Jekyll & Hyde Inc.

“Really not helping,” said Daniel.

He removed his clothes with as much dignity as he could manage, and the tailors immediately grabbed his tuxedo and Tina’s evening dress and hurried off with them. Daniel was even more taken aback when he discovered the only way to get into the catsuit was to climb in through the neck hole. He wriggled his way in, struggling to pull the stretchy material over him without giving up what remained of his dignity. The tailors returned in time to watch him do it, which didn’t help.

“We should have asked for some talcum powder,” said Tina.

“Or a shoehorn,” said Daniel.

When they’d finally finished squeezing into the catsuits, Daniel and Tina stood side by side before a tall standing mirror, and studied the result.

“I know a fetish club in Soho where these outfits would win every prize going, and get you worshipped by most of the regulars,” said Tina.

“Of course you’d know about a club like that,” said Daniel.

“Don’t be a snob,” said Tina.

“These outfits are really unforgiving,” said Daniel, tugging unhappily at the material here and there. “They’re so tight they show off every extra pound. Including a few I didn’t know I had.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Tina said airily. “I don’t have that problem. Anyway, no one’s going to see us down in the sewers, and if we do this right, no one we meet in the Museum will live to tell of it.”

“Won’t there be surveillance cameras?”

“According to the mission file, the whole system will be shut down for the night,” said Tina. “The mummies are very private persons.”

“It’s all right for you,” said Daniel. “You look good in everything.”

“I do, don’t I?” said Tina. And then she surprised him with a kiss, before moving off to try out some extreme stretching, to test the limits of her catsuit. Daniel’s reflection looked him over, and shook his head sadly.

“Oh, shut up,” said Daniel.

Next, the tailors provided them both with simple gas masks.

“What do we need these for?” said Daniel.

“In case of gas build-ups in the sewers,” said Tina.

Daniel started to ask what kind of gas, and then decided he really didn’t want to know.

After the masks came the flare pistols, and half a dozen flares each. Tina showed Daniel how to load them, and he paid close attention. It seemed simple enough, but it wasn’t something you wanted to get wrong in an emergency.

“There you go,” said Tina. “Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy. But remember: we’re going to be in a room full of historical treasures, so make sure you hit what you’re aiming at. You incinerate it, you bought it.”

Finally, the tailors presented Daniel and Tina with two sets of casual clothes, to change into once they’d entered the Museum. Gray slacks and pullovers, and cheap knockoff trainers. Tina turned up her nose.

“I can’t be seen wearing something like this! I mean, it’s gray! I have my reputation to think of.”

“I refer you to your previous comment, about nobody seeing us,” said Daniel.

“Don’t push your luck,” said Tina. “I am just in the mood to hit someone.”

“Never knew you when you weren’t,” said Daniel.

They crammed everything into two backpacks provided by the tailors. Who then handed the Hydes a personal handwritten note from Miss Montague, saying: Try not to lose everything this time.

“I don’t think that’s fair,” said Daniel. “It got very busy, down in the Underground. I don’t even remember what happened to my old backpack.”

“I’m pretty sure I hit a vampire with mine,” said Tina. “By the end, I was hitting them with anything that came to hand that wasn’t actually nailed down. And I think I lost my flashlight when I stuck it up a vampire’s . . . Too much information?”

“Did the light come out his eyes?” said Daniel.

Tina stretched unself-consciously in her catsuit, and Daniel felt like applauding. She gave him a look that said Down boy, and then scowled at the mirror again.

“I miss my evening dress. It was lucky.”

“Hydes make their own luck,” said Daniel.

“Don’t you start,” said Tina.

Later that evening, they traveled across London in a taxi driven by one of Edward’s people, who was either overawed by their presence or had been ordered not to talk to them. Daniel and Tina sat wedged together in the cramped back seat with their backpacks on their laps, and studied the mission file. The taxi finally dropped them off as close as possible to the British Museum, so they could observe the guards from a distance. There did seem to be an awful lot of them.