Sergeant Dean was waiting for Sorrow when she got to the bottom of the stairs. He was already wearing his coat and he had one eyebrow raised so high that it almost disappeared into his hairline. 'And would madame like breakfast before her morning constitutional?'

'I’m fine, thanks.'

'You sure you don’t need to refuel before strenuous exercise like walking?' he said.

'You’re a good man and I’d hate to have to kill you.' Sorrow led the way to the front door.

There was a row of coats hanging up there, part of the house’s disguise as a normal family home. Sorrow grabbed a scarlet pashmina from one of the hooks and threw it around her shoulders. It couldn’t hurt and perhaps Seven would be pleased that she’d taken his advice. She stepped out onto the street with Sergeant Dean beside her.

'Did you have fun then?' said the Sergeant as soon as they were clear of the house.

'I’m not going to talk about it,' said Sorrow. The morning was even colder than the night before had been. The greenery in the front garden had a thin film of frost on it.

'I respect that. It’s none of my business. But it sounded like a lot of fun. Loud enough that everyone inside the house heard. I had to stop Frazer from storming the stairs. He thought you were being attacked. He insisted we check the feed from the heat camera to be sure it was just the two of you in there,' he said as they turned the corner into the alley.

'We need to get Frazer laid soon. He must have forgotten what it sounds like.' Sorrow pulled the pashmina tighter around her shoulders and upper arms and tied it at the front.

'It doesn’t usually sound like that. If you’re going to have a regular thing with him you’ll need to soundproof your flat.' Sergeant Dean vaulted the garden wall. 'Fuck.'

Sorrow leapt into the air. Her wings beat hard against the frigid air as she fought for height. The garden below her was stained with blood. A pattern etched on the frosty grass with thick red lines.

'Can you tell what it is?' said the Sergeant.

Sorrow gained height. She twisted in the air, trying to find the right angle to view it from. 'It looks like a bird. Maybe a raven.'

'I’ll call it in.' The Sergeant reached for his phone.

'Don’t bother,' said Sorrow as she landed. 'Officer Dee’s already calling Cherry. We found more feathers.'

'I don’t like this,' said Sergeant Dean.

'Join the club,' said Sorrow as they headed back to the front of the house. 'Shit is going down today. I can feel it in my fucking bones.'

#

Number Seven arrived at the breakfast table to find Sorrow sitting there wrapped in a red shawl and drinking coffee. The brass cafetiere sat on the table in front of her, still mostly full. Sergeant Dean was frying the Bacon and Frazer was standing at the window staring out over the garden.

'Morning all,' said Seven. He meant to say more but there was something wrong. Sorrow was avoiding his eyes, he didn’t like the set of Frazer’s shoulders and Sergeant Dean had an uncharacteristically gloomy look. 'What?'

Sorrow pointed out the window. Frazer moved out of the way to let Seven get a better look at the garden. Seven peered out at the lurid mess someone had made on the back lawn. It was hard to look away.

'Is that blood,' said Seven eventually.

'Smells like it,' said Sorrow.

'What’s the pattern?'

'From above it looks like a raven. With a small r,' said Sorrow.

'Is Cherry on her way?' said Sergeant Dean.

'She should be. She sounded in a hurry on the phone but it was only feathers when I spoke to her,' said Seven.

'Bacon roll?' said the Sergeant.

'I think I’ve just lost my appetite,' said Seven.

'Ah go on. You need to keep your strength up,' said Frazer.

'You need to take good care of yourself if you don’t want her to lose interest,' said Sergeant Dean.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

'I am right here, guys,' said Sorrow. 'You can sledge him without bringing me into it.'

Seven turned his back on the garden and looked for a mug. There were none on the table and he had to reach round Sergeant Dean to get one from the counter. He could have walked round the man or asked him to pass one but it was much more fun to lean into his personal space while looking into his deep brown eyes and inhaling as if trying to breathe in his scent.

'You’re not jealous are you, Sergeant?' said Seven as he grabbed the mug. He sat down opposite Sorrow without waiting for a reply and filled his mug from the cafetiere.

'Brace yourselves, gentlemen. Cherry approaching,' said Sorrow.

Seconds later Cherry burst through the small door. 'Ooh, coffee,' she said.

Sergeant Dean passed her a mug and Sorrow filled it for her.

'You might want to look outside before you think about a bacon roll,' said the Sergeant.

Cherry walked over to the window but at her height she could barely see over the flower bed, 'Ok, what am I looking at?'

Frazer and Sergeant Dean each grabbed an elbow and they lifted her up to shoulder height. 'Shit. Is that blood?' she said.

Smells like it,' said Sorrow.

'You can put me down now, gents.' Cherry pulled out her yPhone.

'Who you calling?' said Sorrow.

'Calling back to the lab. We’ll need everyone available. We need to process and sequence all the blood.' Cherry took her phone outside.

Sorrow drank the last of her coffee. 'I’m going up to get my coat. We have to leave soon to head to St Thomas’ but you’ve got at least five more minutes to flirt with the Sergeant.' She got up to leave.

'I’m not flirting with him,' said Seven, 'he’s flirting with me.'

'I am not. You’ll know when I’m flirting because I’ll say something nice. Which is the only reason I’d ever say something nice about you,' said the Sergeant.

Seven watched Sorrow leave the kitchen and listened for her boot on the spiral stair. 'Whatever you’ve got to say to me you can say it while she’s out of the room.' He looked from Sergeant Dean to Frazer and back.

'She’s too good for you,' said Sergeant Dean.

'Agreed,' said Seven.

'Then be better,' said Dean. He took a bacon roll and a mug of tea and went out into the garden to keep Cherry company.

'You?' said Seven to Frazer.

'What he said,' said Frazer. He drank the last of his tea and left Seven alone.

Seven drank his coffee and looked out the window at Cherry. She finished her phone call and said a few words to Sergeant Dean. He said something back and she giggled. Then she noticed Seven looking at her and performed a near perfect ‘shy girl flick’. It had to be accidental. Or at least unschooled.

Cherry came back inside, 'The team is on the way. You and Sorrow should probably head out now. It’s a big team and it’s going to get crowded,' she said.

'Thanks for the warning,' said Seven. 'Would you be willing to do me a tiny favour?'

'Of course. And don’t worry, I won’t say anything to Sorrow about it,' she said.

Seven took the sealed, padded envelope bearing the stolen feather out of his jacket pocket. 'I need you to get this to SIS for testing. It needs to be quick. Can you do that for me?' He could hear Sorrow clanging her way down the stairs. He hoped she wouldn’t hurry into the kitchen.

'I’ll send a runner as soon as the others get here. You sure you don’t want me to test it?'

'Needs to be SIS. I’ve got to keep the Boss off my back somehow,' he said and followed it with his most charming smile.

'No problem sweetie,' said Cherry.

Seven maintained his smile and kept the relief from his face. He heard Sorrow heading for the front door.

'I’ll see you in the car,' Sorrow shouted and the door shut behind her.

'I’d better go,' said Seven.

When he got out onto the street he found that Sorrow was indeed already in the car. She was sitting in the passenger seat with her feet braced on the dashboard and struggling with a buckle at her waist.

Seven watched her wriggle until he couldn’t keep silent any longer. 'What are you doing?'

'You know that thing where you strap on your gear and it seems fine but then you sit down and it’s just not working. You’re being stabbed by something or it’s cutting off your circulation or it makes you look pregnant?'

'I’ve never specifically worried about looking pregnant, but I know what you mean.'

'I’m adjusting my gear so it doesn’t clash with my seatbelt,' she said.

He stood by the car, waiting as she finished her adjustments, put her feet down and buckled her seatbelt.

Seven got into the car, 'Well?'

'What?' said Sorrow.

'Are you going to tell me what you were strapping on?'

'Nope.'

'Are you going to tell me why?'

'Nope.'

'Just when I thought you were opening up,' he said.

'Got to do summat to maintain my feminine mystique,' she said.

'You’re still worried about that text to Roger,' said Seven.

'I’m worried that I haven’t heard anything back about it. That means our experts haven’t found out who sent it. That worries me.' Her tone indicated that she was done talking about it.

Seven wanted to ask more but instead started the car. He drove in silence for nearly three minutes before the urge to say something got the better of him.

'What’s wrong?' he said.

'Nothing is wrong,' said Sorrow but the sharp edge in her voice betrayed her.

'That’s exactly how I sound when I don’t want to talk about what’s wrong.'

'Fine. Something is wrong but I don’t know how to put it into words and I’m not ready to try. Good enough?' she said.

It was not good enough. This had to be related to the woman with the yellow eyes. He was desperate to know more but every instinct told him that if he pushed now he would only destroy whatever trust she had in him. So he shut his mouth and he drove.