Insequor by Richard Murphy Page A

nodded; whether through sympathy or comprehension Daniel couldn’t tell. He wrote some notes and then looked back up, fixing him squarely in the eye.
    “Would you say you have a normal sex life?”
    Daniel felt his cheeks flush. “Excuse me?”
    The Doctor had gone back to his notes and wasn’t even looking at him. “Your sex life. Is it normal?”
    “Define normal.”
    “Do you have a partner? Do you masturbate regularly? Have you ever had sex with an animal?”
    “No. Yes. No. In that order.”
    The Doctor finished writing before putting the lid back on his pen, slipping it into his tweed jacket and then smiling. “Thank you. Your associates are outside.”
    For a moment he stayed in his seat, Perry had pulled a book down off the shelf and was already cross referencing something with his notes.
    He stood up, waited to see if there was anything else, before letting himself out. In the corridor he found Toby deep in conversation with Jones, the latter getting a little agitated. As soon as they saw him walk out of the door they both lowered their voices.
    Jones strode over and lifted his head back to get a look at him, “You okay?”
    He nodded. “What were you talking about?”
    Jones turned to look at Toby who was back on his phone. “The media’s outside.”
    “How many?”
    “All of them. You’ve been in there for hours.”
    “I won’t have to talk to anyone will I?”
    “No, maybe. Toby’s trying to get a local PR man over to the hotel to coordinate things as he’s not too familiar with the British press.”
    One of the agents gave the order to move and then went ahead along the corridor. Toby and one of the men up front, Daniel and Jones in the middle with another agent behind them. As they got to the lobby and walked through the metal detector the flashes started up outside. Daniel tried to guard his eyes and Jones threw his arm around him. At the door the agents formed a human shield and slowly pushed through the throng.
    People shouted, more cameras flashed and there were even spotlights. People were yelling his name. How did they know his name? The car door was just ahead and he leapt the last few feet and ended up on the back seat. The doors shut and off they sped. When he managed to pull himself up he was surprised to find not Jones, but Toby.
    His dark hair was stuck to the side of his face and his glasses were at an angle. He straightened them and brushed back his curly locks. He put his phone in his pocket and looked down.
    “This is what it’s going to be like from now on.” He let the words hang in the air, before turning and looking out of the window. Shapes and shadows flashed past on his skin as the daylight turned neon.
    “Have you ever heard of ‘Pheme’, Daniel?”
    He pulled himself up and adjusted his back into the seat. “No,” he said.
    “In Greek mythology she was the Goddess of rumour. It’s where we get the word ‘fame’ from.”
    Daniel too looked out at the streets racing past. The city was just as before but now he felt as if he was being watched.
    “The Roman’s called her ‘Fama’ and say she had many tongues, eyes and ears. She lived in a house with a thousand windows so she could hear everything being said. According to Virgil, she had her ‘feet on the ground, and her head in the clouds; making the small seem great and the great seem greater.’”
    Daniel touched the glass, squeaked his finger downwards on the condensation. Fama’s eyes were already gazing upon him. But what could he do?
    “I’m sorry I spoke to the reporter,” he said, finally.
    “You don’t have to apologise to me. It was bound to happen eventually; something like this can only stay a secret so long. I just want you to be prepared for it.”
    “What will happen? Will I have to do interviews? Go on TV?”
    “All of that, and more.”
    They drove in silence for a little while longer and he noticed they passed by the gates to Hyde Park. “Are we not going back to the