There’s great excitement at my appearance. Staff crowd the landings overhead, eager to catch a glimpse. I guess I’m the next best thing to royalty in this city, and it’s not often that my minions — apart from those who work in Party Central — get a chance to gawk at me.

I stand my ground where I entered, waiting for a guide to come. It turns out to be the chief pathologist, Alex Sines. We’ve met before, at various functions, and a couple of times in Party Central. He’s a pain in the ass but the best in his field.

“Capac,” he beams as if we’re bosom buddies. “You’re the last person I expected to find. Come to check up on us, or is—”

“I want to see The Cardinal’s coffin,” I interrupt.

That throws him. “The…? Oh, you mean the other Cardinal. Mr. Dorak.”

“Yes.”

He smiles falteringly. “It’s rather late for a visit. May I ask—”

“Just take me to him. Now. Before I replace you with someone who knows how to obey when he’s given an order.”

Sines bristles but has sense enough not to bite back. He leads me through the maze of coffins. I follow silently, ignoring the onlookers, turning a deaf ear to their speculative whispers.

We end up at a crypt deep inside the Fridge. A small, octagonal, metal growth, the only freestanding structure within the building. Everyone else has to share. The Cardinal, in death as in life, resides alone. The entrance to the crypt is barred by a computerized door.

“I’m the only one who knows the combination,” Sines boasts, keying it in. “The walls are lined with every kind of alarm imaginable. The Cardinal made sure his body wouldn’t be vulnerable to grave-robbers.”

“What happens when you die?” I ask.

“I keep the code on file, in a secret location. My successor will be able to retrieve it.”