INTERLUDE: OLD NEWS
“How old is she now?”
“Which part?”
“Oh touché, you are the wit.”
“One tries, Somerset.”
“One is very trying, Monk.”
“Ah, so we have reverted to surnames, have we?”
“It appears so.”
“So be it,” said the hawklike figure of Monk. In stark contrast to his more extravagant guest, straight-backed and nose uplifted, he peered around the door of his laboratory, mouselike. The corridors remained dark and silent. Nothing except the dripping as of a faulty tap disturbed the sublime peace.
“You still haven’t answered the question,” Somerset rallied.
“I no longer have any idea nor particularly care. Let us say she is old enough to be dead where her body survives, and old enough to rust where the metal has taken hold.”
“That is too old.”
“I agree, Somerset. However, we m
