I groaned at the dumb question. "Sightseeing!" I snapped, then lowered a hand. "C'mon we haven't much time, and we have to find Mr Crepsley."

I'm sure Harkat had a thousand questions I had too, like how come he was all alone, and why wasn't he handcuffed? but he realized how perilous our position was, grabbed the offered hand and let me drag him up, saying nothing.

He had a harder time squeezing on to the rafters than me his body was a lot rounder than mine but finally he was lying out flat beside me and we crawled forward, side by side, without discussing our plight.

The next eight or nine cells were empty or occupied by humans. I was growing anxious about the amount of time that had passed. Regardless of what was happening with Steve Leopard, my escape was bound to be noticed sooner rather than later, and pursuit would be fierce when it came. I was wondering whether it would be wiser to quit while we were ahead, when someone spoke from a spot in the cell underneath, just ahead of me.

"I am ready to make a statement now," said the voice, and by the second syllable I had the speaker pegged Mr Crepsley!

I held up a hand for Harkat to stop, but he'd heard it too and had already come to a standstill (or rather, acrawl still).

"About time," a policeman said. "Let me check that our recorder's working …"

"Never mind your infernal recording device," Mr Crepsley sniffed. "I do not address myself to inanimate machines. Nor do I waste words on buffoons. I will speak to neither you nor your partner on my left. As for that cretin by the door with the rifle …"

I had to stifle a giggle. The sly old fox! He must have heard us crawling about up here and was letting us know exactly how things stood in the cell, how many police were present and where they were.

"You'd better watch yourself," the policeman snapped.