Necropolis

lot of clocks showing the time all over the world. But the glass door that slid open automatically and then hissed shut, sealing itself as the ten men and women came in, suggested that there might be more to the place than met the eye. A sophisticated camera blinked quietly in the corridor. The Nexus arrived one at a time, each one entering a different six-digit code before they were allowed in.
    Matt wasn't looking forward to seeing them again. He knew that they were supposed to be on his side, but even so, he felt a certain dread entering the room. It was like facing ten head teachers at the same time, knowing he was about to be expelled. There were only two people there who he felt he knew. He had met Susan Ashwood, the medium, at her home near Manchester, and although he had thought she was completely mad, at least he was fairly sure that her heart was in the right place. And he had gotten to know Nathalie Johnson in the past few months. She was the American computer billionaire who had helped Scott and Jamie, and she had traveled down to Nazca a couple of times to make sure they were all right.
    But that still left eight strangers. There was an Australian, broad and bullish with a round face and close-cropped hair. His name was Harry Foster and he owned a newspaper empire. Next to him, there was a bishop who dressed like a bishop and talked like a bishop but who hadn't actually told Matt his name. He was about sixty years old. Tarrant, the senior policeman who had helped put taps on Scarlett's phone, was at the head of the table, dressed in a smart blue-and-silver uniform.
    Among the others, Matt had noted a Frenchman in an expensive suit, a small Chinese man who was continually rubbing his hands, a German who was something big in politics, and two others who had made no impression on him at all. They might all be world leaders. But tonight they just looked tired and scared.
    Richard, Jamie, and Matt had taken their places at the table, bunched together at one end. The three of them were in a gloomy mood. Every word that they spoke, every second that passed, only carried Scarlett Adams farther away from them.
    "We made a mistake." Nathalie Johnson came straight to the point. "We knew who she was. We knew where she lived. We should have approached her ourselves."
    "It was my fault," Susan Ashwood said. "I didn't want to frighten her. I thought it would be easier for her if she heard it all from you." She turned to Matt. "I hoped you'd be here sooner. I didn't realize we'd have to wait for the new passports."
    "I thought you had people watching her," Matt cut in. "Weren't there two private detectives or something?"
    "They were ex-policemen," Tarrant said. "Duncan and McKnight. Good men, both of them. I've worked with them before." He paused. "Scarlett may have caught sight of them. They were parked in a car outside a park in Dulwich and they had to be more careful after that. They kept their distance. But they were still on top of the case. Until last night…"
    "What happened?" Richard asked.

    "They've both disappeared. Vanished without a trace. I've tried to contact them, but I haven't had any luck. I have a feeling they may have been killed."
    There was a brief silence while the rest of the room took this in. It was obvious to all of them that they had underestimated the Old Ones. From the moment Scarlett had been identified, they had been running rings around the Nexus.
    "So why has she gone to Hong Kong?" Matt asked.
    "Her father is there," Tarrant replied. "He's a lawyer. He works for the Nightrise Corporation."
    "Nightrise?" Jamie spoke for the first time. Jet lag had hit him badly, and he was exhausted. He'd only managed to .keep himself awake with a black coffee and a can of Red Bull. "They're the people who came after Scott and me. Are you saying her dad is one of them?"
    "Nightrise is a legitimate business," Nathalie Johnson reminded him. "They have offices all over the world. They employ thousands of people. The vast majority of them probably have no idea who — or what — they're working for."
    "Still —"
    "We don't know, Jamie. His name is Paul Adams. He's divorced. He and his wife adopted Scarlett fifteen years ago, and as far as we can tell, he doesn't know anything about the Old Ones."
    "So what do we do now?" Richard asked. "Scott and Pedro are still in Peru. Matt and Jamie are here.
    And Scarlett will soon be in Hong Kong. The one thing we know is that we have to get the five Gatekeepers