Valkyrie liked to think of herself as an action kind of person. Her thing was fighting, hitting monsters and criminals, stopping bad guys, saving the world. It was her thing, it was what she did. And she didn't do it by sitting around drinking water in plastic cups.

Yet here she sat. And behold, a plastic cup of water. Joy.

Good timing at least, Valkyrie thought gloomily. If we were stuck here while we were meant to be stopping Armageddon, things would be a little worse. At least there's no emergency. There. She'd looked on the bright side, and now it was time to go back to being miserable. Valkyrie ached to just leave, but she could hardly do that with all the police around here (not through the door, at least), and besides, Skulduggery was gone. It was likely he was either trying to secure ID for them, or he was being interrogated. Neither option seemed likely to get the detectives out of there, though, which meant Valkyrie had to take things into her own hands. But how?

There lay the problem.

The first step, Valkyrie decided, was to figure out where Skulduggery was, and what he was doing. That would allow her to figure out what to do next.

La de da.

Minutes later, no Skulduggery had appeared, so Valkyrie groaned inwardly and stood up. She wandered towards the desk on the far wall, hoping it was a reception area, where someone might know what was going on.

There was a young man sitting behind the desk, typing away on a computer that hid most of his face. He swung around to talk to her, and revealed blue eyes, glasses, and a friendly smile. "Yes?"

"My name is Stephanie Her, and I was brought here about an hour ago with my uncle, Gordon Me..." she began, and then trailed off, not sure what to say. "Um, I've been sitting here since then and nobody's talked to me or said anything, and I went to get some water and when I came back, my uncle was gone, and I'm not sure -?"

"Gordon Me?" The young man did some typing. "Looks like he's with one Officer Midwood, and they're using the phone in room B12. Why were you brought here?"

"Well, there was something about trespassing, and then Officer Midwood wanted identification from us, and we didn't have any, so we were brought here, and now I don't know what's going on."

"Maybe they're trying to contact family members who can bring some ID for you," said the man kindly. "Are you a minor?"

"Yes. I'm 15."

"You won't need any then. Your uncle -"

"Stephanie?" It was the well-dressed policeman from Farmer Joe's place, and his eyes locked on her. He beckoned.

"Thanks," she said awkwardly to the receptionist guy, and turned to follow the well-dressed officer. He led Valkyrie into a complex of hallways and small rooms. They paused outside B12 and she walked in, but the policeman didn't follow.

Inside B12, Officers Midwood and Harvey leaned against the bare wall, while Skulduggery sat at a desk in the middle of the room, using a telephone with a looped cord. It was a very plain sort of space; whitewashed walls and basic grey carpet. The only furniture was the desk and chair Skulduggery occupied, and a small stool in the corner. Valkyrie was glad to see there were no one-way windows; they didn't need any more supervision.

"Ms Her," Officer Harvey's voice was sharp. "Take a seat." She pointed to the stool.

"Take it where?" Valkyrie asked politely.

Two eyebrows lifted in synchronisation; one plucked blond one, and one bushy brown.

"Please sit down, Stephanie." It wasn't a request.

Valkyrie nodded in that easy-going, good-natured way people do when they don't really know what you mean. She went to the stool in the corner and sat on it, facing the wall, like a child in the naughty corner.

She heard the distinct sound of a face-palm, and tried not to snicker.

Three minutes later, Valkyrie settled into position at the desk with Skulduggery, who hung up the phone. "I've spoken to Mr Bespoke," he announced.

"And?"

"He's busy. He told me to call Tanith."

"He's busy?! Right, when we get back, we are going to have a talk with him -"

"Stephanie," Skulduggery interrupted. "I'm going to call Geoffrey."

Skulduggery turned back and began to dial. "Call Dexter," Valkyrie suggested. "We don't need Geoffrey yet, he's more of a last-resort. Call Dexter."

The skeleton sighed at her and began dialling again. "Hello?"

A pause. "You mean after all these years, you don't recognise my voice? Dexter, I'm - you what? No, this is more important than whatever you're doing. Stephanie and I, no, shh! Stephanie and I were out last night, and we ran into a spot of bother with the police - no, regular old police, no other detectives, yes, police. Oh for Heaven's sake, ask Erskine then! Are they what? Yes. The ones in uniform. Anyway, they didn't believe our names are Stephanie Her and Gordon Me. I know it's unlikely. We've been stopped enough times. The point is - I'm not interested that you're out of coffee! Pay attention! The point is, we don't have a shred of ID on us - what? No, we were incognito! V- Stephanie's still in her pyjamas!"

"And lovely pyjamas they are too," chimed in Valkyrie loudly, angling her voice towards the phone. Skulduggery turned to glare.

"He says he doesn't doubt it," the skeleton informed his partner, and turned away. "The police say you can bring us some ID. I suggest you ask - yes, the police. Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. We don't have the Bentley. Yes. No, not if he's busy - ask Anton. Well, if they all say so, you may as well talk to Mr Bespoke. He hung up straight away when I called earlier. Yes, the police lent us their phone. No, we didn't have anything with us, I told you that before - I'd assume her twin has it. Mine is conspicuously absent. Yes, twin. Identical twin, too - like a reflection." Pause. "Yes, Dexter, that's what I meant. I did say so. In the room with me? Stephanie and two Officers. Yes, exactly. Okay. See you soon."

"Bye!" called Valkyrie. Skulduggery held the phone away from his ear, and Valkyrie heard Dexter's muffled reply. Skulduggery hung up.

Awkward silence.

"Are you done contacting your family, Mr Me?" asked Officer Harvey.

"I am indeed," Skulduggery replied.

"We'll leave you in here, until a family member or friend arrives for you," said Officer Midwood, as the two officers stood and headed for the door. It shut behind them with a click, and Valkyrie knew instinctively it was locked.

"Now what?" she asked.

"Now, we wait."