Of course he couldn't, but for whatever reason, he said the name. An impossible name, but there was no time to question him about it. Meyer destroyed the image of library, returning Martese's consciousness and turning the memory of what had just happened to rubble, replacing it with the normal interrogation. Before he took down the Mastermind projection, for which Meyer still played both roles, he repeated Martese's answer to Helena.

“Adrianna.”

Meyer withdrew from Martese's thoughts and returned to his body. With an ungracious thud, he fell to the floor as his legs gave way. He'd overdone it and for what, a lie? Pushing Martese for a name had been a mistake, too much energy expended for an answer that could not be true.

“Mr Ravenscroft?” Meyer heard a voice say. “Are you okay?”

It was Charlie. Meyer opened his eyes and the reality of his foolishness kicked in. Helena was standing in the doorway, her gaze fixed on him. She wasn't happy, that much was clear. Christ, had he mucked that last bit up? Had she discovered what he had done?

“We need to talk,” Helena said.

With those four words, she left the room. Charlie strained to raise Meyer from the ground, letting out a groan as he finally brought Meyer to his feet.

“Thank you, boy. A glass of whiskey and I'll be right as rain,” Meyer said.

He left the room using Charlie as a support and was guided into yet another meeting room. This one was much larger, with a frosted glass board table and surrounding leather chairs. Helena sat at one side, a silhouette against the view of St. James' Park behind her. Meyer took a seat, staring expectantly at Charlie: he hadn't been joking about the whiskey.

“'Expose the government,' 'Nigel Elmore' and 'Adrianna'. Those were the only bits of information Pablo Martese told you?” Helena said.

“You should have said he was an alternate,” Meyer said.

“A mentalist. I imagine no other type of alternate could surely cause you that much trouble, that is unless, there is more you discovered that you would like to discuss?”

“What did he mean by 'Expose the government'?”

“Obviously, he was talking about how we keep the alternate world a secret. Isn't that what those damn terrorists of yours fight for?”

“My terrorists? You need to watch the way you band us together Helena, not very PC of you at all. Alternates deserve the same rights, surely? You cannot brand us as animals that need controlling, or a dirty secret you don't want to escape. Interesting thing was, you didn't ask how he intends to do it?”

“Intended. And I didn't ask, because I already have that information, I just needed the contact. You haven't answered my question.”

“This Elmore fellow, he is a member of your staff?”

“That isn't of your concern.”

“What is of my concern, Helena, is who he claimed his boss to be. Adrianna.