Dead Men's s Boots

I told him you we›tol0;Ire digging for information about Kale and might have some to trade.’

‘And he said –?’

‘“Fuck. Another one? Why won’t anyone let her lie in her fucking grave?”’

‘Well, thanks for priming the pump there, Nicky.’

‘Don’t mention it.’ He put his wineglass underneath his nose and inhaled deeply, eyes closed. Since he died, that’s Nicky’s most sensual pleasure: I let him spin it out as long as he wanted to. Juliet was following all this with a detached, almost bored look on her face, but I knew that she was taking everything in.

You don’t get to be as old as she is by letting your attention wander.

When Nicky put the glass down I shot him an expectant look. By way of answer he sat back in his chair and made himself comfortable.

‘The stuff in the box,’ I prompted.

‘Sure.’ He was still in no hurry. ‘I notice Johnny boy’s little gofer is dead.’

‘Meaning Vince Chesney?’ I frowned. ‘Yeah, he is. How’d you know?’

Nicky looked smug. ‘Two and two, Castor,’ he said. ‘The little baggies that Gittings’s souvenirs were packed in had a name label printed on them – some animal-pathology outfit called Nexus.

And this morning Nexus is all over the news on account of having lost one of its employees last night in an inexplicable bloodbath at their premises in Victoria. Some security guard got to join the choir invisible, too. No witnesses, no leads, at least when I hacked the PNC at four a.m. Juliet tells me you were there.’

‘Yeah. I was there.’ I glanced at Juliet, who shrugged. I hadn’t told her it was a big secret, but I’d still have liked the right of veto on telling Nicky about it.

‘It was a loup-garou, right?’

‘Right. Nicky, have you got something for me or not? Because twenty questions was never my game.’

He gave me a languid grin, stubbornly determined not to pick up the pace. ‘I know your game, Castor. It’s blind man’s bluff.’ I opened my mouth to curse him out and he raised a hand, forestalling me. ‘Okay, don’t start on me. I’m just in an expansive mood, that’s all.

I like days when I throw out the questions and the answers bounce right back.’

‘So you’re saying –?’

‘I went through the stuff on the disc and I cross-checked it myself in a couple of places. It was mostly bullshit – your man measured everything he could touch a ruler to, whether it mattered or not – but if you want a smoking pistol then I think you got one.’

‘Go on.’ I could tell by the lingering smile that Nicky had a bombshell to drop, or thought he did.