‘Ach, and for what? These creatures multiply, Jamie! Each night’s delay puts other victims in peril.’ Laughter from the party at the next table: the Austrian ambassador and two of his aides, chattering in Viennese French. With a sidelong glance at them, Karlebach continued, ‘And it increases the chances that these things – these Others – will come to the attention of some one of the powers here.’ He gestured with the most recent issues of the Journal of Oriental Medicine and Etudes Physiologiques, pulled from the crammed pockets of his rusty, old-fashioned frock-coat. ‘Dr Bohren from Berlin, and that cretin Lemaitre from the Sorbonne, have written letters decrying this Bauer woman as a hoax, but you know it’s only a matter of time before someone in some War Department is going to start asking themselves how they might use these things. Surely we can reach this village this afternoon by motor car?’ ‘We can. Provided nothing goes wrong.’ Asher sat back as the white-jacketed Chinese waiter brought green turtle soup and petite sole aux tomates to their table.
