The intercom on Angel's desk beeped before Harmony's nervous, slightly nasal tones interrupted Angel's chain of brood. "I know you said you wanted to cancel your appointments, but Wesley's here to see you and he says it might be important."

Angel gave a heartfelt sigh and pressed down the button on the intercom, which was the only thing on his desk other than the volume of prophecy the vampire had borrowed from Wes's office. He closed the book. Wes would still know exactly which prophecy he'd been reading, but it at least allowed him an illusion of privacy. "Send him in."

Seconds later, after a warning knock, the door of his office opened and Wes entered, a manila folder clutched in his hand.

"I hope this is important, Wes?" The vampire sounded anything but enthusiastic about hearing what he had to say.

"Potentially... though it might also turn out to be irrelevant," Wes admitted. He slid the file onto Angel's desk, turning it so that it was at the right angle for his boss to open it and read it. "One of our covert teams has sent a report about an artefact, a silver medallion known because of the reliefs on either side as 'The Kiss of Death'. They have reason to believe it's been smuggled into the country."

"There are lots of artefacts. What's so special about this one?" Angel asked, flipping open the file.

"Oh, just the fact that if it falls into the wrong hands... or more accurately your hands or those of any of the walking dead... then, well, you become more dead."

"Then except for meaning that I should stay clear of it, I can't see the bad in that. Is there something that makes you think it presents some sort of danger?"

"Other than to the undead? No. My department has done some research. It seems that it's completely harmless to humans."

"Who has it? Are they a threat?"

"That's rather a long story. From the report we received, the artefact was smuggled into the country inside... an art piece.

Our team were investigating the disappearance of a cadre of vampires when they came across the paperwork for the pick up. It looks like the vampires who were killed were planning to use it as a Trojan horse to get to the head of a rival faction, only the rivals got to them first. Our agents thought they could pose as the buyer, but the customs agent who was supposed to open up the package, take out the artefact and then send the rest of the goods on to their proper owner as per eBay's records... well, it seems he either got caught up in the crossfire or made a run for it. The package went through unopened and, so far as we can tell, the artefact is now in the hands of a total innocent."

"So he has no idea what he's got?" the vampire asked.

"No, from what we can tell, she is completely unaware of anything hidden within the piece, let alone its mystical significance. In fact, I doubt she has any idea about the supernatural at all."

"Other than us, who knows she has it?"

"For now, I don't think anyone does, but these things have a way of coming out."

Angel closed the folder and passed it back to Wesley. "Get someone from the acquisitions department to see if they can buy this whatever it is. She's just bought it, right?"

"Yes."

"So she hasn't had time to get attached to it. Tell her some story about how we're redecorating and we really want this thing but the guy who was supposed to keep track of the bids slipped up. Offer her a quarter over what she paid or something. Whatever it takes..." Angel stood up, walking over and opening the office door. Wesley's audience was obviously at an end.

"And if she won't sell?"

Angel sighed. "We're pretty certain no one else knows about this. If we make a fuss then we'll just draw attention to her. If she won't sell and she doesn't know she's got it, then it seems unlikely that anyone's going to use it. Just leave it hidden in this... What did you say it was?"