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to chatter. ‘Organ music,’ he repeated. ‘And something being done secretly. There’s something creepy going on ... ’
    They turned and found themselves facing an arched doorway and a little room with narrow beds where two people lay – alone, but not unattended. Each bed was so surrounded by machines and screens that the room was like the setting for a science-fiction game. The occupants lay like dead people, but the looping lines on the screens beside the beds seemed to indicate that some sort of monitored life was being lived by the people stretched out there.
    â€˜Think about it,’ he said slowly, staring at the screens. ‘What if Dr Fabrice does secret medical deals for rich people – swapping organs or whatever. Some people have to wait a long time for a new heart.’ Then his mind made another jump. ‘And what if ...’
    â€˜Shut up!’ Harley snapped. ‘Let’s just get out of here.’
    The patient in the nearest bed was the young man they had already seen in the bed further down the hall. There was no doubt about it. Though he now had a mask on, with various tubes and wires plastered into his neck and arms, the blue tattoos on his hands and forearms were unmistakable. His skin was pale but lacked the horrid transparency it had before. David felt suddenly sure that he had materialized in front of them to give them some sort of warning. And in the next bed ... the next bed ... He must see who was under that sheet, wired into the machines. He felt sure it was Quinta.
    â€˜Don’t look!’ Harley guessed what David was about to do.
    And then they heard a quiet sound. Beyond the screens the door had opened.
    â€˜Are you there?’ someone asked in a loud whisper. ‘You can come out now.’
    Harley put a finger to his lips. But feet were crossing the tiled floor. ‘Don’t be worried,’ said the voice. ‘I’m on your side.’
    Someone peered around the screens, and beamed at them. ‘Oh, there you are!’
    It was the gatekeeper, Winnie Finney.

‘A lot of people are looking for you two,’ he remarked. ‘I thought I’d join in the hunt. You seem to be causing a bit of trouble, and I have a soft spot for trouble-makers. I was a bit of a tearaway myself, way back when.’
    â€˜Something’s going on,’ said David. ‘Something really freaky.’
    Winnie Finney looked around the room, rather as if he too found it unpleasant.
    â€˜After all, it is a research establishment,’ he said, half to himself. ‘No wonder people like you and me find it all a bit strange ... a little bit bothering, I mean to say. And I can’t believe you kids mean any harm. So if we get to my room you can hide out there, until the daytime staff come on duty. You’ll have more chance of getting away when there are a lot of people around. They won’t pick you out in the same way.’
    David could have kissed him. He sounded so ordinary and easy going ... so reliable .
    â€˜I’ll check the corridor,’ said Winnie Finney. ‘The elevator’s almost directly opposite.’
    The boys watched as he opened the door, peered right, peered left, and then beckoned them forward.
    â€˜Are you ready? Then follow me. Now!’
    Sliding furtively after him, a little way along the blue corridor, they stopped beside a dark blue grill. Winnie Finney pressed a button. First the grill, and then the door behind it, hissed open. The three of them piled through, Winnie Finney pressing buttons. The elevator shot down (though how far down David could not tell), then came to a stop. The door slid open once more, and they stepped out on to a deep red carpet. The warm colour was a relief after all that chilly blue.
    â€˜My office is along here,’ said Winnie Finney. ‘And no one bothers to bother me. I’m the mechanic – the odd-jobs man. So come and sit down and have something to