text: [Themes: Espionage, Terrorism, city, library]
  
  > Look around
  The hall is tiny, little more than an entrance lobby. There are rooms off to east, southeast, south and west, while her front door is to the north.
  
  > go east
  You find yourself almost tip-toeing into the room, as if afraid to disturb her, or rather, as if afraid of being caught invading somewhere so private. The bedroom looks almost obsessively neat, with virtually nothing on view apart from the double bed that occupies about a third of the floor space, the bedside cabinet right next to it, and the doors to what is presumably a large built-in wardrobe in the north wall. You're not sure what you expected: probably something more exotic and more sensual, but this, while by no means utilitarian, is nonetheless somehow disappointing. Perhaps what's lacking is simply her.
  
  On the bedside cabinet is a black telephone.
  
  > examine the bed
  It's very neatly made, as if its owner had been trained as a nurse in an old-fashioned hospital. But what's most interesting is that it's a double, given that she lives alone. You wonder whether anyone else has slept there, and if so who.
  
  > look under the bed
  As you suspected, the owner of this bed is far too tidy to leave any clutter underneath it.
  
  > look at the cabinet
  (the bedside cabinet)
  It's a smart wooden cabinet with a single shallow drawer.
  
  On the bedside cabinet is a black telephone.
  
  > open the drawer
  You open the cabinet drawer, revealing a business card and a crumpled piece of paper.
  
  > take all from the drawer
  business card: You pick up the business card and examine it.
  
  It's one of her business cards. On the front is printed:
  
  "The TAS Agency
  Timely Accommodation for Students
  12 Devon Road
  01921 833758
  tas@tas.co.uk"
  
  On the reverse side of the card another phone number has been written by hand: 01921 743589
  
  crumpled piece of paper: You pick up the crumpled piece of paper and examine it.
  
  It's her degree certificate, showing that she graduated with an excellent first class degree. Despite your best efforts to straighten it out, the certificate remains a bit scrumpled.
  
  The phone starts ringing.
  
  > answer the phone
  You pick up the black telephone.
  
  "Hello," you say.
  
  "Hello," answers a brisk voice, which you immediately recognize as hers, "I assumed you'd find your way into my flat. Look, we have to talk - the Enemy - well, I'll explain when I see you. I'll meet you at the hospital, but if I'm not there when you ..."
  
  At that moment the phone goes dead, and she's cut off.
  
  > Go west
  The hall is tiny, little more than an entrance lobby. There are rooms off to east, southeast, south and west, while her front door is to the north.
  
  > Go south
  The kitchen could hardly be neater and cleaner if it had just been prepared for a health and safety inspection. It is also compact and modern, with some smart kitchen units along two walls, and a small pine table off to one side. The way out back to the hall is to the north.
  
  > examine table
  Presumably this is where she eats, but from the modest size of the table you reckon she must mostly eat alone.
  
  > examine the units
  Just the usual blend of cupboards and drawers to hold cooking and eating utensils. You're not really interested in pots and plates and pans right now, but of course you never know what you might find.
  
  > Open units
  The first few drawers you come to contain a collection of cooking utensils of no immediate use to you, but then you come to the cutlery drawer.
  
  You open the cutlery drawer, revealing a sharp kitchen knife.
  
  > take the knife
  You pick up the sharp kitchen knife and examine it.
  
  It's a large, sturdy knife with a black handle and a long blade.
  
  > go to the south-east
  The bathroom has all the usual fittings you'd expect. The way out is to the northwest.
  
  A gold ribbon adorns one wall of the bathroom, opposite the bath.
  
  > examine the ribbon
  One side of the ribbon is printed in large purple letters "Beauty Queen 1999"; the other is marked "Apollo Theatre".
  
  > Go west
  So this is where she relaxes. The living room is a good size, and is smartly furnished, as you would expect. A comfortable modern settee has been strategically placed to face the large flat screen television sitting in the corner, while a large black and white poster adorns one wall. The way out is to the east.
  
  On the mantelpiece are a menu, a familiar birthday card, a small gold trophy and a concert programme.
  
  > examine the birthday card
  (first taking the familiar birthday card)
  You recognize it at once. It is the card you sent her for her birthday a few weeks ago, a safe, arty kind of card that showed you were thinking of her without suggesting anything soppy. You're surprised, but highly gratified, that she should have kept it this long.
  
  > Examine poster
  It's a monochrome photograph of a painting depicting sunset over the city. You recognize it as the winning entry in a recent art competition; the original hangs in the Art Gallery Market Street. The black and white photo is not nearly so striking as the oil-colour original, but perhaps the original would be too overpowering for a living room - at least you always find it a bit disturbing to look at. The photograph differs from the original in another odd way: the signature in the bottom right-hand corner should be her name, but instead it looks like MASTEMA.
  
  > look at the menu
  (first taking the menu)
  It's a menu from Lafayette's (in York Street). The selection of food looks as appetizing as ever, but it's of purely academic interest since they obviously won't be serving anything there tonight. In any case, a closer look at the menu reveals that it's several weeks old; the date at the top was her birthday.
  
  > read the menu
  It's a menu from Lafayette's (in York Street). The selection of food looks as appetizing as ever, but it's of purely academic interest since they obviously won't be serving anything there tonight. In any case, a closer look at the menu reveals that it's several weeks old; the date at the top was her birthday.
  
  > look at the trophy
  From the look of it, it's obviously a tennis trophy. This is in any case confirmed by the inscription on its base: "City Sports Ground Tennis Competition".
  
  > look at the concert
  (first taking the concert programme)
  It's a programme for a performance of The Marriage of Figaro at the Fairfax Hall. On the inside cover someone has pencilled "Voi che sapete? You know what that means! Well done indeed!"
  
  > open the door
  (first unlocking the front door)
  You open the front door.
  
  > Go north
  This small landing provide access to all the flats on this floor. To north, east, west and south are respectively the doors to flats 18D, 18E, 18F and 18G. The staircase leads back down to the floor below and up to the floor above.
  
  It suddenly occurs to you that MASTEMA is an anagram of her name.
  
  > lock the door
  (with the small brass key)
  (first closing the door to flat 18G)
  You lock the door to flat 18G.
  
  > Go north
  (first unlocking the street door with the small brass key, then opening the street door)
  
  This short cul-de-sac is noticeably less well lit than the main road just to the east; although the bright moonlight compensates for this somewhat, parts of the street lie in mysterious shadow. At its western end, the street terminates at the railway line, along the side of which lie a large number of loose stones. Just short of the tracks the block of flats where she lives stands on the south side of the street.
  
  You begin to feel you are being followed. You keep hearing footsteps behind you and seeing fleeting movements out of the corner of your eye when you look round. But every time you stop the footsteps stop, and you are left uncertain whether you're perceiving anything more than echoes and shadows.
  
  > lock the door
  (with the small brass key)
  (first closing the street door)
  You lock the street door.
  
  > go to Hospital
  (going to the Hospital Reception)
  (going east)
  
  Junction of Sussex Street and Gladstone Terrace.
  This junction would be well-lit even without the moonlight. Sussex Street continues to north and south while Gladstone Terrace leads off to the west. Further north the street runs along the west bank of the river, but just here the river bends towards the southeast and parts company with the road.
  
  > take the cassette
  You pick up the blue cassette and examine it.
  
  It's just a standard tape cassette.
  
  You think you hear a helicopter over a distant quarter of the city, but before you can pinpoint the sound, it fades away.
  
  > look at the phone
  It's a rather large model, with lots of extra buttons.
  
  > look at the desk
  The reception desk is a long, flat surface behind which there would normally be situated a receptionist busily engaged in keeping visitors from patients, patients from doctors, and useful information from absolutely everyone (with the possible exception of the police and security services). Right now, however, it is as deserted as everywhere else.
  
  On the reception desk is a brown telephone.
  
  > read the cassette
  It's just a standard tape cassette.
  
  > think
  That Russian-sounding voice you heard when you picked up the green phone in her office said something about delivering some merchandise to the central car park; perhaps that would be worth checking out.
  
  The signature MASTEMA on the poster in her flat makes you curious; if you happen to be passing the local art gallery in Market Street you'd like to check what's on the original.
  
  It would be interesting to know the significance of the phone number scribbled on the back of her business card.
  
  > read the card
  Which do you mean, the familiar birthday card or the business card?
  
  > Business
  It's one of her business cards. On the front is printed:
  
  "The TAS Agency
  Timely Accommodation for Students
  12 Devon Road
  01921 833758
  tas@tas.co.uk"
  
  On the reverse side of the card another phone number has been written by hand: 01921 743589
  
  > call 01921 743589
  You pick up the phone but there's nothing: no dialling tone, no static, just silence. You try to recover a dialling tone, but the phone remains obstinately dead, so you replace the handset.
  
  > go to the west
  Sussex Street (south)
  Although so far as you know this part of the city never suffered any bomb damage, some group of town planners rapidly made up for the negligence of the Luftwaffe by tearing down whatever was here before and replacing it with a mass of soulless fifties architecture seemingly inspired by Soviet brutalism. The most striking eyesore is the City Hospital, which lies immediately to the east. Sussex Street continues to north and south.
  
  As you pause in your stride, you fancy you hear some distant footsteps receding to the north. Looking around, you notice a golden object lying on the ground under one of the streetlights.
  
  > examine the golden object
  (first taking the gold brooch)
  It's a gold brooch, in the form of a scorpion. The design is quite distinctive, and you're sure she has a brooch like that. You've often wondered what kind of statement it's meant to make: not that she's poisonous, to be sure, but you suspect she'd not be averse to suggesting she's not to be messed with.
  
  A small piece of paper is attached to the brooch by its pin.
  
  > read paper
  Which do you mean, the small piece of paper, the crumpled piece of paper or the old newspaper?
  
  > Small
  It's tightly folded and pinned to the brooch.
  
  > open the brooch
  You release the clasp of the brooch and pull the small piece of paper from the pin, unfolding it impatiently.
  
  > read the small paper
  The handwriting is as small as the piece of paper it's written on, but you still recognise it as hers. It reads, "Sorry, couldn't wait - just discovered I've lost something I must recover: a small, grey, flat metal key. I may have dropped it when I went for a run (in the usual place) or when I went to the knowledge factory. We must make sure they don't get it. It would be a big help if you could search those two places while I look elsewhere. See you later."
  
  No doubt she was deliberately trying to be cryptic in case the Enemy saw her note. She often used to go for a run in Mandlebury Park, so she might mean that - or she might mean the City Sports Ground. "Knowledge Factory" was her disparaging nickname for the University, so she could be referring to somewhere on campus, but she could equally well be talking about the Public Library.
  
  > go to Gladstone Terrace
  (Gladstone Terrace)
  (going north)
  
  Junction of Sussex Street and Gladstone Terrace.
  This junction would be well-lit even without the moonlight. Sussex Street continues to north and south while Gladstone Terrace leads off to the west. Further north the street runs along the west bank of the river, but just here the river bends towards the southeast and parts company with the road.
  
  Once again you feel sure you are being watched, but each time you turn round to check, the shadows mock you.
  
  Whatever it was you thought you heard a few moments ago, there's no sign of anyone here now.
  
  > Go south
  (first unlocking the street door with the small brass key, then opening the street door)
  
  This communal hallway serves all the flats in the building. To east, west and south are the doors to flats 18A, 18B and 18C respectively, while a staircase leads up to the floor above. The street door is to the north.
  
  > lock the door
  (with the small brass key)
  (first closing the street door)
  You lock the street door.
  
  > Go upward
  This small landing provide access to all the flats on this floor. To north, east, west and south are respectively the doors to flats 18D, 18E, 18F and 18G. The staircase leads back down to the floor below and up to the floor above.
  
  > go to the south
  (first unlocking the door to flat 18G with the small brass key, then opening the door to flat 18G)
  
  The hall is tiny, little more than an entrance lobby. There are rooms off to east, southeast, south and west, while her front door is to the north.
  
  > lock the door
  (first closing the front door)
  You lock the front door.
  
  > Go west
  The living room is a good size, and is smartly furnished. A comfortable modern settee has been strategically placed to face the large flat screen television sitting in the corner, while a large black and white poster adorns one wall. The way out is to the east.
  
  On the mantelpiece is a small gold trophy.
  
  > Examine tv
  The TV is a modern, flat screen model. The screen is blank, presumably because the TV is not switched on.
  
  > Go east
  The hall is tiny, little more than an entrance lobby. There are rooms off to east, southeast, south and west, while her front door is to the north.
  
  Somewhere a clock strikes ten. As the final stroke dies away you listen for any other sound, such as might be made by an arriving Enemy, but all falls quiet.
  
  > Go east
  The bedroom looks almost obsessively neat, with virtually nothing on view apart from the double bed that occupies about a third of the floor space, the bedside cabinet right next to it, and the doors to what is presumably a large built-in wardrobe in the north wall.
  
  On the bedside cabinet is a black telephone.
  
  > read the business card
  It's one of her business cards. On the front is printed:
  
  "The TAS Agency
  Timely Accommodation for Students
  12 Devon Road
  01921 833758
  tas@tas.co.uk"
  
  On the reverse side of the card another phone number has been written by hand: 01921 743589
  
  > call 01921 743589
  You pick up the phone but there's still absolutely nothing, making you wonder if the Enemy have cut communications; in any case you can't get a dialling tone so you replace the handset.
  
  > go to the mandlebury park
  (going west)
  
  The hall is tiny, little more than an entrance lobby. There are rooms off to east, southeast, south and west, while her front door is to the north.
  
  > lock the door
  (with the small brass key)
  (first closing the door to flat 18G)
  You lock the door to flat 18G.
  
  > go north
  (first unlocking the street door with the small brass key, then opening the street door)
  
  This short cul-de-sac is noticeably less well lit than the main road just to the east; although the bright moonlight compensates for this somewhat, parts of the street lie in mysterious shadow. At its western end, the street terminates at the railway line, along the side of which lie a large number of loose stones. Just short of the tracks the block of flats where she lives stands on the south side of the street.
  
  > lock the door
  (with the small brass key)
  (first closing the street door)
  You lock the street door.
  
  > go to your office
  (going to Your Office)
  (going east)
  
  High Street (by Post Office)
  This part of the High Street contains some of the oldest buildings in the city, and the old shop fronts have been mercifully preserved from the depredations of three generations of philistine post-war planners. The main post office on the west side of the street is a particularly fine example of Victorian architecture, but all the shops retain a measure of charm here, even when they're only selling mortgages or computer games. The High Street continues to north and south, while a narrow lane runs off to the west just by the post office.
  
  > read the letter
  (first taking the letter)
  It's a handwritten letter from Jeremy, dated about two years ago, breaking off his relationship with her. You re-read it, your eye stopping on phrases like, "I'm sorry, but it's over. I still find you as charming and attractive as I always did, and you can be great company, but I'm worn out by your need to always be the best at everything, and I've had enough of playing second fiddle to your ambition" and "We've had good times together, but I realize now that you're just not the woman for me" and "Even now I don't really feel I know you. I'm sure you do have a heart, but I've never felt you've ever really opened it to me; for such a successful woman you seem strangely repressed." The letter must obviously have been returned to him, since across the bottom is written in another hand: "You should have thought twice before rejecting me!"
  
  > look at the desk
  (your desk)
  It's unusually clear, but then no one was doing much work here today. Your desk has a single drawer.
  
  On your desk is a white telephone.
  
  > open the drawer
  You open the desk drawer, revealing a load of junk, amongst which you spot a photograph and a torch.
  
  > examine photo
  It shows the climax of the graduation ceremony, with Kate shaking hands with the Vice-Chancellor as she receives the award for the best degree result of the year. A little way over to the left a group of graduands in academic robes stand looking on and applauding; among them are Jeremy, Nick, yourself - and her. It's her you look at, every bit as beautiful at twenty-one as she is today. She's applauding and smiling with the rest, but the smile looks a little forced - but perhaps that's just the photograph.
  
  A few weeks ago, Jeremy handed you this photograph saying, "I came across this the other day, and I thought you might like a copy."
  
  "Thanks!" you replied. You assume he gave it to you because it showed your graduation, but you were particularly pleased to have it because she was in it, and you didn't have any other pictures of her.
  
  > think
  That Russian-sounding voice you heard when you picked up the green phone in her office said something about delivering some merchandise to the central car park; perhaps that would be worth checking out.
  
  The signature MASTEMA on the poster in her flat makes you curious; if you happen to be passing the local art gallery in Market Street you'd like to check what's on the original.
  
  It would be interesting to know the significance of the phone number scribbled on the back of her business card.
  
  She wants you to help her find a small flat metal key she says she's lost - it seems to be important. She thinks she may have dropped it out running, which could either be in Mandlebury Park (if she meant her lunch-time jog) or at the Sports Ground (if she was doing serious training). It's also possible she left the key either in the Public Library or somewhere on the University Campus.
  To have any chance of finding anything in the dark you'll need a torch - you're pretty sure you left one in your office.
  
  > take all from the drawer
  photograph: Taken.
  torch: You pick up the torch and examine it.
  
  It's a small plastic flashlight.
  
  The torch is currently switched off.
  
  load of junk: You're pretty sure there's nothing else among that junk that's of any use to you right now.
  
  > go to the Park
  (going to Mandlebury Park)
  (going east)
  Although there's no one around, you turn out the lights and lock up the office as you leave from sheer force of habit.
  
  High Street (by your office)
  The High Street continues to north and south past rows of shops and small offices. One of the latter, directly to the west, is the office where you work.
  
  > turn on the torch
  You switch the torch on.
  
  > remember
  When time permits you often come here to eat your lunch on the park bench. On one such occasion about four years ago you saw her jogging past on a circuit of the park. The second time round, she stopped to catch her breath and chat. You can't remember a great deal of the conversation , but you do remember she was enthusing about some book she'd just read.
  
  "Have you read any Stanilev?" she asked.
  
  "I've never heard of him," you admitted.
  
  "He's a great thinker, you should read him, you really should," she urged you, "Until I read him I never realized anyone else could feel that way. It was so liberating!"
  
  But though you promised her you'd look out for a copy of Stanilev's book, somehow you never got round to it.
  
  > turn off the torch
  You switch the torch off.
  
  > go to Gallery
  (going to the Art Gallery)
  (going east)
  
  High Street (by Post Office)
  This part of the High Street contains some of the oldest buildings in the city, and the old shop fronts have been mercifully preserved from the depredations of three generations of philistine post-war planners. The main post office on the west side of the street is a particularly fine example of Victorian architecture, but all the shops retain a measure of charm here, even when they're only selling mortgages or computer games. The High Street continues to north and south, while a narrow lane runs off to the west just by the post office.
  
  > look at the painting
  Her painting, the winning entry, is still prominently on display. It portrays the city at sunset, with the buildings silhouetted in front of a blazing red glow. The painting is certainly striking, but you find it a little disturbing; it almost makes it look as if the whole city is on fire. The painting is called "Nightfall". You check the signature at the bottom right-hand corner, but it looks like her name, not the mysterious MASTEMA of the poster in her flat - curiouser and curiouser.
  
  > read the signature
  Yes, it's her name all right: an anagram of MASTEMA, but not the MASTEMA on the poster in her flat, which presumably must be some kind of obscure joke.
  
  > examine the paintings
  Many of them are nice enough, but they're a bit of a mixture, and even you can tell that there are few really great paintings here, just some portraits of local worthies, some pleasant but conventional landscapes, a few abstract pieces, and some second-rate kitsch. By far the most striking painting on show is hers.
  
  > Rub signature
  That won't help you find her.
  
  Somewhere a clock chimes the half hour.
  
  > go to Grand Hotel
  (going to the Hotel Lobby)
  (going north)
  You follow the exit signs and emerge back out in Market Street.
  
  Market Street (east)
  Market Street continues eastwards towards Cornwallis Avenue and west towards the High Street. The Hyperion Art Gallery lies open to the south.
  
  Somewhere a clock chimes the half hour.
  
  > look at the rod
  It looks a little like a baton, or perhaps a makeshift pointer.
  
  > look at the cap
  It's an army officer's cap, with a Royal Engineers cap badge.
  
  > examine table
  It's made of wood, of course. A large map has been pinned to the top.
  
  On the trestle table are a long rod and a khaki peaked cap.
  
  > examine the map
  It's a large-scale map of the city. Thick black lines drawn on the map divide the city into regions with names like C12 and T18, while a number of red circles have been drawn round certain places on the periphery. A yellow post-it note has been fixed to one corner of the map.
  
  > examine the note
  On it someone has written, in small neat writing, "Informant suggests device delivered up to 7 days ago and perhaps concealed in suburbs."
  
  > take all from the table
  long rod: Taken.
  khaki peaked cap: Taken.
  
  > Wave rod
  You look ridiculous waving the long rod.
  
  > take the map
  The map is firmly pinned to the table.
  
  > look at the badge
  It's an army officer's cap, with a Royal Engineers cap badge.