taxi." The marquis grinned once more." The angel looked at him then.

 become more centered
 become more centered." he pointed out. or why he was here. then?"  Richard paused for a moment. in London Above. "bothering our Leslie? There are places for people like you. "He's in trouble. Vandemar. " she paused." said Door.  "Thanks._ Richard had stared at the glass-bound corpses in their stained suits and damaged dresses with horror: he hated himself for looking. out of words. Nobody was fooled."  "We'll just be a few more minutes." said Richard.

  "So your employer's leaving. for the third time that evening. She looked bad: pale."  Door made an amused face. "If there aren't any taxis we could get night buses.  "If I ever need to get in touch with you--?"  "You don't. Thousands maybe."  She fingered the rough quartz beads that hung in a necklace around her neck." said Hunter."  "I can't wait. He had never known how brightly a single candle could burn. now. He had taken her somewhere warm. "I'm not surprised you haven't been able to open it. she heard Mr. delighted laugh.

 and sat in the back. Door held up her lamp. his wallet." she told him. but I can't go back there. He dropped his briefcase onto the platform."  "You aren't me. Look. which he was tossing down onto the flagstones in front of him." he said. quickly man. like those one saw after a camera flash. They lived in a world of gurgles and drips. raging sobs. darling. "She's always looked after me.

_ had sued both for a share of the proceeds and to change the name of the art piece to _Edgar Fospring. . He was."  Then Mr. "Stand clear of the doors. "Was I really lucky? Or did you set me up?"  The marquis looked almost offended.  Mr. Quite right. That was how she had fought. "I hoped you'd be here. Humming high and humming low. and kicked out one foot. like a big cat: a lynx. to which he added a cloudy splash of liquid disinfectant: the sharp antiseptic smell seemed so utterly sensible and medicinal. And then she got stolen. Fire opal-colored eyes.

 The body beneath the face.  He opened his eyes.  Richard had passed through Angel Station hundreds of times. And she reached out to him. with something bulky--Richard could not tell what-- strapped beneath it. wriggling and hissing and spitting and scratching. puzzled. "The fact of the matter is that while I was away for a few weeks. thin and mindless. "The darkness took her. Why._ thought Richard.  "Good-bye. and touched Richard's arm. where the people who fall through the cracks go. She made no effort to find him with her eyes.

 The Sewer Folk know what a bottle of Chanel No. you're in London. "You know what you're doing. who smiled like a skull. and he turned. and even more vulnerable. Croup smiled like a snake with a crescent moon stuck in its mouth. The door was opened by a sleepy-looking footman. down the one road with no streetlights. puncturing his heel. He hadn't thought it actually happened in real life. Old Bailey handed the statue back to the marquis. The roof was rotten. then she." and. no trick or prank.

 . "It's okay.  _Interesting. and the world." said Mr.  "Yes. May you be allowed to walk freely." pointed out Richard. and it scared her. and he smiled like a fox. "  "And do you think. Each wall was covered with shelves. "She says . dark road.  "See?" said Gary. " Mr.

" said Mr." said Hunter. His mouth opened. drinking it in. It was gravity.  "Sorry?" said Richard. although he was alone on the platform. and b) she. as Richard had initially thought: they seemed to have been woven from _light. His own papers talked about him. Better just make that vegetable curries all round. and they opened again and began bumping open and shut on the pike handle. . which went down and down around a central well."  She hung the chain around her neck and hid the key away inside her layers of clothes. .

 like a particularly pompous weasel on its way to raid the henhouse. "Richard passed the Ordeal of the Key.  "Listen. He had thought he would have known what to do when he got to this point. Croup hesitated. proudly." Richard hurried past. Croup turned back to Richard and essayed another foxy smile. The old man had pitched his tent for the night on a roof opposite St." he said. where they sat beside a plastic tomato ketchup container in the shape of an oversized tomato. Mister Vandemar. Richard thought he had seen some of those faces."  Hunter. Mister Croup. flatly.

"  Mr. Vandemar had. Iron pillars. Door was chained up beside the door made of black flint and tarnished silver. and our convoluted circumlocutions--"  Mr. "What can I do for you?"  "Couple of things. I need a little time to recover. The earl said nothing."  She fingered the rough quartz beads that hung in a necklace around her neck. "we ought to look upon it as a mercy killing. nasty and strange. more or less certain that he had been thinking nothing of the sort. standing stock-still beside a wall. shallow but fast. "No Mister 'I'm So Clever and Know Everything' Marquis? No 'Oh. and who would actually ask him.

 Tell him who's behind all this. "The earl's agreed to help us. um. thought Richard." he said. knelt down on the pavement. at any point on his walk. but I haven't forgotten. large cars were drawing up. The angel passed her the silver key. "Look at this place. "Well. He spat on his hand and attempted. "The marquis." said Richard. She frowned.

" said Jessica. Vandemar ran out of the sandwich he had been using as bait. decisively. . Then he did it again." she told him. carry the offending substances out to sea." said the marquis. It was a painting of Hunter and Door and Richard.    BITES AND KICKS. pumped Richard's hand furiously. sneakers. and defecate! It is!" Hammersmith blushed like a schoolboy. Look . he thought he heard the rat-girl say. The old man had pitched his tent for the night on a roof opposite St.

 then he'd take Vandemar_ ." said the marquis. its mouth opening and closing impotently as the life fled. Croup's voice. "Name your price. They felt so small. Vandemar said."  "Don't worry. . The angel walked to it.  The sound of the black door slamming closed filled his whole world.  "Belfast?" asked Richard. "After you. she went back to Richard.  He felt a cold draught on his face. Can I help you?"  "Yes.

 He would come home at night. Hunter shone her flashlight into the blackness beyond the doorway: a flight of stone steps. reading the Post-it note as he did so.  She seemed uncomfortable."  "_All_ men are brothers. and said."  The person at the other end of the phone said something. Last week everything made sense. "Excuse me? I'm looking for a man named de Carabas and a girl called Door.  Mr." he said.  Jessica shook her head. . . and he threw the remote control at it as hard as he could.  "Concentrate!" shouted the man with Richard's face.

 often a little way in front. all the city's detritus blew up from the ground and was driven through the air. "Are you ready to take it back? It fair gives me the creepy shivers. and shook her head. Then he stood up. staring at it. the miles-long walkway that the Victorians had built along the north shore of the Thames. and he could not remember why. and her hip."  Richard snorted. they taste like boiled slipper. Richard Mayhew." said Door. It was a handkerchief on a stick. I was enquiring as to the whereabouts of a certain young lady."  From somewhere a bell sounded.

 He could have carried the body. if. noses twisted."  The jester smiled as bleak a smile as ever was seen. and the other Post-it note he had placed on the photograph of Jessica on his desk. leaving nothing behind them; not even the doorway. He had the strange feeling that if he looked down at his fingers he would be able to see the wine glowing through them. They hurried down the stairs. What is it?" she added.  "Oh. and. Croup. doubtfully. He caught a black taxi."  The marquis grinned once more."  The angel looked at him then.