Live and Let Drood

said Molly. “You never did replace Matthew, did you?”
    “I kept meaning to,” I said. “London’s been without a proper field agent for far too long. I know that. It’s probably why Philip MacAlpine and MI-13 were able to get so out of hand with no one noticing. I thought I could just come back here and take over again once I stepped down as head of the family.…”
    “They booted you out, the ungrateful bastards!”
    “They voted me out,” I said with some dignity. “And I was happy enough to get out from under the burden of command and run away back to London. But it’s been just one damned thing after another. I kept being called back to the Hall to deal with things no one else could. They’re never going to let me be just a field agent again. I’m going to have to put someone else in charge of London. Someone I can trust…It’s right there on my list of things to do the moment I get my family back. If they were still here, I could have just asked where to find this Department. Someone would have known. I haven’t a clue.”
    “Madame O said to go to Big Ben,” Molly said stubbornly.
    “Yes, but obviously she didn’t mean that literally! It has to be some clever allusion or riddle or something equally irritating, and I don’t have the time or the patience to work it out. No, the best way to find one secret organisation is to ask another. They love to rat each other out and show off how much they know that they’re not supposed to know. And as it happens, I do know exactly where the secret headquarters of the Carnacki Institute are to be found. I know where their boss is, the very powerful, very forbidding Catherine Latimer. Her office is tucked away at the end of a corridor that doesn’t officially exist, right at the back of Buckingham Palace.”
    “Oh, that is seriously cool!” said Molly. “I’ve always wanted to burgle Buck House!”
    “One,” I said, very firmly, “we are not breaking in. We will be using the Merlin Glass to sneak in. And two, we are not stealing anything. Do you hear me, Molly Metcalf?”
    “You are no fun sometimes,” said Molly, slumping down in her seat and pouting just a bit. “I’ve got to do something to show I was there. I’m the supernatural anarchist. Remember? I have an appalling reputation to uphold.”
    “All right,” I said. “I’ll let you scrawl some really hateful graffiti in the Institute toilets. How about that?”
    “You are so good to me, Eddie.”
    “Yes, I am. And don’t you forget it.”
    “Any corgis that get under my feet will regret it,” Molly said darkly. “How is it you know where to find Catherine Latimer’s office?”
    “Because I did a few jobs with the Institute back in the day,” I said. “A little cooperation here and there helps to keep the wheels turning. A favour for a favour. Matthew always looked down on those, always said he had more important things to deal with, and left them to me.”
    “Is there anyone you haven’t worked with at one time or another?” said Molly.
    I had to smile. “I could ask you the same question.”
    She grinned. “We do get around, don’t we?”
    I found a very illegal place to park, right in front of the Buckingham Palace railings. We both got out of the car and stood together, staring at the guards and the sights just like any other tourists. Scarlet-garbed Horse Guard soldiers paraded up and down in their traditional bearskin hats. They looked very efficient and very dangerous, as well they should. But the real guarding forces watched from concealment, behind very sophisticated camouflage equipment. I could just See them out of the corner of my eye. They were the real hard men of the regiment. In fact, I think you have to bite the head off an SAS officer just to be allowed to apply.
    “Why don’t we just drive in?” said Molly, not unreasonably. “I mean, you’re a Drood! Who’s going to say no to you?”
    “Yes, I am a Drood, but I don’t want just anyone knowing that,” I said. “Most people think my family are all dead, and I’m quite happy for them to go on thinking that, right up to the point where I find it necessary to shout, I’m here! and then punch them in the head.”
    “You can’t ask the Carnacki Institute for help without revealing who you are,” said Molly. “And the same with the Department of the Uncanny and the Regent of Shadows…”
    “One thing secret organisations are good at,” I said, “is keeping secrets. Especially from