Simon Green - Live and let Drood

Which is how I came to be strolling down some very well-known streets in the better part of London, following the map the Regent of Shadows had given me. And a simple set of directions that should take me straight to the only kind of club that would accept the likes of Crow Lee as a member: the Establishment Club. Where the underworld can meet the elite, to sneer at everyone else. I kept Molly close beside me, where I could keep an eye on her, because I didn t entirely trust the larcenous look in her eyes. We got all kinds of looks from the well-dressed people we passed, because neither of us seemed like the kind of people who had any business being in an area like this, but, of course, no one actually said anything. Because we re British, after all, and we don t like to make a fuss. There were security cameras everywhere; let the proper authorities do what needed doing. If anything needed doing. Some of the cameras rotated slowly to watch us as we passed. I pointed them out to Molly.

They can t see us, I said just a bit smugly. As long as I m wearing my torc, there isn t a surveillance system in the world that can see me. Or you, as long as you re with me. What it means to be a Drood we walk through the world unseen, so we can do necessary appalling things and get away with it every time.

Don t get cocky, said Molly. I was learning how to dodge security systems while you were still planning how to run away from home. I really don t like this area, Eddie. It stinks of money and privilege and entitlement all the things I ve spent a lifetime fighting. I feel like smashing a whole bunch of things, just on general principles.

Never knew you when you didn t, I said.

And that was when the security cameras all started exploding. The one right in front of us went first, blowing apart in a soft puff of black smoke and a short shower of plastic and glass splinters. Then all the others went up, one after the other, ahead and behind us. The quiet of the late evening was suddenly full of the soft sounds of small fires and frying electrical circuitry. Everyone else on the street jumped and looked about them, startled, and then took to their heels. In a polite and dignified way, of course. Soon enough they were all gone from a street where they didn t feel safe anymore because no one was watching over them. I stopped and looked sternly at Molly, who shook her head demurely.

It s not me, Eddie for once. I m afraid it s you. I can See swirls of energy coming off you, striking out at the cameras from your torc.

It s the rogue armour, I said, one hand rising automatically to the golden torc at my throat and then falling back without touching it. It s overreacting. I concentrated, imposing my will on the torc with blunt brute force, and the explosions stopped. I felt something stir inside the torc and then grow still again.

You assured me you had the rogue armour under complete control, Molly said carefully.

I have. Mostly. You have to remember: It s not just armour. Moxton s Mistake is a living thing. I think it just likes to remind me it s still there occasionally.

Can we get moving? said Molly. I m starting to feel just a bit conspicuous, standing alone in the middle of the street. Your torc can t hide us from everyone.

Of course, I said. Moving right along.

You do know where we re going?

Do you want to read the map?

We moved on down the well-lit but now completely deserted street. Evening was fast fading into night. It had been a long hard day, and it wasn t nearly over yet. I did my best to make sense of the hand-drawn map the Regent had scrawled for me, and carefully checked the numbers on the doors we passed. Not far now. Not long at all until I could finally get my hands on Crow Lee and force some straight answers out of him.

What did you make of the Regent? Molly said suddenly. Your long-lost and suddenly found grandfather.

Seemed straightforward enough, I said. Given the game he s playing. Decent enough stick Played his cards a bit close to his chest, but then, you ve got to expect that from someone who s still technically a rogue Drood. What did you make of Patrick?

Something not quite right there, Molly said immediately, frowning. He didn t come across to me as any kind of Armourer. Not that I ve known many.

He knew his stuff, I said. And the Regent did say that Patrick had been one of his Special Agents. Working out in the field, like us, getting his hands dirty But even so, you re right; there was something off about him. He reminds me of someone, though I m damned if I can think who.

Someone you ve met before? said Molly.

In the field?

I shook my head uncertainly. Are you happy? That s what he asked me. What kind of a question is that to someone you ve only just met?

You gave a good answer, though, said Molly, slipping her arm through mine and pressing the side of her body up against mine. You earned yourself some major boyfriend brownie points there.

Can I cash them in later? I said. Let us not forget, the Department of the Uncanny is part of the Establishment, and therefore no one in it can be fully trusted. On principle.

Well, quite, said Molly. But let us concentrate on taking down Crow Lee and getting your family back, and worry about everything else afterwards.

Good answer, I said. Sufficient unto the day are the scumbags thereof.

We ended up strolling along beside a long tenement building, big and grand in the old Regency style, punctuated with a whole lot of barred and shuttered windows and really big doors bearing the gleaming brass nameplates of the very old, very long established private-members clubs they represented. I counted them off, comparing them to the Regent s map, until finally I stopped before one particular door that didn t look any different from all the others I d already passed. In fact, it looked so ordinary I got Molly to check the map to make sure I d got the numbers right. She snatched the thing out of my hand, glared at me, sniffed loudly, glanced briefly at the map and then snapped her fingers and set it on fire. It blazed up quickly, and Molly shook her fingers, letting the dark ashes fall to the street.

We don t want to leave any evidence behind, do we? she said. Nothing that might lead back to Uncanny, and the Regent.

Show-off, I said.

A small brass plate set above the door gave the name THE ESTABLISHMENT CLUB in blunt and blocky letters. A club so well established it didn t need to advertise. Either you knew how to find it or you didn t belong there, anyway. The door itself was bland and uninteresting, with no letter box or door handle. The giveaway was that it stood half-open, the way in thoroughly blocked by a large and formidable doorman, resplendent in an old-fashioned bright scarlet frock-coat uniform, complete with fancy waistcoat, knee britches and well-polished boots. Plus a gleaming tall hat any stage magician would have been proud of. For all his finery, he was large and solid and openly menacing, and gave the impression he should really have been standing outside some downtown nightclub, snarling, No trainers! and You re not on the list! He had a square, brutal face and looked like bullets would just bounce off him. Because they d be afraid of him. He stood at attention and looked right through Molly and me as though we weren t there.

So, said Molly, looking right past the doorman as though he weren t there, what kind of a place is the Establishment Club, Eddie? What can we expect once we get inside? Any kinky stuff?

Don t ask me, I said. I ve never been in there.

Molly turned and gave me a hard look. You re always saying that London is your territory! That you were Drood field agent for the whole of London!

Not quite all of it, I admitted reluctantly.

This kind of place, and this kind of area, was always more Matthew s territory than mine. It s not like I was actually banned from circles like these, but I never got to see the inside of any of these clubs. Matthew didn t think I could be trusted to behave properly in front of those who like to think of themselves as our betters, and he was probably right. He knew how to talk to these people, to lay down Drood authority without ruffling too many feathers. Because sometimes, when you re in a hurry, you have to give some to get some. I am a great believer in diplomacy; right up to the point where someone pisses me off, and then it s time to dispense beatings and shout at people. Matthew knew how to get these people to do what we wanted and make them think it was all their idea in the first place. But then, Matthew could charm the birds down out of the trees, when he could be bothered. He was always so much better at being a secret agent than I ever was.