hard, necessary choices. You do the things your enemy can’t or won’t do. It’s the only way you can stay ahead of them, and maintain the upper hand. And then, afterwards, you live with it. We’ve all made all kinds of sacrifices for the family. And the very secret agents . . . are a necessary evil. Your uncle James used to run them. After he died, I inherited them. They trusted me, inasmuch as they trust anyone. I only know what they want me to know. They pretty much run themselves, following basic policy set down . . . long ago. So the rest of us don’t have to know what they do in our name.”
“Not even the Matriarch?”
“Especially not the Matriarch. She can’t know what they do. She can’t ever know. So that if necessary, she can plausibly deny it. These agents are . . . a family within the family. I don’t even know how many of them there are. I’m just the contact point. They only put up with me because I supply them with what they need.”
“The point is,” I said, “would they know about the Regent’s execution of Molly’s parents? Would they have been the ones who gave the Regent his orders?”
The Armourer considered this for a long moment, and then shrugged tiredly.
“You know as well as I do, Eddie . . . this family has secrets like a dog has fleas. Nothing personal, Scraps. Scraps? Where has that dog got to? I’ll see what I can do, Eddie. Ask a few questions . . .”
“You don’t know anything yourself?”
The Armourer glared at me. “Don’t you think I would have made it my business to know who made my father a murderer? I never knew anything about it—until you came back from Trammell Island and told me.”
“You could ask them!”
“It’s not as simple as that! There are departments within departments, and people who don’t even talk to themselves about what they know. All I can do is see if some of them will talk to me.”
“If what they do is so shameful,” I said, “we shouldn’t be doing it. The last great secret I uncovered, about how the Heart made our old armour, almost destroyed the family.”
“Exactly,” said the Armourer. “I’m not sure we could survive another upset like that. Some things have to stay secret. Because some things that may be necessary can never be forgiven.”
I waited, but he had nothing more to say. In the end, I just nodded and got ready to go.
“Take the Bentley,” he said suddenly. “You always loved that old car. She’s yours.”
“What?” I said. “You mean your Bentley? That classic old car?”
“I never get the chance to take her out these days,” said the Armourer. “And she should be out in the world. She wasn’t made to sit around in a garage. She needs to be enjoyed, appreciated . . . But mind you, take good care of her! And then she’ll take good care of you.”
“Well,” I said, “she’s got to be easier on the nerves than the Scarlet Lady. You know, the car the Regent gave me?”
“Oh yes,” said the Armourer, “I know all about the Scarlet Lady. Including a few things she doesn’t know I know. You wouldn’t get me behind her wheel on a bet.”
“Where did the Regent get her, anyway?”
“Not sure anyone really knows. Way I heard it, she just turned up at Uncanny one day, they took her in and gave her a saucer of milk, and then found they couldn’t get rid of her.”
“They adopted her?”
“More like she adopted them.” The Armourer sat up straight suddenly, and glared at the piece of tech on his work-bench. “Yes! I remember now! Just a few touches, a bit of fine-tuning, and you’ll be ready to rock! Off you go, boy; I’ve got work to be getting on with . . .”
I nodded good-bye and made to leave. Without looking up from what he was doing with the piece of tech, the Armourer raised his voice.
“Remember, Eddie. Anything for the family. Because the family goes on, when we can’t.”
* * *
I was heading for the exit when Maxwell and Victoria emerged from a side aisle to intercept me. They both still seemed impossibly young, but something in the way they looked and the way they held themselves now put years on them. We moved quietly to one side, out of the Armourer’s line of sight, so we could talk together. Max was tall