"What can I get?"
"The Brexit bill."
The woman remained calm. The air in the room was warm and humid, yet he could not see any vapor from breath on the cold glass window near her, forcing Mycroft Holmes to wonder whether she was even alive.
"The Prime Minister's advisers will produce a bill that satisfies many people, and the European Union will agree to delay the Brexit timetable."
Mycroft Holmes carefully remembered every clue the woman had revealed. Though he could not rule out the possibility of misdirection, she had pointed the investigation in a direction. The woman seemed entirely unconcerned that he would investigate. Bulgaria had set a precedent, and everyone involved in related incidents understood the price—this was also why many NATO countries did not want war with the Yugoslav Federation. Their opponent possessed the ability to erase an entire government apparatus and financial system. In a system steeped in extreme self-interest, power was merely a means of acquiring wealth. The health of the system had little to do with the individual. Everyone who held power scrambled to gnaw away at it, terrified that someone else would take the benefits that were rightfully theirs.
"This is what you will receive. Sir Holmes, the only stain on your illustrious career will be erased. No one will think you are no longer reliable."
The woman's appearance had been as sudden as her disappearance.
Not long after his subordinate bypassed proper procedure to deliver classified documents to Mycroft Holmes's residence, where he passed them on to the woman, she vanished in the instant he looked away. Only an utterly decrepit old butler remained in the house. "Sir?" The old butler carried a tray holding a bottle of sherry and several exquisite glasses. "Where is the guest?"
"Poor Haji, so old