Shadows & Dreams by Alexis Hall

Author:Alexis Hall
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-09-16T12:35:59+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Trains & Tupperware

Julian whispered good-bye just before dawn and was gone in a swirl of smoke and shadows. I rolled over to her side of the bed, claimed all the duvet, and went back to sleep. I woke up again at nine. Technically I didn’t have a boss to complain about me being late for work, but I do sometimes pretend to be a professional. And I’m a bit old to get away with fucking all night and sleeping ’til two. I texted Elise to tell her I’d be late in again and went to use Julian’s hard-core power shower. Then I remembered I’d trashed my clothes.

I dripped into the kitchen, salvaged my trousers and my pants from the soggy mess on the floor, and clambered into them. I’d have to go to work smelling of stale booze and sex, but it wouldn’t be the first time. My shirt and jacket were past saving, so I raided Julian’s wardrobe. It turns out borrowing your girlfriend’s clothes is really difficult if she’s half your size and dresses like Adam Ant. I managed to squeeze myself into one of her ridiculous ruffly shirts, bunching the sleeves up so I didn’t look like a kid who was outgrowing her school uniform. I couldn’t find any jackets to fit and had to settle on something heavy and brocade-y that might have been a dressing gown.

And so, disguised as a complete bellend, I grabbed a box of chocolates, put my hat back on, and went to work. I just hoped I wouldn’t get any walk-ins. I rocked up at about eleven to find Elise diligently compiling newspaper reports.

“Good morning, Miss Kane,” she said. “Did you have a pleasant evening?”

One of the unsettling things about Elise is that her face only moves when she wants it to, so you don’t get the usual visual clues. Most people can’t help smirking if you show up looking like the world’s most confused drag king. Elise didn’t even twitch. “Got put on trial, got in a fight, got laid. I had a blast.”

“I hope you were not harmed.”

“Julian doesn’t like it that rough.”

“I was, of course, referring to the fight, but I see you have wilfully misinterpreted me for comic effect. I am quite entertained.”

I poured myself a coffee and slumped behind my desk. “How’s it going?”

“I believe I have uncovered some promising leads.”

“Hit me.”

Elise tapped a few commands into her keyboard. “There was a break-in at Christie’s, a Professor Fox at All Souls College reported several items missing from his personal collection, and there was a recent robbery at a gallery on Brick Lane, but the nature of the theft has yet to be disclosed.”

“Okay, when did these things happen?”

“The twelfth, nineteenth, and twenty-fifth of November, respectively.”

“Can you find out when Corin got out?”

“The tenth, Miss Kane. I had already taken the liberty.”

I went to look at one of Elise’s beautifully constructed and cross-referenced spreadsheets. “Okay, scratch Christie’s. She doesn’t usually go for big targets, and not even Corin could pull off a job like that two days after getting out of prison.

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