"Is this a dagger I see before me?"—"Macbeth", William Shakespeare
The angels are handed copies of Jean's preliminary initial report into the dagger he is analysing. It matches the descriptions of the Dagger of Bithynia in most respects, but it is slowly unravelling. The Archangel of Lightning as yet has no hypothesis to advance concerning stopping this unravelling, but considers it 87% likely that the incompleteness of the Dagger is a primary cause. Rejoining the Daggers is therefore an option to be investigated.
There is minor panic amongst the angels that they may have been diverted away from Heathrow again. Magariel pings his resonance on Excel in an attempt to find out; Excel is citywards of Heathrow and in no danger, so is no help. The Seneschal makes enquiries in a more mundane manner; the overworked angel who normally tries to keep tabs on goings on at the airport reports nothing out of the ordinary.
Meanwhile, Atoziel keeps on digging into Gerald Langridge. There is remarkably little information to be found. He is a director of a currency speculation company, an occasional benefactor in the locality, and his house is about 250 years old. His old school yearbooks do mention him as appropriate, and there is one grainy school photo that he is in (somewhere). That's about it.
Blakely, back in his morgue, is happily cataloging corpses when a rather tired D.S. Winters, the police accident coordinator, asks him if he's seen PC Wells or WPC Herald recently. It seems that they haven't reported in for an hour or two. Curious. Blakely tells Winters that he only saw the pair when he first arrived at the crash site (which is true). Once the troubled policeman has gone, Blakely phones this information through to Magariel. No one is quite sure what to make of it.
It is decided that Magariel and Atoziel will "fetch" Langridge for Raposo, who is still insisting that with appropriate help he can resummon that annoying imp, Hamet. He doesn't seem to take on board that Hamet is of the demonic nobility. Mind you, he isn't taking on board much of anything by this point. A request is put out for backup from servitors of the Sword; Romiel (a Malakite) and Veruthiel (an Ofanite) come down the Tether, while the original snatch squad (Phalastos, Zephiriel, Atar and Ataniel) take more mundane means of travel. There is a discussion of how best to expose a Tether of Secrets, possibly with the help of angels of Revelation. Or possibly using the Dagger of Bithynia in its revelation mode. A pleasing symmetry is found in the latter idea.
The angels' deliberations are interrupted by a further report from Jean. The dagger appears to be stabilised temporarily by feeding it Essence. This doesn't appear to reduce its dangerousness to its wielder, however. It appears to break down nearby forces in a manner akin to the effects of radiation on living corporeal matter. The archangel estimates that carrying the dagger for an hour is safe, carrying it for twelve hours is probably safe, and carrying it for twenty four hours is almost certainly fatal. It is however 98% likely to be a suitable object for using the Corporeal Song of Affinity on to locate the other dagger.
The group decide that Corporeal Affinity would be a good thing to use. It's just a shame none of them have it. Boriel remedies this by ascending to heaven, consulting with Jean and coming away with the song. Trying it out, the Dagger pulls somewhat to the north, in a direction approximately consistent with Langridge House according to Atoziel.
Everyone piles into the unmarked van that the Laurencians thoughtfully brought with them, and heads up to the vicinity of Langridge House. Thanks to some implausibly effective navigation by Atoziel, they arrive at around 4pm with a plan. Atoziel and Magariel will bluff their way in through the front door, as the people most likely to spot active naughtiness, while Boriel, Helophel and Ataniel (who has the Ethereal Song of Shields) sneak round the back and over the (high) garden wall. The remaining angels will lurk around the corner as reserves, just in case, and will come in if the insiders hit their panic buttons. Boriel's Song of Affinity declares that the Dagger is currently in the basement, and as the angels approach they notice that all the lights are on and there is a gentle hubbub of conversation from the garden.