Rook

implants.”
    “Oh, well, that’s good,” said Myfanwy.
    “Yes, except that it means subjecting every member of the organization to unpleasant, time-consuming, and highly intrusive physicalexaminations. This has to be done in-house, and our medical staff is going to be heavily overworked for the next several months. You see, until we have examined all the doctors, we will have to place random groups of three observers in the examination rooms to ensure that the examiners aren’t doing any tampering. And every doctor in the organization, plus a randomly selected civilian medical practitioner, has to concur on the verdict of every test. As a result, we are going to be sending results to thirty-five doctors located around the world. We think it’s highly unlikely that every doctor in the Checquy is a Grafter mole. And if all of them are, well, then we have the civilian doctor.”
    “Hell,” said Myfanwy dubiously, “it sounds like a huge amount of work.”
    Clovis nodded curtly. “We’re trying to be as thorough as possible. Of course there’s no guarantee that every Grafter agent is going to have Grafter implants, but all of the traitors at the reception did have them, so that’s where we’re starting. And before we check all the doctors, we’ll be screening the members of the Court. Starting tomorrow. So please prepare yourself.”
    “Great,” said Myfanwy with a profound lack of enthusiasm. “Nothing says Saturday like unpleasant, time-consuming, and highly intrusive physical examinations. Schedule mine in the afternoon, because I want to catch up on some sleep.”
    “Very well. There will, of course, still be guards on the doors to your office until then.”
    “I feel safer already,” said Myfanwy wryly. “Coffee?”
    “Thanks, but I have to get back to work. Everyone has been on edge for the past week, and I have to supervise the examinations of your doctors. Now, do you mind telling me why you have all these guns lying around? Are you afraid the paperwork will rise up against you?”
    “Oh, no. I’m going to use the guns as paperweights.”
    A fter Clovis left her alone in a roomful of weapons, it was time to take the plunge. Carefully, she set the huge pile of folders down on herdesk and belted an Ingrid-supplied holster around her waist. She dubiously picked up her selected gun and, after hastily reviewing a firearms instruction booklet (also Ingrid-supplied), crept over to the corner of her office that Ingrid had pointed out to her earlier that week.
    A quick scan of the directory of secret passages in the purple binder had confirmed that there
was
a passage, and a little cautious poking around had revealed how the corner of the carpet peeled back. But Myfanwy had been so busy researching treacherous Retainers she hadn’t had a chance to explore Thomas’s escape route. Now she peered dubiously at the intricate-looking hatch in the floor. She noticed, with a little thrill of dismay, that there were drops of blood on the keypad.
    She typed in
230500,
and the door swung up, revealing a very narrow spiraling staircase, like the sort one would find in a church tower. Myfanwy looked carefully, hoping for some sort of light switch. Nothing. Well, it figured. That was why she had gotten the flashlight. Still, the prospect of climbing down into a deep dark hole was not particularly enticing. Myfanwy couldn’t help but remember that the last time anyone saw Thomas, she had been vanishing down this same deep dark hole.
    Between the moment Thomas pulled the hatch closed behind her and the moment Myfanwy opened her eyes in the park, Thomas had left the building, fled halfway across London, and been attacked by highly trained operatives. Myfanwy thought of the bruises she’d found when she inspected her body in the hotel room that first day. Thomas had been savagely beaten. Had it happened in this passage, down in the darkness?
    I have to go down there,
she thought.
I have to see. If there’s anything left, any clues, they may give me an answer as to who attacked Thomas.
    Plus, this might enable me to go out and play with Bronwyn tonight.
    Once again she checked the pistol holstered at her hip and the flashlight dangling by a strap from her wrist. Myfanwy steeled herself, then clambered down into the narrow stairwell. It was clear that the shaft had been added to the building well after its construction, and there was barely enough room for her to stand straight. Anyoneless slight would have had