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 out what the hell old
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 out what the hell old
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