Part IV - The Spell is Broken
Napoleon came to slowly. The pretty Thrush had darted him with another of her concoctions as soon as the van door had closed. He opened his eyes to find himself in a dimly-lit basement, which had obviously been hastily converted for its new role as a cell. He was lying on his side on the gritty concrete floor. Whoever had tied him up had clearly paid careful attention on the "How to restrain a prisoner in your hideout" course - as well as being tied tightly at ankles, knees and wrists, his thumbs had been taped together. He could free himself, given enough uninterrupted time to work on the tape and ropes, but it seemed unlikely that he would be left in an obviously temporary holding area for long enough.
Solo heard a curse from Illya, who sounded as though he was lying a couple of feet behind him, presumably tied up in similar fashion. Muffled sobs were coming from a little further off. By wriggling and craning his neck, Napoleon managed to twist round until he could see the stout wooden door of an inner storeroom, which was being used to hold the Thrushes' most valuable prisoner.
Napoleon wriggled even more energetically, until he was facing his partner. "Talk to her!" he whispered. "If she's not tied up, maybe she can help us get out of this."
"Why me? Damsels in distress are your speciality."
"She likes you better. Think of her beautiful equations."
Illya grinned for a second.
"Maria, can you hear me? Are you all right?"
The sobbing stopped. "That is a really stupid question."
"I mean are you hurt?"
"No. I felt awfully dizzy for a while, but it's worn off now."
"Are your hands tied?"
"No, they just shoved me in here and locked the door."
"They tied us most efficiently, so I'm afraid you're going to have to help us."
"I would, but there's this locked door. Did I forget to mention it?" Maria's voice was starting to show the breathy signs of an imminent panic attack.
"Maria, that lock looks like a simple one to me." said Napoleon. "If you can find something to use as a tool, I'm sure we can talk you through how to open it."
"I'm not very good at things like that - it's why I study theoretical physics."
"You'll be fine. Now, you need to find a fairly stiff piece of metal, a couple of inches long. Have a look at that belt you were wearing..."
Illya squirmed into a marginally more comfortable position and listened to his partner giving a nice young woman her first lesson in the subtle art of picking a lock. Napoleon's ability to convince perfectly ordinary people that they could do extraordinary things was the skill that had taken him to the top of the Enforcement section so quickly. Napoleon's voice was calm, encouraging and patient as he talked Dr Kendall through the task of lifting each pin to the correct position and then rotating the cylinder to draw back the bolt. After about twenty minutes Maria emerged, looking triumphant.