Jasper Fforde Nursery Crime 1 The Big Over Easy

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he no longer took Jack to be a threat.
The room was similar to Humpty s in levels of shabbiness, but Prometheus had
tried to make it look a little more like home by pinning up holiday posters of
the Greek islands. Stuffed in the frame of the mirror was an assortment of
postcards from other Titans and minor demigods, wishing him well with his
ongoing asylum application. A mattress covered with rumpled sheets lay on the
floor, and on the bedside table, next to a copy of Plato sRepublic , was an
empty bottle of retsina and a small bowl of olive stones. A copy of Shelley s
account of Prometheus escape from the rock in theCaucasus lay open on the
only table, and Jack picked it up.
A bit fanciful, remarked the Titan. He took a few liberties with the
truth. I had only ever met Asia and Panthea once at a party and I certainly
wasnever in love withAsia . As I recall, she was myopic and couldn t pronounce
herr s. The bit about us having a child was pure invention. I would have sued
him for libel, but he died which wasmost inconvenient.
Yes, agreed Jack, knowing that to an immortal such as Prometheus, death
reallywas something that only happened to other people, it generally is.
I was sorry to hear about Humpty, said the Titan, thumping the vibrating
pipes with a wooden mallet to get the water flowing out of the rusty tap and
onto his toothbrush.
You knew him well?
Prometheus squeezed the remains of a toothpaste tube onto the brush. Not
really, but well enough to know he was a good man, Inspector. Good and evil
are subjects I know quite a lot about. He had righteousness in spades, despite
his criminal past.
Prometheus rinsed his mouth, popped the toothbrush back in its glass,
immodestly dispensed with the towel and wrapped himself in a dressing gown
that had once belonged to the Majestic Hotel.
We chatted quite a lot when we bumped into each other, continued the Titan.
He was always busy but made the effort.
When did you last see him?
Last night at about six. He called me over to help him tie his cummerbund.
Cummerbund?
Or cravat. It s difficult to tell with him. He d had an argument with his
girlfriend. Did Mrs. Hubbard tell you?
She mentioned it. Do you know her name?
Bessie, I think, replied the Titan.
No surname?
I m sure she has one, but I don t know it. I don t think she was a serious
girlfriend, but she was the most regular.
There was more than one?
Humpty was probably the least monogamous person I ve ever met. I couldn t
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agree with his lifestyle, but despite it I think he had a good heart. I can t
imagine Grimm s Road was a great place to bring women, but, knowing him, he
enjoyed the sport of sneaking them past Mrs. Hubbard.
What else did you and Humpty talk about last night?
Not a lot, but he seemed upset, or annoyed, or unwell. Put it this way: He
looked pretty pasty. When it was time for him to go, he thanked me for my
companionship and shook my hand. He didn t usually do that, and, looking back
on it, I suppose he might have been saying& good-bye.
Did he seem depressed or anything recently?
The Titan thought for a moment. Less talkative. Preoccupied, perhaps.
When did you see him again?
I didn t. I heard him go into his room about ten-thirty, and the next thing
I knew, Mrs. Hubbard was banging on my door and asking if I wanted Humpty s
room for an extra fifty quid a week.
There didn t seem to be anything more Jack could learn, at present.
Thanks for your help. I can usually find you here?
Prometheus sighed. Humpty was paying half of my rent. I can t afford this
dive any longer. You could always leave me a message at Zorba s I wait tables
there three times a week.
Jack had an idea.
We need a lodger. Come around to this address and meet my wife tonight at
about seven.
Prometheus took the proffered scrap of paper.
Thank you, he said. I think I might just do that.
Mary had been speaking to the neighbors. They were suspicious at first but
soon became keen to help when they found out it was Humpty who had died. He
had, it seemed, been very generous in the neighborhood.
What have you got?
Couple of people thought they heard dustbins, though no one can put a time
on it. I got a statement from Mr. Winkie. I think he s narcoleptic or
something; he fell asleep as I was talking to him. SOCO didn t come up with
much. No prints on the shotgun, but some unusual traces on the carpet and a
single human hair.
Brunette? Like the woman in theVienna photograph?
No, red and twenty-eight feet long.
She passed him an evidence bag with a long piece of auburn hair wrapped
carefully around itself like a fishing line.
Now, thatis unusual. Rings a bell, too. What about Mrs. Dumpty?
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Not really the grieving widow. In fact, technically speaking, not a widow at
all they divorced over a year ago. She said to drop in at any time.
Then we ll do just that. Wereally need to find the woman in the Viennese
picture. She and Humpty had a row last night.
What about?
We ll ask her when we find her. Her name s Bessie.
I ll get the office onto it, said Mary. Was that Prometheus upstairs?
Yes. Creator of mankind to Mrs. Hubbard s lodger. Make s Humpty s fall look
like a stumble, doesn t it?
Jack unlocked the car and pushed some papers off the passenger seat so that
Mary could get in. She looked at the baby seat in the back.
You have children, sir?
Lots of people do. I have five.
Five?
Yup. Strictly speaking, only two are mine. Two more belong to my second
wife, and we share the other. You married?
Me? No. I collect ex-boyfriends and more than five, at the last count.
Jack laughed, started the engine and selected first gear. There was an [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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