“Yes, it could,” Henry agreed. “Although I get the impression that there’s method behind his madness, if that’s what it is. I just don’t know what the method is yet.”
“Even if he was a psychopathic killer—I don’t feel there’s any way he can hurt us here,” I said. “He’s just rather a nuisance.”
“So far, maybe,” said Arthur. “But you shouldn’t underestimate Anabel. She’s still dangerous.”
“She’s been sectioned,” I said. “She’s in a psychiatric hospital in Surrey, and they’ll be keeping her there.”
“You’ve no idea what she’s capable of, Liv,” said Arthur.
“I don’t?” I shot him a furious glance. “She was going to cut my throat with a hunting knife, so I have a very good idea what she’s capable of. However, while she’s in that hospital, I suppose we don’t have to be afraid of her. Or of that weirdo outside the door. Right, Henry?”
But Henry’s mind seemed to be on something else. “Rodents,” he murmured. “Tornado … rondo … stranded on root … could that be a code?”
I sighed. “If so, we’ll work it out. But what I was really going to say is—”
“Senator Tod may not know a lot about these things yet, but you yourselves know how quickly we’ve learned to deal with the situation,” Arthur said, interrupting me. “I think I’m pretty good at it myself, and Henry could even be…” He hesitated, but it seemed like he couldn’t bring himself to say that his ex–best buddy Henry could even be better at it than he was. “But the real point is: none of us are a match for Anabel.”
“Dona dents rotor,” Henry murmured. “Was that it? Or did he say Mona?”
“But—” I was going to point out, for the fourth time, that Anabel couldn’t do anything to hurt us, but Arthur wouldn’t let me finish my sentence.
“Don’t you get it, Liv?” He slid off his table. “It’s not about what happens in the real world. It’s here”—and he pointed to his door, which was jammed between two bookshelves on the second floor, looking as if it belonged permanently in this Reading Room—“it’s here that danger threatens. We know far too little about it. I guess we don’t know even a fraction of the possibilities. Whereas Anabel has crossed boundaries that you two don’t have the faintest inkling about. Believe me, this thing isn’t over yet.”
That, or something like it, was what Anabel herself had said at our last meeting several months ago. It’s only just begun—those had been her words.
Henry seemed to have given up on puzzling out Senator Tod’s peculiar remarks. “So what?” he said, looking at Arthur. “Even if Anabel is planning something, our doors are secure. We just have to go carefully outside them.” He moved away from the table where he had been standing. “And by we I mean, in this case, Liv and me. To be honest, I’m not so interested in what happens to you.” His gaze became if anything a little more piercing. “I don’t trust you, Arthur.”
“You don’t trust anyone, Henry,” replied Arthur heatedly. “That’s why you can’t give all this up.” He made a sweeping gesture at the room around us. “You’re addicted to slipping into the dreams of anyone you don’t trust an inch. I know you’re good at it. And I know you think you’re ruthless. But compared to Anabel, you’re an innocent choirboy.”
It was Henry’s turn to shrug his shoulders. “Compared to you too,” he said coolly. “Come on, Liv, let’s go. This is likely to be a short night.…”
He put his hand out to me, but when I was about to take it, it suddenly wasn’t there anymore. It had disappeared, along with the rest of Henry.
I groaned. “Oh no, not again!”
Arthur looked at me. “Does that happen often?”
“All the time. His brother and sister wake him almost every night. They have some kind of stomach bug going around.”
“And yet again his mother’s in no fit state to do anything for them. Poor old Henry—my own family are a bit weird, but I really wouldn’t swap with Henry.” Arthur stretched his legs and gave me a broad grin. “Though mind you, he does have a cute girlfriend,” he added casually.
“And this is the moment when, I’m very sorry to say, I really have to be going,” I said, looking around for the door into the corridor. Yes, it was still hanging in the same place between the two bookshelves. I went up the steps to the gallery, with Arthur following at a suitable distance, very much the courteous host. If I’d had a coat with me, I’m sure he’d have helped me into it. I’ll admit that I wouldn’t have minded chatting to Arthur a little longer, particularly now that things were getting interesting. But for one thing, he suddenly had a rather arrogant glint in his eyes, and for another, it didn’t seem fair to Henry to ask his former best friend questions about him.