarchist. Remember? I have an appalling reputation to uphold.
All right, I said. I ll let you scrawl some really hateful graffiti in the Institute toilets. How about that?
You are so good to me, Eddie.
Yes, I am. And don t you forget it.
Any corgis that get under my feet will regret it, Molly said darkly. How is it you know where to find Catherine Latimer s office?
Because I did a few jobs with the Institute back in the day, I said. A little cooperation here and there helps to keep the wheels turning. A favour for a favour. Matthew always looked down on those, always said he had more important things to deal with, and left them to me.
Is there anyone you haven t worked with at one time or another? said Molly.
I had to smile. I could ask you the same question.
She grinned. We do get around, don t we?
I found a very illegal place to park, right in front of the Buckingham Palace railings. We both got out of the car and stood together, staring at the guards and the sights just like any other tourists. Scarlet-garbed Horse Guard soldiers paraded up and down in their traditional bearskin hats. They looked very efficient and very dangerous, as well they should. But the real guarding forces watched from concealment, behind very sophisticated camouflage equipment. I could just See them out of the corner of my eye. They were the real hard men of the regiment. In fact, I think you have to bite the head off an SAS officer just to be allowed to apply.
Why don t we just drive in? said Molly, not unreasonably. I mean, you re a Drood! Who s going to say no to you?
Yes, I am a Drood, but I don t want just anyone knowing that, I said. Most people think my family are all dead, and I m quite happy for them to go on thinking that, right up to the point where I find it necessary to shout, I m here! and then punch them in the head.
You can t ask the Carnacki Institute for help without revealing who you are, said Molly. And the same with the Department of the Uncanny and the Regent of Shadows
One thing secret organisations are good at, I said, is keeping secrets. Especially from each other. Because you never know how valuable such information might become. And then you can trade it.
Molly started to snap her fingers, and then stopped. Damn. I don t even have enough power left to magic up a Disabled sticker.
This is London, I said. They re not so easily impressed here. I think I ll put my faith in the Armourer s security measures. This car can look after itself. If anyone does try messing with it, they ll wake up somewhen next year.
But Molly had already gone back to studying Buckingham Palace.
Why is the Carnacki Institute based here, of all places? I mean, I know they re part of the Establishment, but Is the queen an honorary ghostbuster? Is Prince Philip bothered by poltergeists?
Not officially. It s because the Institute is a royal charter, not a political department, like Uncanny. Apparently Elizabeth I wanted the Institute where she could keep an eye on it, and subsequent monarchs continued the tradition. It does mean that Catherine Latimer s private office is protected not only by its own shields, but also by the palace s. Of course, the Merlin Glass should be able to punch right through them.
Should? said Molly, immediately. I really don t like that word in this context, Eddie. What if it can t?
Bugs on a windshield, I said. Raise your Sight, Molly. Take a good look at the palace, and See what I m Seeing.
With the Drood torc at my throat, I can See the world as it really is and not as most people think it is. Though mostly I choose not to, for my own peace of mind. With the Sight, Buckingham Palace and its immediate surroundings all but disappeared under layer upon layer of powerful protections: overlapping screens and shields and deadly defences laid down over centuries.
Okay, said Molly, after a while. Those are serious protections. How the hell did that burglar get in? You know, the one who just wandered around till he ended up in the queen s bedroom and she had to call for help?
Simple answer: He didn t, I said.
They let him in. To make the rest of the world think they only had standard protections. Anyone who tried to follow in that guy s footsteps got flash-fried into free-floating atoms for some time afterwards.
Molly gave me a stern look. And the Merlin Glass should get us past all that?
Oh, almost certainly, I said cheerfully. If I understand how the Glass works, and I m perfectly ready to be told I don t, I think it opens a door on this side of the shields and another door on the other side. And then we step through without bothering the shields at all. They don t even know anything s happened.
But if they do detect us?
It s been fun knowing you, Molly.
Let s go somewhere else.
If there was somewhere else, I d be there, I said. But we need access to the Regent of Shadows, and Catherine Latimer is the only one I know who can get us there. And as long as Crow Lee is on our trail, the clock is ticking. He can t let even one Drood live, for fear I ll find a way to bring the rest back. And then everything he s risked will have been for nothing. Now grit your teeth and be a brave little witch, and there shall be dark chocolate Jaffa Cakes for tea.
Let me get this straight, said Molly. We re dropping in on the very dangerous boss herself, in her very own private and heavily defended office? Because you ve been there once before? Colour me officially uneasy, Eddie. Not many get in there and get out again with all their favourite parts still attached.
I did her a favour once on a case I still don t care to talk about. She wasn t exactly happy with the way I handled it, because the Droods got more out of it than the Institute did, but we still parted on pretty good terms.
So she isn t necessarily going to be pleased to see you?
Is anyone?
What if she point-blank refuses to help you, said Molly, now that the rest of your family isn t around to intimidate her into playing nice?
She doesn t get to say no, I said.
I m a Drood.
My tough guy, Molly said admiringly. Still, weren t we worried that using something as powerful as the Merlin Glass might attract all the wrong kinds of attention?
Oh, sure, I said. But not until it s far too late. I m not planning on sticking around here that long.
They might try to stop us leaving.
Like to see them try.
Okay, said Molly. We have now officially crossed the line from tough guy into cocky and downright arrogant. That s not like you, Eddie.
I m the Last Drood, I said. I can t afford to be stopped by anything or anyone. Not even myself. Not when my whole family is depending on me.
You can t help them if you re dead or stripped of your torc in some underground prison!
Well, then, I said. I d better not let that happen. Had I?
Cocky and arrogant, Molly said sadly. I am a bad influence on you, Eddie. She looked dubiously at the Merlin Glass as I held it up before us. Was the Glass we knew ever this powerful? I m not sure I would have trusted the old Glass in this situation.
It got you into the Timeless Moment to rescue me from Castle Shreck, I said. But it doesn t really matter. Needs must, when the Devil is breathing heavily down the back of your neck. One thing on our side: once we re in
