“Mrs. Douglas?”
The door opened, back on its chain. This time the old woman held out a square of card.
“If I give you this I want your word you'll never come anywhere near me ever again. Understand?”
“Sure,” he said. He had nothing to lose.
Simms took the piece of card. The woman slammed the door closed. Standing there on the step, Simms looked at what he'd been given. It was an old photograph, the colours faded now. It showed a man in an old-fashioned suit sitting behind a large wooden desk. His fingers were poised over the keyboard of an ancient, bulky computer. The man scowled at the camera as if disapproving of it. Writing beneath the picture identified him as Dr. Grendel, Professor of Genetics at London University. But it was the man's face that really caught Simms' attention. He
