1-13:The Secret of the Lost Gavel: A New Pope

‘Long, sweet,’ said Marcus and tutted. ‘damn.’

He stepped forward and leaned onto the desk, confiding. ‘Sorry, it’s my first day on the job.’

The guard picked up her nail-file and tapped it gently on Marcus’s knuckles; there was a clear hint that if he didn’t remove them, the next time the file touched skin, it would be at high speed and point-first.

‘How about we just–’ started Marcus, withdrawing his hand from danger.

‘Banana,’ asked Daisy, getting to the point.

Marcus straightened and pointed at her, enthusiastically. ‘That’s the one!’

Daisy nodded, satisfied.

There was a pause, and a number of the participants blinked.

‘Oh yeah,’ Daisy exclaimed, yanking her arms free of her bonds.

‘Bloody hell,’ Marcus exclaimed, right on cue and with only a smidgen of insincerity.

The guard hurled her file down and as it twanged point-first in the desk, she yanked up more substantial armaments. The bottle of scotch became airborne in Daisy’s direction.

Daisy plucked the bottle from the air, with scarcely a drop lost as Marcus leapt across the desk and pinned the guard beneath him.

She struggled and then was still.

‘Grab the cuffs,’ said Marcus.

‘What,’ asked Daisy sarcastically. ‘You’re talking to me now?’

She took a sniff of the bottle, then a swig. It was definitely alcoholic.

Marcus snorted huffily and gave her a look which was not totally obscured by the conical white mask across his head.

‘Thanks for not putting up a fight,’ said Marcus to the guard.

‘Fighting’s not in my contract,’ said the guard. ‘I’m here to tick boxes not preventing jailbreaks.’

‘No time and a half then,’ asked Marcus, engaging in the conversation. ‘No danger money?’

‘That’s a perk,’ said the guard. ‘Look, could you get off of me, it’s hard to breathe.’

Marcus moved enough to still hold the guard but not enough for her to break free.

‘Thanks,’ she said.

He glanced up as Daisy held a pair of handcuffs out for him.

‘And I’m on a crappy hourly rate,’ the guard continued as Marcus took the cuffs. ‘If they could get away with not paying me, they would. Lost count of the times where there have been payroll issues and I’ve been docked.’

‘Bastards,’ said Marcus, helping the guard back to her seat. He handcuffed the guard to the chair and stood.