that Higher Vampires can keep under control came bursting out. I don't know who he took me for. Maybe some special human being with reactions that could rival a vampire's, or a mythical half-blood – the child of a human woman and a male vampire – or for a rather less mythical warlock, a hunter of lower Others. But the vampire was clearly on the point of cutting loose and smashing everything around him. His features began melting like soft putty, changing into a bestial face with a heavy forehead, fangs sliding out of his upper jaw and razor-sharp claws springing from his fingers.

A crazed vampire is a terrible thing.

The only thing worse is a vampire poised and in control.

My reflexes saved me from a duel with a dubious outcome. I held back and didn't strike, and shouted out the traditional formula of arrest:

'Night Watch! Leave the Twilight!'

And immediately I heard a voice from the doorway.

'Stop, he's one of us!'

I was amazed how quickly the vampire normalised. The claws and the fangs were withdrawn, the face quivered, like jellied meat, assuming that reserved, noble expression of a prosperous European. And I remembered this European very well – from the glorious city of Prague, where they brew the best beer in the world and still have the finest Gothic architecture.

'Witiezslav?' I exclaimed. 'What do you think you're doing?'

And, of course, the person standing at the door was Edgar. The Dark Magician who had worked for a short while in the Moscow Day Watch before leaving to join the Inquisition.

'Anton, I beg your pardon!' The imperturbable Estonian was really embarrassed. 'A slight error. In pursuit of our common goal . . .'

Witiezslav was politeness itself.

'Our apologies, watchman. We did not recognise you.'

His gaze slid over me tenaciously and a note of admiration appeared in his voice.

'What a disguise . . . Congratulations, watchman. If that is your work, I bow to you.'

I didn't explain who had constructed my defences. It's not often that a Light Magician (or a Dark Magician, for that matter) gets a chance to give Inquisitors a good bawling-out.

'What have you done to this man?' I barked. 'He is under my protection!'

'It was necessary for our work, as my colleague has already said,' Witiezslav replied with a shrug. 'We're interested in the information from the video cameras.'

Edgar casually moved aside the chair with the frozen security boss in it and came closer. He smiled:

'Gorodetsky, everything's all right. We're all doing the same job, aren't we?'

'Do you have permission for . . . using methods like this?' I asked.

'We have permission for very many things,' Witiezslav replied frostily. 'You have no idea how many.'

That was it, he'd recovered his equilibrium. And he was set on confrontation. But of course – he'd very nearly given way to his instincts, lost his self-control, and for a Higher Vampire that's an unpardonable disgrace. A note of genuine, cold fury appeared in Witiezslav's voice:

'Would you like to test that, watchman?'

Of course, an Inquisitor can't allow anyone to yell at him. Only now there was no way I could back down either.

Edgar saved the situation. He raised his hands and exclaimed in emotional tones.

'It's my fault! I ought to have recognised Mr Gorodetsky. Witiezslav, it's all the result of my poor work. I'm sorry.'

I held out my hand to the vampire first.

'Fair enough, we are all doing the same job. I hadn't expected to see you here.'

I'd hit the bull's eye there. Witiezslav looked away for a moment. And he smiled very amiably as he shook my hand. The vampire's palm was warm . . . and I realised what that meant.

'Our colleague Witiezslav has come straight from the plane,' said Edgar.

'And he hasn't gone through temporary registration yet?' I asked.

No matter how powerful Witiezslav might be, no matter what position he might hold in the Inquisition, he was still a vampire. And he was obliged to go through the humiliating procedure of registration.

I didn't press the point too hard. Just tried to be helpful.

'We can complete all the formalities here,' I suggested. 'I have the right to do that.'

'Thank you,' the vampire said with a nod. 'But I'll call into your office. Proper procedure above all things.'

A shaky truce had been patched together.

'I've already looked through the recordings,' I said. 'Letters were posted three days ago by four men and one woman. And some construction worker posted a whole pile of letters. There are builders from Uzbekistan working here.'

'A good sign for your country,'