“Lupin!” As often when one speaks of – or thinks of – the devil, his face turned up in the doorway. “This is your lucky day”, Barrett said. “I have an assignment for you, and a very special one… People in this department seem to like you, and I want to see if you can live up to what they’ve told me.”

This was the house that Teddy had helped them move into – he had hung paintings on the wall, assembled furniture and levitated heavy moving boxes up to the second floor. And here he was now, in front of that same house, ready to kick in the door and drag one of his best friends out of there, forcibly if necessary.

The sound of the door opening interrupted Barrett, who spun around and almost knocked an inkwell bottle on O’Hagan’s desk over in the process. He ignored it and smiled contently at the younger man.

“So we’ve got our proof!” he said. “This is what we’ve wanted all along!”

“Proof?” Teddy exclaimed. “What proof?”

“You!” Ben shouted, his eyes darkened with anger. “What have you done to me?”

“Ben, I’m here to help,” Teddy said. “I know that things have sort of spun out of control, but I’m really here because–“

“You said I’d be out of here after a day!” Ben continued, completely ignoring his brother-in-law’s attempt to calm him down. “You said you’d work things out for me!”