Chen tried to snatch an hour of sleep, but the dreams kept chasing themselves through his head, an endless, wearying round of Zhu Irzh, his mother, Daisy, Miss Qi, and various Ministers, all running in and out of a vast mansion like some kind of operatic farce. He felt more exhausted when he actually awoke, than if he'd not slept at all. He went into the little en suite bathroom and splashed rusty water over his face. It did not help. Then he went next door and knocked.
Zhu Irzh took several minutes to answer and when he did, he looked as fatigued as Chen felt.
"Couldn't sleep a wink," he said in answer to Chen's enquiry. "Kept thinking about things, and I can't help feeling that something's getting at me."
"Wouldn't surprise me," Chen said. "What kind of something?"
"That's just it, I don't know. I kept thinking there was someone in the room, that I was being watched. I even got up and checked behind the curtains and under the bed like a kid, but there was no one there. It's just paranoia. Probably seeing my family has done it."
"We've got to focus on finding Miss Qi," Chen said, although he was thinking of the thing in the garden on the previous nights. He was certain they were being watched and he knew that Zhu Irzh would agree. Then a thought struck him and he wondered that he hadn't considered it before; he was not used to being in Hell on legitimate non-crime-related business, that was the problem. "We'd better let the Ministry of War know what's happened. They've probably got something planned for us today."
"I'd forgotten about the Ministry of War," Zhu Irzh said, and sighed. "Believe it or not."
The Ministry of War, however, had not forgotten them. When Chen and Zhu Irzh went downstairs, they found a bright and cheerful Underling No waiting in the hall, perky in her stiff leather armor.
"Detective! Seneschal! Is Miss Qi not with you?"
"No, she's not," Chen said grimly, and explained what had occurred.
Underling No appeared genuinely dismayed. If Zhu Irzh was wrong and it was not the Ministry of Lust who was behind Miss Qi's abduction, then Chen seriously doubted that Underling No had anything to do with it. Either that or she was an excellent actress: she was a demon, after all. He thought of that lithe figure in red: Could it be? But Underling No seemed too stocky, too solid, although it was difficult to tell under all that ornate armor.
"But this is appalling!" Underling No exclaimed. "And worse, it is an insult to us. The Lesser Lord must be told immediately. The Minister must also know." She raised her wrist to her mouth. A metal frog, open-mouthed, was inlaid in the cuff of her armor. Underling No spoke briefly into it, using some manner of code. A moment later, a voice came out of the mouth of the frog.
"Report to the Ministry immediately. Bring our guests with you."
Chen had the sensation of being caught up in events and swept along, and to his mild surprise, this was not displeasing. Before, on his visits to Hell, he had grown used to acting alone, apart from Zhu Irzh and whoever else had been along for the ride. But their power had always been limited: solo battles against supernatural might. Now, with the Ministry of War seemingly eager to become involved, Chen felt that he actually had a measure of support.
Best not to let yourself become too trusting, though, Chen thought. This was still Hell.
At the Ministry of War, battle stations appeared to be well underway. The immense iron doors swung open as Underling No's carriage clattered up to it, the hooves of the deer striking sparks from the stone. The carriage shot straight up the steps and through the doors into the atrium, where the Lesser Lord was waiting, barking orders amidst a milling crowd of warriors. He looked even more bristling than before; layers seemed to have been added to his already decorative armor.
"Detective, Seneschal. I understand we have a problem."
"Miss Qi is missing, Lesser Lord," Chen told him. "She was taken from our hotel last night as we were returning from Zhu Irzh's family gathering. There are indications that the Ministry of Lust is behind the kidnapping."
"I'll show you," Zhu Irzh said. "We've got a recording."
"Not here," the Lesser Lord said quickly. "In my office."
He ushered them upstairs, and Zhu Irzh took the coal from his pocket and activated it. The Lesser Lord and Underling No watched in silence as Miss Qi was, once again, stolen away.
"That red person," Underling No said. "I'm sure I've seen her before."
"It's a woman, then?" Chen asked. "We weren't sure."
"Definitely female," Underling No confirmed.
"The shadow-masks," the Lesser Lord said. "Those are used by the Ministry of Lust. Each Ministry has its particular style of armor and weaponry, you see: it is an ancient dictate imposed by the Emperor, to make sure that everyone can be identified."
"Our informer didn't seem sure," Chen said.
"Your informer is merely a staff member at the hotel, not a civil servant. Ask anyone involved in administration and they would have been able to tell you, others, probably not. But I can say with some certainty that these people come from Lust. And that creates a problem."
Chen sighed. He'd thought as much.
"You see," the Lesser Lord said, with a degree of embarrassment that suggested he was aware of a loss of face, "there's always a delicate relationship between the Ministries. I'm sure you understand. Power in Hell is always an unstable thing, with various governmental departments enjoying a closer or more distant relationship with the Imperial Court. At present, the Ministry of War is enjoying some degree of support, but the Emperor is always more wary of our department than of others, and to be honest, most of the previous Majesties have been close to the Ministry of Lust and this administration is no exception. I'm sure you can understand why."
Chen thought that he understood very well. The Emperor didn't trust the Ministry of War, because War was the obvious Ministry to stage a coup. The Imperial Court approved of Lust, for reasons that were, indeed, perfectly obvious. If the Ministry of War started a campaign against Lust, particularly one that revolved around the presence of a Celestial and thus was likely to bring the Imperial Court into even worse diplomatic odor with Heaven, then the Emperor was going to be displeased with War. And that would probably result in loss of funding for War's currently massive campaign, perhaps a change of Minister (which might directly impact upon poor old Zhu Irzh, quite apart from anything else, given his recent familial connections), and who knows: obliteration of War from the central square of Hell and relegation to some even more squalid lower realm. It might be farfetched, but a rather similar fate had recently befallen the now-rebuilt Ministry of Epidemics, after all.
"So the situation will have to be handled with an element of diplomacy, as regards our esteemed absent guest," the Lesser Lord was saying, and Chen heard: We're not sticking our heads above the parapet for some Heavenly bint.
"The Ministry will of course support in theory any actions you may wish to undertake."
You go and get her back and we'll deny any knowledge of it if you screw up.
"And we look forward to welcoming Miss Qi back within our portals."
Just get on with it, all right? And I don't want to hear about it in the meantime.
"I commend your subtle approach," said Chen. Very well, then, you lily-livered Hellspawn, we don't have any choice but to let you off the hook. "I'm sure the Ministry will act honorably in supplying us with any relevant information, however." How do we get into the Ministry of Lust?
"I have spoken with the Minister and, naturally, he understands the situation." The Lesser Lord gave a relieved nod toward his desk, on which sat a scroll. The Lesser Lord then turned and stared hard for a moment out of the window, during which Zhu Irzh leaned forward and neatly appropriated the scroll. "I don't think we have anything further to discuss."
"I appreciate your delicacy in this matter," Chen replied.
"Underling No will show you out. You might like to visit one of the blood cafés: you'll find them on the other side of the square. Jin's does a rather pleasant lunch."
Chen and Zhu Irzh, with fulsome protestations of gratitude designed to restore the Lesser Lord's diminished face, followed Underling No back down to the atrium.
"I'll take you to Jin's," Underling No said. "My cousin runs it. It's a nice place."
Rather curious, Chen agreed. They needed to formulate a plan of action, preferably somewhere in which they could not be easily overheard, although given current magical practice it was difficult to say how realistic that was. But he did not understand why Underling No was being so helpful, nor did he trust her.
They crossed the square. Chen glanced back at the Ministry of War. It had been nice to feel that he'd had some support, even though it had lasted only as long as a conversation and he hadn't really believed in it anyway. He glanced at Zhu Irzh, striding along with his black silk cloak whipping around his heels, and once more thought how strange it was that the two people closest to him were demons. Inari, he could understand: there was love there, and gratitude. But Zhu Irzh had owed Chen nothing, been owed nothing, and he'd still put himself on the line on a number of occasions. The demon dismissed it with a characteristic insouciance, but even so, Chen thought it was significant. To their left, the Ministry of Lust rose in bloated opulence. Chen hoped that the Lesser Lord had slipped them some information that was actually useful, like a map. The thought of breaking into the Ministry was daunting, but he'd done worse. It was just a bigger version of a demon lounge, wasn't it? And they'd been in plenty of those. In his gut, however, Chen knew that this was not quite true. The Ministry of Lust was a primary source of much of the world's corruption. Horrible, to think of poor Miss Qi incarcerated within its fleshy walls.
"It's this one," Underling No was saying. Chen looked out across a range of blood cafés, all with their telltale barrel signs and characteristic dark crimson awnings. They all looked the same to Chen, but Underling No led them to a café at the end of the row and ushered them to a seat. To Chen's relief, this was outside. There was not just the issue of potential eavesdroppers to consider, but also the question of the smell. Blood cafés and emporia smelled of, well, blood, and Chen found it fairly nauseating after prolonged exposure.
"What can I get you?" asked Underling No, transformed into an anxious, if unlikely, hostess.
"Just some tea," Chen said quickly. "Ordinary black tea. Or green, if you have it." Anything but red.
To his surprise, Underling No bustled away without demur and returned a few minutes later carrying a teapot, along with a bottle of blood beer that she set in front of Zhu Irzh.
"We'd better have a look at this so-called information," Chen said.
Zhu Irzh, after a glance around, took the scroll out of his pocket and rolled it out onto the tabletop. To Chen's relief, it was indeed a map.
"Yeah, this is it," said Zhu Irzh. "It's definitely the Min of Lust. Look, here's the central dome."
Chen studied the map. It showed a number of levels and stories, including one at the bottom that appeared to depict the cellar.
"Makes sense to go in below ground," Chen said, grimacing. He'd had rather too much experience of Hell's sewer system. Then, he was startled as a mailed hand shot out and grasped his wrist.
"Take me with you," said Underling No.