Ross hummed thoughtfully. "I have always been very good at reading other people," he said, after a beat passed. "There was an expectation that I go into the Ministry, but Law Enforcement is the department that uses that skill the most." He liked it, process and interviews and figuring others out — and eventually, he'd discovered that he was also good at managing people, and that was that. "And I stayed in law enforcement once I discovered I had a talent for crisis management. I suppose that's come in handy, over the years." His tone bordered on rueful — he had not wanted things to end like this, with dragons on the Thames, but there was no avoiding it.

"What drew you to inventing?" Ross asked.