Pleased with this idea, she smiled winsomely at him. ‘In that case, I will have to act as a Runner on my own account, and without official backing.’
‘You—’
‘You may help me with that, if you please. I want to find Ademar Wirt’s grave, and, with my uncle’s help, question him.’
‘Dare I ask to what end?’
‘I am persuaded there must be more of those Books somewhere in the world, and when they show up, we would like to be better prepared, would not we? We cannot go about burning down half of England in an attempt to keep up with them.’
‘And you think Ademar Wirt will tell you all about them? Together with a neat list of instructions as to how to disable them?’
‘People will do all kinds of uncharacteristic things, if suitable pressure is applied.’
Mr. Ballantine stared at her in a kind of
