"No," says Rutyer, his voice even and calm and utterly certain. There's no question in it, nothing teasing, nothing probing: it is simply a flat negation of what Ralston has just said. A rejection of this story. Because: "If that were the case, it would have been a full lie. Not a partial one."

The sound coming from the man might be a little unsettling. The rustle of cloth, a shifting of weight. What might he be reaching for?

But Rutyer speaks again. "You don't need to be so nervous," he says. It sounds like a reassurance, and likely would be, if he didn't add - "This safehouse is quite valuable to us. Nothing is going to happen to you here." That emphasis on that last word hangs disquietingly.