Evil Star

whatever.
    But this cloister was completely different from the church. It looked older — and more beautiful. The pillars holding up the arches were more ornate. And the fountain was really lovely, carved out of some sort of white stone with crystal-clear water splashing down from one basin to another. Matt knew almost nothing about art or architecture, but even he could see that there was something about the fountain that wasn't quite English. The same was true of the whole cloister. He cast his eyes from the perfectly mown grass to the brilliant flowers tumbling out of huge, terra-cotta pots. How could a Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star church as shabby and as neglected as St. Meredith's have managed to hold on to a courtyard as perfect as this?
    He looked back at the church from which he had just come. And that was another thing. Was he going mad or was the brickwork somehow different on the outside? There was a square tower rising up above him but no sign of a steeple, modern or otherwise. Well, perhaps it was hidden by the angle of the wall. But even so, Matt had to fight to stop himself from thinking an absurd thought.
    This was a completely different building from the one he'd just come out of.
    No.
    It was some sort of illusion. William Morton was delib-erately trying to trick him.
    The bookseller had told him to bring something back with him. It didn't matter what and he didn't care. All Matt wanted to do was to get out of here, to get back onto famil-iar ground. He stepped forward and plucked a bright, mauve flower out of one of the pots.
    He felt stupid, holding a flower, but he couldn't see anything else and he didn't want to spend any more time here searching. He turned round and was about to walk back when someone stepped in front of him. It was a young man, dressed in a brown robe. A monk.
    And there was Matt, in his jeans and hooded sweatshirt, caught picking flowers in the middle of the cloister.
    "Hi!" Matt didn't know what to say. He held up the flower. "I was told to get this. It's for a friend."
    The monk spoke to him. But not in English. Listening to the strange language, Matt thought it might be Spanish or Italian. The monk didn't sound angry. He was trying to be friendly — although he was Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star obviously puzzled.
    "Do you speak English?" Matt asked.
    The monk held up a finger and a thumb, almost touch-ing. The universal symbol for "a little."
    "I have to go," Matt said. He pointed at the door. "I have a friend . . ."
    The monk didn't try to stop him. Matt opened the door and went back through.
    He was back in St. Meredith's.
    But William Morton wasn't there.
    Matt looked around him, feeling increasingly foolish with the flower in his hand. It seemed that the bookseller had been playing tricks on him. While Matt had been out in the cloister, Morton had been making his getaway. He had never intended to hand over the diary.
    It was all for nothing.
    And then the woman screamed.
    She screamed once, her voice so loud and high-pitched that it must surely have been heard all over Shoreditch. The scream flew up into the church to be joined by a second and then a third, each scream becoming an echo of the other. Matt looked around and saw her, an old woman wrapped up in black, standing a few meters away, pointing down. At the same time, he saw the blood on the cold, stone floor.
    He ran forward.
    William Morton was lying on his back, his hand clamped to his stomach, trying to hold shut the wound that the knife had made.
    There was a lot of blood. At first Matt thought he must be dead. The Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star woman was still screaming. None of the other worshippers had come near, although Matt could hear them whispering, murmuring, afraid to show them-selves. Then the bookseller opened his eyes and saw Matt, saw what Matt was holding. Despite everything, he smiled to himself. It was as if Matt had brought flowers to the funeral he was about to have.
    "You are . . ." he began.
    Just two words. Then he died.
    At the same time, the doors were flung open and half a dozen men ran in. Matt looked up and saw police uniforms. So the Nexus hadn't been lying to him. There really had been a protective ring around the church. It was just that it hadn't worked. The police had arrived too late.
    He was surrounded. More people were screaming. The police were trying to keep them back. More officers came through the door. Matt