was all business
now.
The killings will continue and will come more and more
rapidly until the people responsible are destroyed. I think we are
up against something like nothing any of us has seen before. The
evidence I glean from your minds tells me this is the work of a
compulsive killer who cannot help doing what he is doing and who
will have to do it again, ever more often, to appease the devil
that drives him. But it also tells me he is not doing this without
help.
I asked, “You figure there’s a connection
with—?” With what had happened at Morley’s place.
Only he cut me short.
Yes.
We had something he didn’t want handed to
Block.
Garrett, I see you shrinking from the legwork this will
entail. You are correct in your estimate. This will require talking
extensively with everyone even remotely involved. The families of
the dead women. Their guards. The people who found them, and the
Watchmen who followed up. People in the neighborhoods where the
bodies were found.
He knows how to beat a guy down. I shrank with every word. I was
the size of a mouse. I looked for a hole in the baseboard so I
could scoot off and hide. He was talking about the rest of my
life.
I do legwork because it’s what I do; talk to people and
talk to people and poke and prod until things start to happen. But
I don’t like it, partly because I’m lazy, but mostly
because of the people. I never cease to be amazed and appalled by
the sheer scope of human wickedness.
You are not considering our resources, Garrett.
Right. I was busy feeling sorry for myself.
We have the Watch. A thousand men for legwork. Is that not
so, Captain? Will not every man of the Watch throw himself into
this with the greatest vigor?
“It’s our asses if we don’t. They’re
already hinting. We have another five murders, I figure the Watch
is out of business.”
Break my heart.
I saw what the Dead Man meant. I’d been too involved in
myself. The Watchmen would do anything to cover their asses. Maybe
even their jobs. We just had to grab them by their instinct for
self-preservation.
Then do as I tell you. I want to interview the bodyguards
and the parents myself. Also those who found the corpses. Your men
will canvass the neighborhoods where the women were found. Also the
areas where they were seized. I doubt you will gain much
cooperation, but cooperation is unnecessary. Even you Watchmen will
have developed a rudimentary sense for when someone is not being
forthcoming. Bring any such persons to me. I will open them
up.
I marveled. The Dead Man makes me look hyper. Usually I have to
threaten mayhem just to get his attention when there’s work
to do. He was jumping into this one headlong. I hadn’t agreed
to do anything yet. His enthusiasm suggested a secret agenda. Or he
knew something he wasn’t sharing. I eyed him narrowly as he
continued with Block, telling him what times he wanted whom to come
be interviewed.
Suspicion and paranoia become habits in this business. You take
fits where you don’t even trust yourself.
When the Dead Man takes a notion to snooze, he can hang in there
for months. And when he’s awake, he can go around the clock
for days. He had that in mind. Poor old Dean was going to die
answering the door.
Block had to borrow pen and paper to remember all his
instructions. It took him half an hour to write them down. I paced
and worried and wondered. Then the Dead Man dismissed the Watchman.
I walked him to the front door.
“You’ll never regret this, Garrett. I guarantee. We
clean this up, you got a free pass for life.”
“Sure.” I know how long gratitude lasts. About as
long as it takes for the bill to come due. Especially in TunFaire.
The only guy I know who sticks to that kind of promise is Chodo
Contague. He used to drive me crazy repaying imaginary debts.
That gave me a shiver. Old Chodo always paid his debts. And he
owed me a big one.
I closed the door behind Block, put Chodo out of mind, went
charging back to find
now.
The killings will continue and will come more and more
rapidly until the people responsible are destroyed. I think we are
up against something like nothing any of us has seen before. The
evidence I glean from your minds tells me this is the work of a
compulsive killer who cannot help doing what he is doing and who
will have to do it again, ever more often, to appease the devil
that drives him. But it also tells me he is not doing this without
help.
I asked, “You figure there’s a connection
with—?” With what had happened at Morley’s place.
Only he cut me short.
Yes.
We had something he didn’t want handed to
Block.
Garrett, I see you shrinking from the legwork this will
entail. You are correct in your estimate. This will require talking
extensively with everyone even remotely involved. The families of
the dead women. Their guards. The people who found them, and the
Watchmen who followed up. People in the neighborhoods where the
bodies were found.
He knows how to beat a guy down. I shrank with every word. I was
the size of a mouse. I looked for a hole in the baseboard so I
could scoot off and hide. He was talking about the rest of my
life.
I do legwork because it’s what I do; talk to people and
talk to people and poke and prod until things start to happen. But
I don’t like it, partly because I’m lazy, but mostly
because of the people. I never cease to be amazed and appalled by
the sheer scope of human wickedness.
You are not considering our resources, Garrett.
Right. I was busy feeling sorry for myself.
We have the Watch. A thousand men for legwork. Is that not
so, Captain? Will not every man of the Watch throw himself into
this with the greatest vigor?
“It’s our asses if we don’t. They’re
already hinting. We have another five murders, I figure the Watch
is out of business.”
Break my heart.
I saw what the Dead Man meant. I’d been too involved in
myself. The Watchmen would do anything to cover their asses. Maybe
even their jobs. We just had to grab them by their instinct for
self-preservation.
Then do as I tell you. I want to interview the bodyguards
and the parents myself. Also those who found the corpses. Your men
will canvass the neighborhoods where the women were found. Also the
areas where they were seized. I doubt you will gain much
cooperation, but cooperation is unnecessary. Even you Watchmen will
have developed a rudimentary sense for when someone is not being
forthcoming. Bring any such persons to me. I will open them
up.
I marveled. The Dead Man makes me look hyper. Usually I have to
threaten mayhem just to get his attention when there’s work
to do. He was jumping into this one headlong. I hadn’t agreed
to do anything yet. His enthusiasm suggested a secret agenda. Or he
knew something he wasn’t sharing. I eyed him narrowly as he
continued with Block, telling him what times he wanted whom to come
be interviewed.
Suspicion and paranoia become habits in this business. You take
fits where you don’t even trust yourself.
When the Dead Man takes a notion to snooze, he can hang in there
for months. And when he’s awake, he can go around the clock
for days. He had that in mind. Poor old Dean was going to die
answering the door.
Block had to borrow pen and paper to remember all his
instructions. It took him half an hour to write them down. I paced
and worried and wondered. Then the Dead Man dismissed the Watchman.
I walked him to the front door.
“You’ll never regret this, Garrett. I guarantee. We
clean this up, you got a free pass for life.”
“Sure.” I know how long gratitude lasts. About as
long as it takes for the bill to come due. Especially in TunFaire.
The only guy I know who sticks to that kind of promise is Chodo
Contague. He used to drive me crazy repaying imaginary debts.
That gave me a shiver. Old Chodo always paid his debts. And he
owed me a big one.
I closed the door behind Block, put Chodo out of mind, went
charging back to find
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