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<h2>25</h2>
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<p>Jack called in on Angus McNicol on the way back from the
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hospital, and got a shock when he saw the superintendent lying in
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his bed, drawn and grey and showing three days growth of white
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stubble. He told him everything that had developed so far, leaving
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out only Lorna Breck and the boy's description of the thing that
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had come into Rolling Stock when they were stealing bikes.</p>
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<p>"So what next?" Angus asked hoarsely. He had lost a lot of
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weight. His wife brought in a hot drink and offered Jack a whisky,
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but he shook his head. He hadn't drunk whisky in a couple of
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years.</p>
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<p>"Bloody ticker," Angus had explained. "I thought it was the
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'flu. Buggered up the arteries. The doc tells me I need a bypass,
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and I'll probably get an early pension."</p>
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<p>"Surely not," Jack said, dismayed.</p>
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<p>"Nothing for it, so they tell me. Still, I'm told it's just a
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bit of plumbing. They do them every day of the week." Angus gave
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him a half-smile. "Oh, don't worry. They haven't written me off
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yet, but it'll be a while before I'm back on the size elevens.
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Should give me a chance to get the rose border in shape."</p>
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<p>Jack didn't know what to say to that.</p>
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<p>"Oh, come on Jack, it's not the end of the world," Angus said.
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"The only problem you've got is that arse Cowie. There's no way
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he's going any further, so you don't have to concern yourself that
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he'll get my job. But he'll put the knife in your back as soon as
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look at you."</p>
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<p>"That's what I wanted to ask about. I need more men on
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this."</p>
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<p>"I'll bet you do. I've been watching the news."</p>
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<p>"It's getting out of hand. But when I put in a request, Cowie
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turned it down."</p>
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<p>"You get that in writing?"</p>
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<p>"Sure."</p>
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<p>"Good man. You cover your back. If there's reasonable cause, a
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concern for the community or a threat to it, you can repeat your
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request to headquarters. And I'll make a couple of calls to let
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them know what's going on. You'll get your men."</p>
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<p>Jack thanked him and left Angus propped up in bed with his book
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and a hot drink. He told him to get better.</p>
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<p>"Better? Believe me I'll be running rings around you in a couple
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of months. You just get in there and get the job done and keep the
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place looking ship-shape until I get back. And remember, watch out
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for Gridlock."</p>
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<p>"For what?"</p>
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<p>"Gridlock. That's what they used to call your friend Cowie when
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he was in traffic. I got that from yon daft bugger John McColl. Now
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there's a man you can trust."</p>
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<p>Angus was as good as his word. In the early afternoon, Jack
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faxed his request to the central office and within half an hour he
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got confirmation that there would be another twenty officers at his
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disposal immediately. He got John McColl to work out rosters so
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that the incomers were paired with local men who knew the area.
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Despite the re-inforcements, he didn't know how many men it would
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take to stop what was happening in Levenford.</p>
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<p>If what Lorna Breck said was true, and if young Jed Galt, hands
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burned right into the bone, was not raving about what had happened
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in Rolling Stock, then what he was hunting was something he did not
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comprehend.</p>
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<p>A monster? A spirit? How did you stop one of them?</p>
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<p>Jed Galt had said he'd stopped it with a drill. Jack had ordered
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an immediate search of the grounds around the hardware store, and
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within an hour of his arrival back at the station, they turned up a
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Black and Decker power drill lying under the scaffolding nearby. It
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was blistered and scored as if it had been sprayed with
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concentrated acid and the twist bit at the front was contorted and
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bent. Jack hefted it in his hands and called Andy Toye.</p>
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<p>"You read my mind," the professor said brightly. "I was just
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about to call. I've been speaking to a few folk."</p>
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<p>"I've spoken to dozens," Jack told him. He gave him a quick
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run-down on what had happened so far, including his talk with Lorna
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Breck in the late hours of the night.</p>
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<p>"Oh, there's no question about her," Andy said. "I'd like to get
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her in here some time and do some real tests. She does seem to have
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some sort of gift, but it appears to be random."</p>
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<p>"It also appears to be plugged in to what's happening down
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here," Jack interrupted. "She saw it last night and she called me.
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She was in a right state. I haven't got any estimates on the time,
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so I don't know whether it was before or during or after the
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event."</p>
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<p>"I'd use her if I were you," Andy advised. "But on the other
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matters, I showed the photographs of the writing on the walls to a
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friend of mine in Leicester. He agrees that they are probably
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anagrams."</p>
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<p>"Certainly anagrams," Jack said. "We've found one of the other
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people. He jumped in front of a train. And his name starts with the
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letter you predicted, so now we're searching for this O'Day."</p>
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<p>"But not just an anagram of the names," Andy said. "That's why
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Crowley's <em>Goetia</em> puzzled me. It gives a list of what are
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allegedly the major netherworld princes, what you might call
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Satan's right hand men, and it purports to show how they can be
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called up, although the details are very skimpy. Basically it's a
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potted biography of each, how they appear, and how to address them
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when they do."</p>
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<p>"And?" Jack asked.</p>
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<p>"It's the rest of the paraphernalia. The tarot cards, the
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ouja-table and crystal. Carlsson at Leicester is more of an expert
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on the history of the occult. He's a palaeo-etymologist."</p>
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<p>"That's going to need some explanation."</p>
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<p>"Studies ancient languages, most of them extinct. Came up with
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an interesting idea from the Magyar cultures of eastern Europe.
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Apparently they thought they could raise demons to tell the future,
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or do favours. It was a fairly complicated ceremony involving
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several stages and the final use of a crystal globe. The demon
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would appear within the crystal, trapped within it for safety
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reasons and it would make the stone move to spell out the fortunes
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of those at the sitting. But it had to be called by name, because
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according to the lore, and also going by Crowley's book, each of
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the demons has a specific talent. Some of them are better for
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curses or bringing good luck, that sort of thing. In the first book
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of the Lemegeton, taken from the Hebrew, and supposed to be where
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Solomon got all his wisdom, there were four great princes of the
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underworld, and about seventy earls. Beneath them there were
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supposed to be legions of other assorted demons and the like. Once
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invoked by name, they had to stay and do the bidding of the
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summoner until another rite sent them back.</p>
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<p>"To hell?"</p>
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<p>"Yes," Andrew said brightly. "To the netherworld. Hades.
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Whatever you like."</p>
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<p>"You think that's what they were trying to do?"</p>
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<p>"I believe so. Something like that. Each of the people would
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have to bring the talismans from the previous telling. That's
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where, I imagine, the tarot cards come in. That's in the Magyar
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custom, related to some of the Sanskrit rites from the far east.
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But I think, and Carlsson agrees with me, that this particular
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invocation might have gone wrong."</p>
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<p>"How do you mean?"</p>
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<p>"As part of the summoning, I told you that the particular entity
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had to be called by name. It is possible that first of all the
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special bindings had not been put in place, the ceremony needed to
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ensure the spirit or demon would be kept within certain parameters,
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to keep it from actually appearing in the real world."</p>
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<p>"Like in a pentangle or something? From the movies."</p>
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<p>"Quite, though that's an old wives tale."</p>
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<p>"It <em>all</em> sounds like old wives tales."</p>
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<p>"Well, you did ask," Andrew said, not taking offence. "The clue
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was in the anagrams. Almost certainly the words were made up of the
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initials of each surname. Carlsson feels that possibly, they were
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open at the time. By that, I mean that they had opened themselves
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up and invited the spirit, not into the room, but into
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<em>them</em>. If you recall the Goetia. There was a mark on the
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margin on one page."</p>
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<p>Jack hadn't noticed, but he said nothing.</p>
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<p>"I wondered about that." Andy started to quote, as if he was
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reading. Jack assumed he was.</p>
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<p>"The twenty ninth spirit is Astaroth. He is a mighty, strong
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Duke and appeareth in the form of an avenging angel, riding on a
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beast like a dragon. Thou must in no wise let him approach too
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near, lest he do thee damage by his noisome breath. Wherefore, the
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magician must hold the ring in his face, of pure iron or fine gold,
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or talisman blessed by consecrated hands and that will defend him.
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He can make men wonderfully knowing in all things."</p>
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<p>Andy paused and drew breath. "Seems like a delightful
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character."</p>
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<p>"And that's what they were trying to raise?"</p>
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<p>"Possibly, but I think it went wrong. It is possible they got
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part of the rite, but did not complete it. I don't believe it was
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Astaroth."</p>
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<p>"So what then?"</p>
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<p>"That's where Carlsson was a help. He has an old text, an
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addendum to the <em>Lemegeton</em>, which purports to list the
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houses of the seventy two princes. He checked on Astoroth, and
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discovered his lieutenant, right hand devil of you will, was called
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Eseroth. Not a nice fellow. Let me read this to you."</p>
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<p>"For none may escape the hunger of Eseroth, the other one, the
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ravener of the night. Guard your children well in the dark shadows,
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and lock them away after sunset. For high nor low places will not
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hide them from the beast. He cometh in the shadow."</p>
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<p>Andy finished. There was a silence on the line which dragged on
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for several moments before Jack asked. "That's it?"</p>
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<p>"That's it. Etheros, a spirit of the air; Heteros, the other;
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and Eseroth."</p>
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<p>"Sounds like a devil with dyslexia."</p>
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<p>"But all the same letters, and the only one which fits the
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Lemegeton appendix. It fits with the mark on the book we found, or
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at least there's a close association. A ravener in the dark. Likes
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high places. Is known, among everything else as <em>The Other</em>.
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And so far it has killed children."</p>
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<p>"And you think this can be done?"</p>
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<p>"Believe me, there are more things possible than you'd
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imagine."</p>
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<p>"But what about this Magyar thing. Does it say how to get rid of
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it, supposing it actually exists?"</p>
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<p>"Oh, it can be dismissed and returned, according to the
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addendum. Apparently that's not too difficult. But there would be
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one problem in this case."</p>
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<p>"And that is?"</p>
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<p>"There's nothing to show that there were any bonds," Andrew
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said.</p>
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<p>Jack thought about that for a moment. It was all too much to
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take in. He asked a final question.</p>
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<p>"This Magyar thing. Is that some kind of religion?"</p>
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<p>Andrew laughed. "Oh ye of little erudition, or even a
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certificate in geography. Did you never collect stamps as a
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youngster?</p>
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<p>Jack admitted that he had not.</p>
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<p>"You would have known then. The Magyars are quite an ancient
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people. Originally they were part of the indo-European migrations
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who settled in Eastern Europe. The word Magyar is what they call
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their country and themselves. We call it Hungary."</p>
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<p>When Andy hung up, Jack sat at his desk in complete silence.
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Devils and demons, things called up from the underworld. Despite
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how he was beginning to feel about what Lorna Breck had said, and
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from the description, garbled and hysterical, given by the boy in
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Keltyburn Hospital, he still wasn't ready to believe in ghosts and
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sprites and things that materialised in the night. Some form of ESP
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he could comprehend, but all of his work, every murder that he'd
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ever worked on, had been caused by people. Bad people, warped folk,
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but human beings. He'd wondered about child sacrifices, but only in
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the context of deranged, demented and sick people, not from the
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standpoint that there actually <em>was</em> a devil.</p>
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<p>But then Andrew had said one little magic word that somehow
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changed his viewpoint.</p>
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<p><em>Hungary</em>.</p>
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<p>The professor hadn't known anything about the old woman, except
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that she was dead. Andrew had made no reference to her nationality,
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and certainly Jack hadn't thought it relevant to tell him. But now
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he'd described some sort of ancient fortune-telling, devil-raising
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rite that had come from that strange and obscure country. Contrary
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to what his friend had said, Jack did have a certificate in
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geography, and though all the boundaries had changed beyond
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recognition since the iron curtain had rusted, he still knew where
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was where. He closed his eyes and pictured the globe. Hungary. East
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of Germany. North of Yugoslavia. Transylvania had once been part of
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the Hungarian empire. Tales of Vlad the Impaler, true stories from
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the dark ages that had spawned the legends of Dracula and the
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vampires. People had believed them, said they had been true. Could
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they not also be true of the old travellers who had come through
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the Khyber pass from India with their strange gods and cults and
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settled in the plains of Hungary?</p>
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<p>Could they have raised devils? Could an old Hungarian woman have
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called up something from a dark place and let it out to steal
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children in the middle of the night.</p>
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<p>Jack thought of Andrew quoting from an old text. <em>The other
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one, the ravener of the night. Guard your children well in the dark
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shadows, and lock them away after sunset. For high nor low places
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will not hide them from the beast. He cometh in the
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shadow.</em></p>
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<p>It was stilted and pedantic. But, Jack thought with a sudden
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realisation, it fit his bill. He was hunting a killer who came in
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the night and took children. A night hunter who climbed the high
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places. Was it all possible? And how did you get rid of a killer
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some old woman had brought up from wherever it was that devils
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lived?</p>
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<p>Even more to the point, who the hell would believe him?</p>
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<p>He put his elbows on the desk and laid his chin on his palms,
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trying to get his thoughts in order.In the later morning
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Superintendent Ronald Cowie arrived in the station, saw the fax
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from headquarters confirming the extra officers to help with the
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investigation, and almost burst a blood vessel. Jack listened to
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him rant for half an hour, without taking in a word of it. He had
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other things on his mind.</p>
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<p>He was still thinking about it when Bobby Thomson called up and
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told him there was a problem at St Rowan's Church. A man had locked
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himself up in the belltower and was refusing to come down.</p>
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<p>"Just send a squad car, Bobby," Jack said, irritated, wondering
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why the duty sergeant was bothering him with a nuisance. "I'm up to
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my eyes."</p>
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<p>"We did. They've had no luck. The man says he won't speak to
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anybody but yourself."</p>
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<p>"Dammit, Bob. The world's full of eccentrics. He can stay up
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there until new year for all I care."</p>
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<p>"Well, he won't come down and he insists he's claiming
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sanctuary. I don't know what our rights are, but he's demanding to
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talk to you. Says his name is O'Day."</p>
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<p>Jack's mouth was open to stop Bobby in his tracks with a curt
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dismissal and it promptly shut with a snap.</p>
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<p>"I think it's the bloke you've been looking for," the sergeant
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added. By this time he was talking to a dead telephone. Jack had
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slammed the receiver down, turned, grabbed his coat and gone flying
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out of his office.</p>
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