By the time Ess returned to her flat with clothes trawled from Shades' flat it was already evening. Whilst Shades retired to her bedroom to dress, Ess sat opposite Oz.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Oz answered.

"You're looking conspiratorial. What have the pair of you cooked up?"

"As if we'd decide anything in your absence."

"Yeah, yeah. Stop messing about."

"Well, provisionally, we're going on a black-op stake-out. Very Secret Squirrel. Your young man was telling me all about it."

"Mind sharing?"

"Davenport is at some local shindig for his local party this evening, out Elstree way. Whitmarsh will in all likelihood be there too. So we set up a surveillance operation at the hall, wait for our men to stagger out, then follow them. You know, almost like we were proper detectives."

"That's it? That's our grand plan? I was away an hour."

"It's a bit more complex than that," said Shades, appearing from her bedroom. "But we can't just shoot and pray. We need evidence, or at the very least intelligence. So we tail them, see their routine. If they're using this stuff liberally, then it needs to be somewhere they visit daily. Either Davenport's drum or Whitmarsh's. Or someplace else, somewhere they visit regularly. Now, we know where Davenport lives, but Whitmarsh, well, pass, I couldn't track his address down on the Internet. So we wait, follow, observe. If the opportunity presents itself, we poke around, but only if there's no risk. One sniff of us on their tail and they'll shut it down, at least for as long as it takes to get us sectioned."

"No. We need to find her now."

Shades sighed. "I know you're anxious to find her, babes, but trust me. I used to do this as my bread and butter. This is the only way it'll work."

"No. We have to find her in the next couple of days."

"Look, I know how you feel, but --"

"No! You don't know how I feel. Don't be so bloody patronising and if you call me 'babes' again I will gut you. We need to find her now."

Shades frowned. "Why the urgency?"

"Because -- " She could see the king's face in her mind's eye, the way it had filled her vision and filled her world with dread. "B-because --" She screwed her eyes shut, fighting down the nausea and forcing the words out. "Because I have to report back to her father." She gagged, but the words were out now. She dragged her sleeve across her brow, smearing the cold sweat across her face.

"Why?"

"Because I have to. Because I can't stop myself. It's an otherworld type of thing. An injunction. I just have to, and I really don't think reporting back with nothing is going to go down well." She glanced at the coffee table. Oz had finished the bottle of wine. She would kill for a drink right now.

Shades walked over to the window and stared down on the street below. After a few moments he turned. He didn't look happy.

"Okay, we watch Davenport's house. Whitmarsh too, when we find it. Any opportunity when the houses are empty we turn them over. Same goes for any place they visit that might be tasty, somewhere they've got exclusive access to." He shrugged. "It's the best we can do."

"But what if the house is occupied for the next couple of days?"

"I didn't say it was a perfect plan. We've just got to hope."

"How are we going to do all this, old boy?" asked Oz. "We can't be staking out the houses and following them around at the same time."

"I've got help coming. If you've got any favours you can call in, that wouldn't hurt."

"Help?" asked Ess.

"Ted."

"Ted?" She knew the name from somewhere, and then the penny dropped. "The guy that kidnapped you yesterday? Are you joking? That Ted?" And then a whole bagful of coins hit the floor. Her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my God, I'd forgotten. Mister Schustek. I'm so sorry. I was asleep when you came home, and then the sisters got me so riled. God, how can I have forgotten?"

"Don't sweat it. To be honest, I'm a bit vague on it all too. That happy dust is powerful stuff. He wasn't too chuffed, but he's not exactly emotional at the best of times. I can clear it with him, I'm sure. I might have to sacrifice every remnant of self-respect, but I expect we can work things out. But that can wait for a couple of days if we need it to. First we have to sort these two chancers out."

"What sort of favours are you asking us to call in?" asked Oz.

"Normally we would want six bodies on each target, two to a car. When Ted gets here we'll be two bodies to a target. They won't be looking for us, but it's still going to be pretty tight. If you have anybody you can trust who's prepared to sit in a car for forty-eight hours and aid and abet a bit of breaking and entering, it couldn't hurt."

"I could ask a couple of sisters," said Ess.

"How far can you trust them?"

Ess gave him a withering look. "You think playing at soldiers forms a bond? Try crossing a sister." It would have been better if she were in a coven, or even had an apprentice, but there were a couple of sisters she could call on, if they were free. "They might not have a car, though."

"I have a wealth of drinking buddies, but we'd have to spring for a bottle or two to keep the chill out," said Oz cheerfully.

"No," said Shades, before Ess could slap down the idea. "It's bad enough we're operating with amateurs, no offence, but amateur drunkards, no way."

"How dare you! I'll have you know we could be professional drunkards. I personally could drink for England."

"No alcohol. If you haven't got anyone who can keep dry for a couple of days, they're no good to us."

Oz scowled. "Well, that's bloody difficult, then. Oh, wait, there is one who'll do me a favour. I'll give her a call."

"Her?" said Ess. Oz grinned and waggled his eyebrows.

"She's uniquely suited to night operations. Oh, don't give me that look. She has a car, is what I meant." He took out his phone and shrugged. "Plus she would do anything for me. And occasionally has."