Page 85 of Bonded in Death

“He advised me to pick one, and have another as what you call a backup? To charm her, flatter her, pretend interest in what she said, to give her trinkets. Nothing of import, just trinkets, and the flattery. If she didn’t warm to that… He meant…”

“I get it.”

“If she didn’t, ah, respond, well, there was always another. And when the first saw another respond, she would respond as well. This method seemed beyond my reach. And I observed Summerset with Alice, andthey had between them what I thought it should be. So I asked him before I tried to experiment with Conrad’s method.”

“What did he say?”

“I remember so well, because years later, when I met my wife—before she was my wife—it came back so clearly. ‘Show her who you are,’ is what he told me. ‘Don’t lie or pretend but show her the respect of giving her who you are. And then, if she accepts, show her how you feel.’ This, I found, wasn’t above my reach.

“We had love, Summerset and I found love. We held it too briefly, but we had it. I don’t think Conrad ever did.”

“And besides women?”

“Ah… I enjoyed football—soccer for you. To watch, even to play. But he said it was no more than a brawl, for ruffians and the hooligans. Golf was an elegant game. A gentleman’s game. I also worked with robotics, and he was interested. He helped me with my hand-to-hand, my knife work. I thought of him as a kind of mentor. I was naive.”

“On the night of the explosion, where were you?”

“I was on the prison team, in Whitechapel. We were waiting for the signal—the explosion—to move in. Just before, we heard Alice.”

He paused, pressed his fingers to his lips.

“I still hear her,” he whispered. “We were meant to be radio silent. If the lookouts saw something, they would signal with clicks. Two to take cover, three to abort. But she came through, screaming. Screaming that Shark killed Hawk. To abort, abort. A trap. We could hear her fighting, and Shark, we could hear.

“Then we heard Shark shouting, ‘You’ll die. You crazy bitch.’ And I think we heard running, but I can’t be sure if that’s memory or what we learned after. She said, ‘No other way.’ And Summerset’s name. Then the explosion.”

“You went to his flat.”

“Rabbit, Panther, and Cobra went to his flat.”

“You didn’t?”

“No, only the three. Too many, too much risk. Fox, Chameleon, and I brought Fawn’s body back to HQ. Hawk was too deep in the tunnels, in the rubble to reach, but Panther would alert her handler. Wasp, Magpie, and Mole went on the hunt for Shark.”

Eve wound him back, wound him through. Then, as she had before, let him go.

“Add user,” Peabody said, “with not only a diverse skill set, but diverse knowledge.”

Chapter Twelve

Harry Mitchell came next, and the small, wiry man with a flop of sandy blond hair still walked on cat’s paws.

He shot out a crooked grin. “Been a time since I sat down with coppers.” His cockney accent hit a scale so far from Marjorie’s they might have come from different planets.

He strutted in, extended a hand to shake. “What I never said to coppers before this? Anything you need from me, you’ve got it. Gio was a right one. And now Alice and Leroy are back to haunt me. I was on the watch, and the bleeding fuck got by me.”

“Have a seat, Mr. Mitchell.”

“No ‘misters’ here. Harry’ll do. I taught the bleeding fuck how to pop locks.”

“Did you?”

“I did, and how to get through the systems set up against people in my line of living. In those days,” he added. “He went out with me a few times on my scouts and scavenges. Made him his first jammer me own self, andI don’t have to tell you where I’d like to jam that jammer, since I’m hearing the cocksucker’s still breathing.

“Don’t suppose a man could get a pint?”

“Peabody.”

Since she knew the story of the bombing, and the story wouldn’t change, she bypassed it. “Tell me about him. A quick study?”

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