Mycroft Holmes was no ordinary civil servant. To some extent, he represented MI6, MI5, and the Cabinet Office. Sir Arnold, the honorary chancellor of Oxford University, often invited Salomon to dinner because of Mycroft's recommendation. Under Mycroft's smooth talk, the dim-sighted Sir Arnold had come to believe that Salomon would one day become "one of us."
Without that power and those channels for gathering information, Mycroft could never have uprooted the pieces Salomon had planted and guided Sherlock Holmes to the final answer in such a short time. But he had not expected that final answer to be such a powder keg. Vampires poured out of the sewers, seeking revenge on the overly arrogant Sherlock Holmes. Mycroft had not anticipated that outcome either, forcing him to call New York for assistance in the middle of the night while dispatching the SAS to seal off the sewer exits. Only when Salomon arrived did Mycroft finally breathe a sigh of relief.
He had constantly sought to assimilate Salomon, to draw this man backed by powerful outside forces into becoming "one of us." Yet Salomon had already rejected him back when they were at school. This time, Salomon and Mycroft each wanted something. Both knew the other did not want this matter to become public knowledge, but negotiation was a process of mutual compromise. No matter how unwilling they were, they had to compromise with one another.
"I once had this sort of conversation with Nick Fury. All you want is secrets. Ever since you met me, you've kept probing into my secrets, just like Nick Fury did when he first met me." Salomon spread his hands. "But you still have a choice, Mycroft. I can show you the secrets. Nick Fury is dead. All I can guarantee is that it had nothing