Curtain Call at the Lantern

Halloran poured two whiskies without asking. "Off the record, since the record is where I keep my lies."

He told you the Foundation's press office had sent an embargoed note to every newsroom in the city that afternoon: Sir Edwin would make "an announcement of great personal significance" at 9.30. The rumours ran from a knighthood upgrade to retirement to a wedding. Sir Hugo Blackwood, he said, had read the note twice at the bar and turned the colour of old paper.

"And Dr Crane rang me at six," he added, almost as an afterthought. "Very courteous. Wanted to know whether the Sentinel would be kind to Edwin tomorrow. I said I'm kind to everyone. When it sells."

Jonah noted it. Halloran walked you to the lift.

"If I can ever do you a favour, Ada, I'd like to think we're the sort of people who remember that."