And as for the night,
keep vigil a part of it, as a work of supererogation for thee;
it may be that they Lord will
raise thee up to a laudable station.— The Koran, Sura 17, Arberry translation
During the late afternoon (i.e. around dusk), Magariel makes sure to keep on the floor below PC Wells in the police station. The theory is that he has to drop his Humanity attunement to collect his evening essence, and Magariel hopes to be close enough to hear him put it back up again. She hears nothing, however.
The angels find yet another different pub to meet in that evening to discuss what they have found. Checking the bugs on the cars, they notice that Alex' car is moving. Atoziel and Boriel set of in pursuit on Atoziel's motorbike — Boriel, who has an oath about obeying traffic regulations, finds it very hard to cope with some of the Ofanite's short cuts. Magariel and Helophel follow them in Helophel's bike-and-sidecar combo (which has had a proper seeing to by a twitchy Malakite of Lightening since its last outing), while Excel and Blakely follow more stylishly in Blakely's Aston Martin. After all the panic, it turns out that Alex has just taken Amanda out to a restaurant for the evening. All bar Boriel and Atoziel head for Beverly Road; Boriel uses Ethereal Form and something he prepared earlier to sabotage Alex' car. Now, at a time of the Malakite's choosing, the Balseraph's brakes will fail…
In Beverly Road, the angels take advantage of knowing that Alex is out to burgle his house. Excel, again under Ethereal Form, picks the lock on the back door. Blakely and Helophel sneak up and in, but Magariel trips over a dustbin and starts singing drunkenly as cover. He wanders noisily out of the alleyway back into the main street, shedding the drunk act as he goes, and is eventually let in the front door by the others.
The first thing that they notice is Alex' video collection; sport off TV (he really does seem to be that interested in rugby), soft porn, a little hard porn (most of it hidden away from casual glance), and other random stuff with no discernible pattern. Blakely then goes for the address book, looking for obvious demonic contacts; all that springs to attention is two different numbers for Giuseppe's. Meanwhile those searching upstairs come across a trunk full of bondage gear, which the forensic expert opines hasn't been used in the last month or so. There isn't much food in the fridge, and the house is generally underused — though to Magariel's educated nose the bedroom does smell of sex. In short, it shows many tell-tale signs of being the abode of a celestial. Pausing only to copy down edited highlights of his bank and Visa statements — Alex is quite well off — and rifle through his briefcase — uninteresting — the angels leave.
Later, around 10pm, Magariel and Atoziel go to Giuseppe's. Atoziel doesn't try for one of the girls again, reasoning that would imply he had too much money for his role, and is just an amiable fruitloop. Just like most of the other patrons, come to think of it. For reassurance, Magariel pings his resonance on David and comes up with the answer "Not on this plane, guv'nor." Panic. A follow-up resonance to check on who is watching produces the first player DI of the campaign; David is in a realm in the Far Marches, and is completely safe. He is watched (loosely speaking) by friends, specifically people that he knows, by an Ethereal power somewhat shielded from Magariel's attentions, and by a Djinn.
Atoziel and Magariel head for the chip-shop Tether to Creation, which is only ten minutes away, and ascend. In Heaven, they waste no time but head straight for Blandine's Tower. The door is guarded by two Cherubim, Xenophon, whose celestial form is of a winged horse, and Ahazariel, a griffin. They greet the winged wolf and the patterned wheel, hear their request and arrange for a Malakite of Dreams, Phanuel, to accompany them. The three pass through the Tower and out into the Marches. After a while, Magariel's resonance tells him that David has returned to the Corporeal Plane. With the combination of Magariel's previous pin-point knowledge of where his attuned was, Phanuel's knowledge of the Marches and Atoziel's implausibly high Area Knowledge of everywhere, after many hours of travelling they finally reach… somewhere.