"Look at this, you two," said the Doctor as he examined a sheet of paper that he had removed from the desk. Peri and Mel came over and peered over the Doctor's shoulder at what was written on the scroll.

"A list of names," observed Mel as she made out about fifteen names handwritten onto the scroll, with a line running through each and every one of them.

"These are the names of the Time Lords that are attending my trial," added the Doctor. "Every member of the Ultimate Court of Appeal, the supreme guardians of Gallifreyan law."

Peri looked closely at the list herself. "Say, how come they're all crossed through?" she asked regarding the thick black lines running through the names.

"Do you notice something else?" said the Doctor apprehensively.

"No."

"The handwriting," specified the Doctor.

Mel looked again at the list and her face lit up in a mixture of realisation and puzzlement. "It's yours!" she exclaimed.

Before any of them had a chance to work out what any of this meant, the office door burst open and Mr Popplewick senior was bundled inside, held at gunpoint by Glitz who now had hold of Popplewick's pistol, while Popplewick was now carrying the Matrix data box in his hand.

"I really must protest at this unseemly behaviour! You are contravening all known procedure!" bellowed Popplewick angrily, obviously unhappy at having a gun pointed at his head.

Glitz gave the Doctor and his companions a shrewd smile. "Due to my not inconsiderable powers of persuasion, this minion has agreed to take us to his boss, the mysterious Mister J. J. Chambers."

The Doctor smiled thoughtfully as he pocketed the scroll into his coat. Although he suspected a trap of some kind, he decided to take full advantage of this turn of events.

"Will you lead the way, Mister Popplewick?" he asked, gesturing to the door of the waiting room.

"No!" said Popplewick in alarm before quickly regaining his composure. "No, not through there. Mister Chambers is across the courtyard, sir."

"If he isn't, there'll be one bureaucrat less in the Matrix," remarked Glitz as waved the pistol threateningly at Popplewick. They all began to file out of the room when the Doctor suddenly moved over to Popplewick and plucked the feather quill pen from his ear.

"You won't be needing this, Mister Popplewick," the Doctor said as he carefully placed the quill into Popplewick's hat that was sitting on the nearest desk, vaguely recalling from his subconscious mind the exploding quill pens that the Valeyard had used against the Master earlier.

"Very astute of you, Doc," remarked Glitz. "You should live a long time."

The Doctor gave a confident smile. "I already have. Over nine hundred years."

With that little matter dealt with, Glitz resumed marching Popplewick out to the courtyard. The Doctor began to follow, when Mel suddenly grabbed his arm urgently.

"What's the secret?" she asked in a whisper.

"Secret, Mel?" he answered with an innocent look. "What secret?"

"Oh come on, Doctor, this whole thing smells fishy to me," joined in Peri. "I mean finding the Valeyard can't now be this easy, huh?"

The Doctor did not reply. Instead, he smiled, gave a meaningful wink and led the way out of the factory.

"You know, I am beginning to realise that I have misjudged Mister J. J. Chambers, alias the Valeyard," said the Doctor as he and the others made their way down the balcony steps and across the courtyard.

"Not for the first time," responded Mel. "In fact, how you've managed to survive nine hundred odd years beats me."

The small group continued walking for a short while before reaching one of the other factory buildings which had a number of large chimneys placed on top.

"Mister Chambers is in there sir," said Popplewick. "He's quite eager to renew your acquaintance."

"Is he? Well we better not disappoint him then, had we?" said the Doctor as he made his way over to the main doors, pushed them open and strode into the building.

"Hey, wait up!" cried Peri as she and Mel darted after him. As soon as the three of them were inside, Glitz turned to Popplewick.

"We had an agreement. I've done my bit. I've delivered the Doctor. Now hand over the Matrix memory tapes."

"Oh, very well," grumbled Popplewick as he handed over the data box to Glitz, who quickly snatched it away. The second he had a firm hold on the box, Glitz handed the pistol back to Popplewick and began to make his way out of the courtyard.

"Tell the Doctor I didn't sell him down the Milky Way for nothing," Glitz called back cheerily.

"I'm sure that will be a consolation to him in his final moments," Popplewick replied as he raised his pistol, aimed the barrel at Glitz's turned back and pulled the trigger. There was a loud bang as the powder of the gun exploded, but to Popplewick's surprise, instead of falling to the ground dead, Glitz simply turned around and smugly held a small metal ball, the ammunition of the pistol that he had removed from the weapon a few minutes ago. Popplewick looked down at his useless weapon in befuddlement, as a familiar figure clad in black emerged from the shadows.

"Very astute, Sabalom Glitz," said the Master almost in admiration as he aimed his Tissue Compression Eliminator at the conman. "But this is loaded."

Glitz gave the Master a hurt expression. "What's that for? I thought we trusted each other. I was on my way to see you."

The Master smiled dispassionately and gestured with his weapon. "My trust of you is in equal proportion to your trust of me. The TARDIS is over there."

Popplewick watched as the two uneasy allies walked out of sight and he allowed himself a small smile as he heard the Master's TARDIS take-off. Then he turned back to the factory building and went purposefully inside.