Suckers

Around Whitechapel, I caught a glimpse of something burning, and crazy people leaping and dancing around the flames like figures from Hieronymus Bosch. 'Did you see that?' I asked Grauman, but he shook his head, and I began to wonder if I'd imagined it, because I was feeling rather woozy. There were other things, though, and I definitely wasn't imagining those. Near Fleet Street, as a policeman with big fluorescent gloves waved us past a heap of mangled cars, I saw a naked leg poking stiff through the middle of a shattered windscreen. And once, while we were stopped at a red light, I heard someone clambering on to the roof of the van. Whoever it was started jumping up and down, making great booming sounds over our heads, but Grauman rapped on the partition, and our driver moved off so abruptly that whoever or whatever was up there was flung into the path of the car behind us. There was a screech of brakes and a grinding of metal, followed by a banshee wailing. I craned my neck as we accelerated away, but all I could see was a heap of rags and a sparkle of glass.

'I thought Rotnacht wasn't until tomorrow,' I said.

'You thought correctly. But try telling those yobs out there.' Grauman sighed and tutted. 'They have no idea, no idea at all.'

'Then why did she bite them?'

'She didn't. She might have bitten someone once, a long time ago. That would have been enough to set the ball rolling. I am not a mathematician, but you could probably work it out. If everyone who has been bitten goes out each night and bites one or two others — well, eventually you will have an epidemic. Some will die from shock. Others may be torn to pieces. But others will develop a taste for blood and darkness, and they will spread it around.'

'I thought it wasn't so easy. Didn't you once tell me it took six or seven days? A long and arduous process, you said.'

'Well,' said Grauman, 'so it is. But what we have here is the difference between hiring a cheap cowboy to erect a flimsy partition, and saving up for a skilled bricklayer who will build a solid wall. The first is only a temporary solution.'

It sounded suspiciously like a final solution to me. It might have worried me more if I'd been sober. 'You mean you're going to get rid of the flimsy partitions, once they've served their purpose? You guys, you're so… democratic.'

Grauman looked scornful. 'There is no need to get rid of them. They will self-destruct soon enough.'

'Leaving the coast clear for solid walls?'

His gaze grew more distant, almost dreamy. 'Think of it as a game of Chinese Whispers. Each time the message is passed on, if it is not passed on properly, it will become weaker, more distorted. Eventually, you will end up with something that bears no resemblance to the original. And maybe at the end of it there won't be any words left at all. Just meaningless noises.'

This was getting too abstract for me. I lapsed into a not unpleasant stupor, watching the play of red and white light reflecting off the windows as the van bounced on its way, over potholes and up on pavements, over big chunks of things that had been left lying on the road.

'You remember our conversation?' asked Grauman, as we veered right off the Bayswater Road. 'The one we had at the top of the tower?'

I nodded and patted my bag. The small automatic was nestling inside. 'I'm not likely to forget it.'

'The limo will pick you up from Fender's place tomorrow night at eight. Make sure you are ready. Any delay may be dangerous.'

I nodded again. I couldn't believe my luck. I tried to imagine Duncan's face when I showed him the tickets.

'I suggest you give it a couple of months,' Grauman said. 'Once things have cooled off, it will be completely safe to come back. Everything will be back to normal, and you will begin your work with Multiglom in a capacity of your choosing. Day or night, it will be up to you. You are privileged; not many get the choice.' He looked me straight in the eye, and said in a voice that was almost affectionate. 'Be very careful, do as I say, and you might just make it through Rotnacht with your blood vessels intact.' I looked straight back at him, for once, and noticed something in his gaze that hadn't been there before.

'I stick my neck out for nobody,' I said.

Grauman grinned. It might have been my imagination, but the grin wasn't quite as wolfish as usual. He said, 'Something tells me this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.'

But as we drew near to where I lived, that old caution was reawakened. I didn't want him knowing my address, even now, even though common sense informed me he could have picked up the information easily enough. Instead, just to be on the safe side, I got him to drop me around the corner from Duncan's, just outside Jack and Alicia's. 'You live here?' he asked, peering out at the high building. 'Looks expensive.'

'It is,' I said, climbing out. Half the streetlights were on the blink, and most of the buildings were shrouded in darkness. The pavements were deserted, but the van sat with its engine running until I had climbed the steps to the front door. I couldn't help giggling — this was new-style Grauman in his New Man incarnation, making sure I got home safely. I fished my keys out of my bag, then realized that, of course, they wouldn't fit Jack and Alicia's lock, so for want of something better to do, I turned and waved goodbye. Only when the van had driven off did I realize I had forgotten to ask if it would be safe for Duncan to come back to London at the same time as me. Now I thought about it, it might be better if he were to stay in Paris for a while longer. Perhaps I could persuade him to stay in Paris for ever, out of harm's way, while I commuted between capitals. There would be plenty of photographic work for him in France.

As soon as the van had disappeared round the corner, I backed down the steps and started off towards Duncan's. I had no wish to drop in on Alicia again, especially if my suspicions about the baby had been correct. Thinking about it put the first big dent in my champagne high. I had quite liked Alicia. It wasn't her fault things had turned out badly.

Duncan took a long time to answer the door. I looked back along the road while I was waiting, beginning to feel a little nervous. It might have been my imagination working overtime again, but I thought I saw movement in the shadows beneath the trees. Then the lock clicked and I pushed the door open. It clanged shut behind me as I started up the stairs.

'Sorry,' Duncan said, rubbing his eyes as he poked his head out to greet me. 'I was napping.'

'You should be more careful,' I said, going in and stripping off my jacket. 'You didn't know it was me. It could have been anyone.'

'Oh, I knew it was you,' he yawned. 'Who else would it be, this time of night?'

'It could have been Violet,' I said darkly.

That woke him up. He opened his mouth to say something, then changed his mind and shut it, then opened it again. 'So what happened?'

He snapped into focus. 'Christ, Dora, you look awful.'

'Thanks. So do you. How's the neck?'

'Still sore.' He touched the sticking-plaster with his finger, and winced.

'Better put another dressing on it. I'll just wipe some of this slap off my face, if you don't mind.'

'I cleaned up the bathroom.'

'That's OK; I'll go in the bedroom.'

He followed and watched as I spilled some of Lulu's lotion on to a cotton-wool ball and dragged it across my face. There was garlic all over the dressing-table. In the mirror, I saw there was garlic strewn all over the bed. It looked as though he'd been rolling in the stuff. A bit excessive, but I couldn't complain. At least he was taking precautions.