had got around.
JC turned suddenly, to look at Melody in the back seat. “Did you bring your lap-top with you?”
“Of course,” she said. “It’s in my back-pack.”
“Get it up and running,” said JC. “Can you get a signal here?”
“This lap-top could get a signal anywhere,” said Melody. “It’s very well trained.” She soon had it open on her lap. “All right, I’m signed in. What am I looking for?”
“Catherine Latimer,” said JC. “Dear old Boss of Bosses. Her fingerprints were all over what just happened. See if there’s anything new about her in the Carnacki files. See what people are saying about her.”
“No problem,” said Melody, her fingers flying across the keyboard.
“What’s going on?” said Happy.
“Damned if I know,” said JC. “But I’m starting to get a really bad feeling . . .”
“Welcome to my world,” said Happy. “We have T-shirts and decoder rings and everything. And you don’t even want to know what the and everything involves.”
“Mouth is open, should be shut,” said JC.
“Yes, boss.”
It took a while, with Melody frowning more and more severely as she jumped from site to site, looking at things she definitely wasn’t cleared to know, but finally she let out a long breath and looked at JC.
“If the Carnacki Institute was a business,” said Melody, “I would say I was looking at a hostile takeover. Someone is trying to remove Catherine Latimer from her position as Head of the Institute, and replace her with someone else. Loyal to . . . someone else.”
“Is that necessarily a bad thing?” said Happy. “Would be nice to have a Boss who didn’t make me want to wet myself every time she looks at me.”
“She may be an ogre,” said JC, “but she’s our ogre. And better the ogre you know . . . Who’s plotting against her, Melody?”
“I can’t tell,” said Melody, scowling. “Whoever it is is hiding their tracks with great thoroughness, behind walls and walls of secrecy. There are lots of people involved in this, with a hell of a lot of the left hand not knowing what the right foot’s doing . . . but this is all very definitely being organised by someone already deep within the Carnacki Institute. And, fairly high up . . . Someone is quite definitely informing against Catherine Latimer, easing the path for whoever’s trying to oust her.”
And that was when Catherine Latimer’s grim face suddenly appeared on the lap-top screen, glaring out at them all. Melody made a loud squeak of surprise, then tried very hard to look as though she hadn’t.
“What the hell are you people doing, looking at things that are none of your business?” the Boss said loudly. “And what were you doing back at Chimera House? I didn’t authorise any return visit! Come and see me in my private office. And yes, that does include the ghost. Welcome back, Kim. It’s about time. Be in my office at 9:00 A.M. sharp! All of you! Or there will be trouble.”
Her face disappeared from the lap-top screen, and Melody quickly slammed the lid shut.
“Well,” said JC. “This should be interesting.”
“Have I got time to change my trousers?” said Happy.
THREE
INTERVIEW WITH A SCARY PERSON
Some days, it’s all hurry up and wait, JC decided. He and Happy and Melody sat together in the Boss’s outer office, on the uncomfortable visitors’ chairs provided. Deliberately designed that way, to keep visitors from feeling too important, or even welcome. It was twenty past nine in the morning, and the Boss still wasn’t ready to meet them. The three of them had of course arrived at 9:00 A.M. on the dot because it was more than their lives were worth to keep Catherine Latimer waiting one moment if she wanted to see them . . . But the Boss did like to keep people waiting, to remind them she was the Boss.
The Waiting Room was small, stuffy, and entirely windowless, tucked away in the back of Buckingham Palace. In a part of the building that
JC turned suddenly, to look at Melody in the back seat. “Did you bring your lap-top with you?”
“Of course,” she said. “It’s in my back-pack.”
“Get it up and running,” said JC. “Can you get a signal here?”
“This lap-top could get a signal anywhere,” said Melody. “It’s very well trained.” She soon had it open on her lap. “All right, I’m signed in. What am I looking for?”
“Catherine Latimer,” said JC. “Dear old Boss of Bosses. Her fingerprints were all over what just happened. See if there’s anything new about her in the Carnacki files. See what people are saying about her.”
“No problem,” said Melody, her fingers flying across the keyboard.
“What’s going on?” said Happy.
“Damned if I know,” said JC. “But I’m starting to get a really bad feeling . . .”
“Welcome to my world,” said Happy. “We have T-shirts and decoder rings and everything. And you don’t even want to know what the and everything involves.”
“Mouth is open, should be shut,” said JC.
“Yes, boss.”
It took a while, with Melody frowning more and more severely as she jumped from site to site, looking at things she definitely wasn’t cleared to know, but finally she let out a long breath and looked at JC.
“If the Carnacki Institute was a business,” said Melody, “I would say I was looking at a hostile takeover. Someone is trying to remove Catherine Latimer from her position as Head of the Institute, and replace her with someone else. Loyal to . . . someone else.”
“Is that necessarily a bad thing?” said Happy. “Would be nice to have a Boss who didn’t make me want to wet myself every time she looks at me.”
“She may be an ogre,” said JC, “but she’s our ogre. And better the ogre you know . . . Who’s plotting against her, Melody?”
“I can’t tell,” said Melody, scowling. “Whoever it is is hiding their tracks with great thoroughness, behind walls and walls of secrecy. There are lots of people involved in this, with a hell of a lot of the left hand not knowing what the right foot’s doing . . . but this is all very definitely being organised by someone already deep within the Carnacki Institute. And, fairly high up . . . Someone is quite definitely informing against Catherine Latimer, easing the path for whoever’s trying to oust her.”
And that was when Catherine Latimer’s grim face suddenly appeared on the lap-top screen, glaring out at them all. Melody made a loud squeak of surprise, then tried very hard to look as though she hadn’t.
“What the hell are you people doing, looking at things that are none of your business?” the Boss said loudly. “And what were you doing back at Chimera House? I didn’t authorise any return visit! Come and see me in my private office. And yes, that does include the ghost. Welcome back, Kim. It’s about time. Be in my office at 9:00 A.M. sharp! All of you! Or there will be trouble.”
Her face disappeared from the lap-top screen, and Melody quickly slammed the lid shut.
“Well,” said JC. “This should be interesting.”
“Have I got time to change my trousers?” said Happy.
THREE
INTERVIEW WITH A SCARY PERSON
Some days, it’s all hurry up and wait, JC decided. He and Happy and Melody sat together in the Boss’s outer office, on the uncomfortable visitors’ chairs provided. Deliberately designed that way, to keep visitors from feeling too important, or even welcome. It was twenty past nine in the morning, and the Boss still wasn’t ready to meet them. The three of them had of course arrived at 9:00 A.M. on the dot because it was more than their lives were worth to keep Catherine Latimer waiting one moment if she wanted to see them . . . But the Boss did like to keep people waiting, to remind them she was the Boss.
The Waiting Room was small, stuffy, and entirely windowless, tucked away in the back of Buckingham Palace. In a part of the building that
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