Thicker Than Water

‘You remember me, Sergeant,’ Gwillam said - a statement rather than a question. ‘We met yesterday, and again earlier this evening. And I believe you saw the letter of introduction that the chief commissioner was kind enough to send.’

He was taking a folded sheet of paper from his pocket and offering it to Basquiat as he spoke, but she made no move to take it. ‘I saw it,’ she agreed. ‘But I don’t remember it giving you any right to walk around inside our perimeters or make up tour parties of uninvolved civilians.’

Gwillam was still holding out the paper. ‘That would be paragraph three,’ he said coldly. Basquiat snatched it out of his hand, read it and tossed it back against his chest. It fell to the ground, from where Feld retrieved it, grunting as he bent from the waist.

‘There are people dying in there,’ Basquiat said, her voice tight.

Gwillam nodded. ‘We’re working on it,’ he said. ‘And consulting -’ he nodded towards me ‘- widely.’

Basquiat shook her head in sombre wonder. ‘Just don’t get in my way,’ she snarled. ‘Just do not get in my fucking way.’ She stalked off, her shoulder whacking hard against Feld’s as she passed him. The big man didn’t react: he probably didn’t even feel it.

‘So how did your expedition fare?’ Gwillam asked. He was speaking to Trudie, and she nodded in confirmation. ‘I’ve got the goods,’ I said. ‘Glad you were holding up your end.’

Ignoring the cheap shot, Gwillam became all clipped efficiency. ‘Trudie,’ he said, ‘report in to Sallis. We’re still working to stop the demon’s influence from spreading any further. If it manages to infect the minds of the police or fire crews, the situation could escalate very quickly. Feld, take the boy back to his family.’

‘You can’t do that,’ I pointed out. ‘He lives in Weston, which is one of the blocks that’s on the far side of the barÃsidh="ricades. And Gwillam - that’s where I have to go.’

‘One of the policemen said that there’s a relief van somewhere nearby,’ Trudie said, putting a hand on Bic’s shoulder. ‘I’ll take Bic there and then rejoin you.’

Bic looked at me, and I nodded. ‘Go with her,’ I said. ‘I’ll make sure your folks are okay, and I’ll bring them to you as soon as this is over.’

Reluctantly the boy allowed himself to be led away. I turned to Gwillam, who was looking at me with something like mistrust. ‘Why is the location important?’ he demanded. ‘Why can’t you do the exorcism from here?’

‘Because I fucking can’t, okay?’ I snapped. ‘If you think you can, go ahead. You’ll be trying to reel in a whale from a rowboat. It’s too big, Gwillam. It’s not like a ghost you can just summon to wherever you happen to be. When I tried something like that at the Royal London, I ended up in a place that looked like Hell’s sub-basement. And you saw what happened to your own people when they took the thing on. It’s camping out in a thousand different places - every piece of wounded or broken flesh on the entire estate. But it has a focus - the place where it first broke through onto this plane - and I’m going to take a wild guess and try Kenny’s flat.’

‘Why there?’ Gwillam demanded.

A wave of weariness swept over me. I felt like I’d explained this a hundred times already. ‘Because Mark Seddon was a self-harmer, and this demon has a hard-on for incised wounds. You figure it out.’

‘The boy’s activities summoned something. An unintentional invocation.’

‘Exactly. If I’m wrong, we shift ground and we try again. But either way, this thing isn’t coming to us. We’ve got to go doorstepping if we want to have a chance.’

Gwillam looked at Feld, who - impossible though it seemed - stood an inch or so taller as he prepared to take his orders. ‘Get the others,’ he said. ‘All of them. Meet us on the eighth floor of Marston Block.’

Feld nodded once and strode away, the crowd parting for him like the Red Sea parted for Moses, only with a lot more swearing.

‘What do you need from me?’ Gwillam asked.

‘As much back-up as I can get,’ I admitted. ‘The demon is going to fight back - hard - and it’s outside my weight class. Your people will have to anchor me and - if they can - run interference while I play so I can stay focused on the tune and not have to worry about getting my frontal lobe fried.’

Gwillam nodded. ‘All right.’

‘I’ll probably need some physical protection as well. Best-case scenario - the guys on the walkways are just running wild. Worst case, the demon’s got some measure of control over them. Either way, I could get sliced and diced before I get a single note out.’

‘I’ll do my best to ensure that doesn’t happen,’ Gwillam said. ‘And Castor . . .’

I paused as I was about to walk up the steps. ‘What?’

He seemed to be choosing his words with some care. ‘In the organisation I have the privilege of serving,’ he said, ‘someone with your background and your very considerable skills could rise further and faster than you’d imagine.’