29
Mrs Bradshaw and Solomon
(Judgements) Inc.
* * *
'The "police officer being suspended by reluctant boss" plot device was pretty common in the crime genre. It usually happened just before a down-ending second act, when the author sets things up so the reader thinks that there is no way the hero can extricate himself. A down-ending second usually heralds an up-ending third but not always; you can finish a third down but it usually works better if the end of the second is up – which means the end of the first should be up, not down.'
JEREMY FNORP – The Ups and Downs of Act Breaks
I went to work as normal the following morning, my head cleared and feeling better than I had for some time. Randolph, however, was inconsolable without Lola and had moped all the previous evening, becoming quite angry when I believed him when he said that nothing was the matter. Gran was out and I slept well for the first time in weeks. I even dreamed of Landen – and wasn't interrupted during the good parts, either.
'I share your grief for Miss Havisham,' murmured Beatrice when I arrived at Norland Park.
'Thank you.'
'Rotten luck,' said Falstaff as I walked past. 'There were the remains of a fine woman about Havisham.'
'Thank you.'
'Miss Next?'
It was the Bellman.
'Can I have a word?'
I walked over with him to his office and he shut the door.
'Firstly, I am very sorry about Miss Havisham. Secondly, I'm having you moved to less demanding duties.'
'I'm fine, really,' I assured him.
'I'm sure you are – but since you have only recently qualified and are without a mentor, we felt it was better if you were taken off the active list for a while.'
' "We"?'
He picked up his clipboard which had beeped at him. Havisham had told me that he never actually placed any papers in the all-important clipboard – the words were beamed directly there from Text Grand Central.
'The Council of Genres has taken a personal interest in your case,' he said after reading the clipboard. 'I think they felt you were too valuable to lose through stress – an Outlander in Jurisfiction is quite a coup, as you know. You have powers of self-determination that we can only dream of. Take it in the good spirit it is meant, won't you?'
'So I don't get to take Havisham's place at Jurisfiction?'
'I'm afraid not. Perhaps when the dust has settled. Who knows? In the BookWorld, anything is possible.'
He handed me a scrap of paper.
'Report to Solomon on the twenty-sixth floor. Good luck!'
I got up, thanked the Bellman and left his office. There was silence as I walked back past the other agents, who looked at me apologetically. I had been canned through no fault of my own, and everyone knew it. I sat down at Havisham's desk and looked at all her stuff. She had been replaced by a Generic in Expectations, and although they would look almost identical, it could never be the same person. The Havisham that I knew had been lost at Pendine Sands. I sighed. Perhaps demotion was a good thing. After all, I did have a lot to learn and working with the C of G for a bit probably had its merits.
'Miss Next?'
It was Commander Bradshaw.
'Hello, sir.'
He smiled and raised his hat.