Jekyll & Hyde Inc.

Miss Montague smiled modestly. “It did do the job nicely, didn’t it? Took the top right off that hotel. I saw it on the news. Apparently all kinds of terrorist organizations have come forward to claim responsibility, which is always helpful in our line of work. And it served the hotel right; you wouldn’t believe what they charged me for using the minibar, the last time I stayed there. And the porn channel was a great disappointment. But that bomb was merely a standard whizzbang. I have something much more emphatic for you, this time.” And then she broke off from her knitting, to look sharply at Tina. “Please put that down, dear. We don’t want a nasty incident, do we?”

“But what is it?” said Tina.

“A black hole in a jam jar.”

Tina put the jar back on the shelf, very carefully. “Really?”

“It’s a very special kind of jam jar,” said Miss Montague. She sighed quietly, put aside her knitting, and got to her feet. “I can see I’m going to have to sort out what you need personally, if we’re to avoid sudden bangs and unpleasant stains on the carpet. Not that there are any carpets, despite all the forms I’ve filled in. Come along with me, dears—and from now on don’t touch anything if you like having fingers.”

When she came out from behind her desk, to stand blinking mildly in the gloomy passageway, Miss Montague turned out to be barely five feet tall. But her back was straight and her gaze was still sharp as she bustled between the towering shelves, making sudden turns without warning or hesitation. This was her territory, and she knew every inch of it. While Daniel wasn’t even sure which way he’d come in. Miss Montague did pause briefly to coo affectionately at a cat dozing on a low shelf. Tina put out a hand to pet it, and her hand went straight through.

“Ghost cat,” said Miss Montague. “See where curiosity gets you?”

But Tina had already stopped listening to her, having become far more interested in something else. She strode over to a large wooden case, half hidden in the shadows, and studied it curiously.

“What is this?”

Daniel moved over to join her. The long, rectangular box was blunt and basic, with no detailing, apart from a really big padlock to hold the heavy lid securely in place.

“It looks like a coffin,” he said slowly. “Only twice the normal size. It has to be at least ten feet long, maybe more. Miss Montague, why do you have a giant coffin in your armory?”

“It’s not a coffin, as such,” said Miss Montague. “It’s a container. Built to provide long-term storage, for a very important specimen.”

“You mean there’s someone alive in there?” said Tina, studying the long box with even more interest.

“Not someone,” said Miss Montague. “Something. Now please come along, dears. That really isn’t anything you want to mess with.”

“Oh, I really think I do,” said Tina. “Edward never mentioned anything to me before about a coffin in the armory, and if it’s that secret I want to know all about it.”

She stood before the coffin with her arms folded firmly, in a way that suggested she was perfectly prepared to stand there until hell froze over and congealed, if that was what it took to get an answer. Miss Montague pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed heavily, recognising someone just as stubborn as herself.

“Well if you must know . . . ”

“Oh, I must,” said Tina. “I really must. Or I won’t sleep at night.”

“It all goes back to when Dr. Jekyll was creating his Elixir,” said Miss Montague. “You don’t just test a new drug on yourself and see what happens. You try it out first on a test animal.”

“And the original test animal is what’s inside this coffin?” said Daniel.

“Yes, dear. But it’s really not a coffin. As such.”

“But why is there a really big padlock on this coffin, Miss Montague?” Tina said sweetly. She leaned over to study it, and then straightened up abruptly to stare suspiciously at Miss Montague. “Is the lock there to keep something from getting out? Is the test animal still alive?”

“An interesting question,” said Miss Montague, “given that the box has been securely sealed for longer than I care to think. I suppose it’s like Schrödinger’s famous cat: there’s no way of knowing whether the subject is alive or dead until you open the lid. But I really wouldn’t recommend it. The creature could be very angry, after being locked in there for so long. Not to mention extremely hungry.”

Daniel decided he was quite ready to accept that and let it go—but it only took one look at Tina’s face to tell him that she wasn’t.

“Why is the test specimen still in there?” she said stubbornly. “And why does Edward keep it locked up in his armory?”

“Well, you know how he is, dear,” said Miss Montague. “He thought he might have a use for it. Edward never throws away anything he thinks might come in handy one day.”

Daniel frowned at the oversized coffin. “I’m not sure I’m following this. The whole point of Dr. Jekyll’s Elixir was to release all the evil vitality in a man. But can animals be good, or evil?”