it was my party. I’m supplying.’
‘I’ll make sure to avoid the punch.’
‘Might be a plan. See you around, cutes.’
When Locks was gone, Stewart came to sit on the steps beside me, and for a minute I let myself forget that I didn’t know him that well, and that Bishop kept telling me not to trust him. I just leaned on him.
‘So,’ he said awkwardly.
‘So,’ I said. ‘Basically, if I need any detective work done around here, I can go through my back catalogue of boyfriends until I find the relevant one. Freaky Mt Wellington ley lines.’ At his blank look, I said, ‘Not real ley lines, just—things connected to other things. Coincidence is a common thing around here. It’s a small city. Everyone is everyone else’s ex-boyfriend, or girlfriend, or significant-other-of-non-specific-gender. We have about one and a half degrees of separation and we blame the mountain, because—it’s there.’
‘My family’s from Dundee, I get the concept of a small population. The mountain ley lines thing is a bit obscure, though.’
‘In-jokes usually are. A mate of mine…’ Well okay, Xanthippe, ‘used to say that it would be dead easy to be a private detective in this city. If you want to find something out, you walk around downtown and chances are you’ll bump into someone entirely relevant to the case. Or a jilted lover with a grudge. Knowing her, probably both.’ I was babbling, which probably meant I was upset. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t recognise him. Julian. Somebody I pashed is now dead. That’s so weird I can’t think about it.’
Stewart sounded uncomfortable. ‘Is this a bad time to remind ye that my shoulders are awkwardly unsuited to being cried upon?’
I shoved him. ‘I’m not going to cry. It’s not like he was someone I liked. Well, obviously I did for the three days we were technically going out. Well. The first day. Then I was just trying to shake him off.’
‘So, what now?’
I stood up. Enough whingeing, Darling. Work to do. ‘I want to make coffees for the afternoon crowd until caffeine fumes explode out my ears. Thanks for the shoulder.’
----
T he good thing about being the boss is that, while your staff may heartily resent you for ducking out on them for an hour on a whim, they can’t actually do anything about it. Unless they are Nin.
‘Ow!’ I complained. ‘Don’t kick me.’
‘You were supposed to be making experimental trifles in the kitchen.’
‘I stepped out for one minute.’
Nin glared at me. ‘You gave him coffee.’
Ah. Well, yeah. She has this thing about not being kind to drug dealers. It’s a reasonable attitude, I can sympathise with it. But giving people coffee is what I do.
‘I swapped it for information.’
Nin’s eyebrows told me exactly what she thought of that, but at least she stopped kicking me.
‘I’ll woman the cappuccino machine for the next hour,’ I offered.
‘Done,’ said Lara, relinquishing her position at light speed.
It was nearly two hours before the murder ( suspicious death ) collided with my life again. I almost missed the moment. I was loading up a tray with half a dozen variations on the latté when I heard Lara saying, ‘Back out the door and around the corner, and there’s another door with a staircase. They’re one floor up.’
And as I reached for the cinnamon shaker to use over the skim mocha latte, I saw a flash of red hair heading out of the door.
‘What did she want?’ I asked.
‘ Sandstone City ,’ said Lara with one shrug of a shoulder. ‘She had one of their business cards.’
A redhead with a Sandstone City business card. Coincidence? Around here? Hell, no. ‘I have to run upstairs.’ I glanced around, but Nin was in the kitchen. ‘Tell her that the aliens kidnapped me.’
‘Hot sex aliens with extra arms,’ said Lara with a smirk.
‘If you must.’ I served the lattés fast, and made my exit.
----
S imon has been trying to get Darrow to replace the Sandstone City door
‘I’ll make sure to avoid the punch.’
‘Might be a plan. See you around, cutes.’
When Locks was gone, Stewart came to sit on the steps beside me, and for a minute I let myself forget that I didn’t know him that well, and that Bishop kept telling me not to trust him. I just leaned on him.
‘So,’ he said awkwardly.
‘So,’ I said. ‘Basically, if I need any detective work done around here, I can go through my back catalogue of boyfriends until I find the relevant one. Freaky Mt Wellington ley lines.’ At his blank look, I said, ‘Not real ley lines, just—things connected to other things. Coincidence is a common thing around here. It’s a small city. Everyone is everyone else’s ex-boyfriend, or girlfriend, or significant-other-of-non-specific-gender. We have about one and a half degrees of separation and we blame the mountain, because—it’s there.’
‘My family’s from Dundee, I get the concept of a small population. The mountain ley lines thing is a bit obscure, though.’
‘In-jokes usually are. A mate of mine…’ Well okay, Xanthippe, ‘used to say that it would be dead easy to be a private detective in this city. If you want to find something out, you walk around downtown and chances are you’ll bump into someone entirely relevant to the case. Or a jilted lover with a grudge. Knowing her, probably both.’ I was babbling, which probably meant I was upset. ‘I can’t believe I didn’t recognise him. Julian. Somebody I pashed is now dead. That’s so weird I can’t think about it.’
Stewart sounded uncomfortable. ‘Is this a bad time to remind ye that my shoulders are awkwardly unsuited to being cried upon?’
I shoved him. ‘I’m not going to cry. It’s not like he was someone I liked. Well, obviously I did for the three days we were technically going out. Well. The first day. Then I was just trying to shake him off.’
‘So, what now?’
I stood up. Enough whingeing, Darling. Work to do. ‘I want to make coffees for the afternoon crowd until caffeine fumes explode out my ears. Thanks for the shoulder.’
----
T he good thing about being the boss is that, while your staff may heartily resent you for ducking out on them for an hour on a whim, they can’t actually do anything about it. Unless they are Nin.
‘Ow!’ I complained. ‘Don’t kick me.’
‘You were supposed to be making experimental trifles in the kitchen.’
‘I stepped out for one minute.’
Nin glared at me. ‘You gave him coffee.’
Ah. Well, yeah. She has this thing about not being kind to drug dealers. It’s a reasonable attitude, I can sympathise with it. But giving people coffee is what I do.
‘I swapped it for information.’
Nin’s eyebrows told me exactly what she thought of that, but at least she stopped kicking me.
‘I’ll woman the cappuccino machine for the next hour,’ I offered.
‘Done,’ said Lara, relinquishing her position at light speed.
It was nearly two hours before the murder ( suspicious death ) collided with my life again. I almost missed the moment. I was loading up a tray with half a dozen variations on the latté when I heard Lara saying, ‘Back out the door and around the corner, and there’s another door with a staircase. They’re one floor up.’
And as I reached for the cinnamon shaker to use over the skim mocha latte, I saw a flash of red hair heading out of the door.
‘What did she want?’ I asked.
‘ Sandstone City ,’ said Lara with one shrug of a shoulder. ‘She had one of their business cards.’
A redhead with a Sandstone City business card. Coincidence? Around here? Hell, no. ‘I have to run upstairs.’ I glanced around, but Nin was in the kitchen. ‘Tell her that the aliens kidnapped me.’
‘Hot sex aliens with extra arms,’ said Lara with a smirk.
‘If you must.’ I served the lattés fast, and made my exit.
----
S imon has been trying to get Darrow to replace the Sandstone City door
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