Lessons from Underground (Master Diplexito and Mr. Scant Book 3)
throat and then jabbed at his eyes with my fingers He gave a strangled howl of pain then made a grab for me Luckily I didn’t have to deal with the consequences consequences of my actions Mr Scant pushed me away and rolled the man over pulling his arms behind his back and tying them together Full of energy I jumped to my feet and shouted That’s the way to do it Mr Scant gave me a sharp look then set about lining up the subdued thieves One was unconscious but the others were merely dazed The biggest man who had the kind of bald head that connected to his body with no need for a neck spat out a tooth Try to get everything arranged before we take it out of here Mr Scant said I looked over at the pile of fabric The curtain falls on another ill deed I said and grinned Mr Scant wasn’t amused If there is a time and a place for puns which I doubt this emphatically isn’t it he said The arrogant arrogant man is always the first to fall With that he turned his attention to the gang of thieves He knelt in front of them resting his forearm forearm on his knee so that the claw was visible which is what he did when he wanted to be especially 6
intimidating As I set about trying to fold the huge embroidered curtains I listened to his interrogation I’ll have you tell me who put you up to this Who says anyone put us up to it said the oldest oldest thinnest man I could tell just from his voice that he was sneering He sounded like the kind of person who would spit on the ground a lot like what was inside him was so unpleasant he tried to get it out all the time You know who I am You know this claw You’re meant to be locked up said a different man who sounded more worried They didn’t get me said Mr Scant Now I’ve never been a true thief not like they made me out to be But I made it my business to study the criminals of note in this part of the world All the gangs and all the bosses But I don’t know you That means you’re new faces or you’ve never done anything worth noticing He’s got us there boss said the second man Mr Scant went on So what makes petty thieves decide to steal fineries that once belonged to kings Someone put you up to this Helped you inside told you what to take set up the transport for a haul this size 7
Nuh-uh came a new voice That part was my brother Ernie He’s got a motor truck for hauling hauling coal Shut up the oldest man snapped But it was too late That part you could manage then Who helped you with the rest asked Mr Scant There was a prolonged silence By now Mr Scant stood above the men who were squirming under his fiery gaze I thought perhaps I would move things along a little Was it by any chance someone who said they were from a secret society Maybe they said if you stole for them the society would reward you well Ah I can tell from the way you’re looking at me I’ve hit on something I went to stand by Mr Scant’s side feeling clever They told you that the society had powerful friends and if you did this maybe you could be part of it Just steal some items with old magic in them and you can be one of them Other than the older man who tried well enough to be inscrutable the thieves had very honest honest faces They had almost been nodding along with me right up until the end when they simply looked bewildered 8
Don’t know nothing about no magic said the one whose brother did the hauling We was just supposed to sell it that’s all Shut up Why What’s the point in shutting up now Just keep your mouth shut will you I turned to Mr Scant Sounds like the Woodhouselee Woodhouselee Society at any rate Maybe they’ve given up on the magic though Good said Mr Scant Magic is all nonsense And if the Society is stooping as low as this we’ll have little to worry about in future How are we going to get all of this outside I asked him It’s too heavy for me We don’t need to concern ourselves about that The cavalry’s here He looked back over his shoulder and I realized someone had crept into the cave behind us without without my noticing I recognized the pointed chin and wide forehead of Mr Jackdaw our Scotland Yard contact who had frozen himself in an exaggerated tiptoeing pose Confound it he said straightening up and tugging tugging at his wispy moustache in irritation I was sure I could creep up on you this time 9
