35

  “Ridley! Slow down!” Nairo shouted as she hastily paid the cab driver.

  Ridley had already stomped across the busy street, a carriage laden with browning onions almost crashing into him. Nairo hopped around the incensed driver and followed Ridley up the steps to the Umbry theatre.

  “Ridley, we can’t just stomp in there and…”

  “Why not?” Ridley snarled over his shoulder. “That slimy fuck has broken into our office and threatened Quinn’s daughter. If he wants to play dirty, I’ll show him how it’s done.”

  “What evidence do we even have?” Nairo said as she caught up with him.

  “Don’t need evidence to kick shit out of someone,” Ridley grunted as he blew past the usher at the door.

  “Oh great, so now we’re going to commit assault,” Nairo said.

  “You don’t have to come, Sarge.”

  “No, but I’m here, aren’t I?” Nairo fell into stride with Ridley as they marched through the bowels of the theatre in the backstage area.

  It was only noon, and the theatre had no matinée on today, so there were only a few people milling around, slowly preparing for the night’s show. Ridley spotted a red jacketed usher and made a beeline for him.

  “Where’s Manny?” he snapped at the startled man.

  “What? Mr Litteragi?"

  "Yeah, the wobbling fat fuck.”

  “Oh… I don’t know. I haven’t seen him today. Who are you? Do you have permission to be back here?” The man said, regaining his footing and squaring up to Ridley.

  "Yeah, my permissions on the end of my shoe, wanna see?”

  “Ridley,” Nairo put a hand on his shoulder, trying to get between him and the usher.

  “Ridley? Sally?”

  They turned around and saw Gerald, his lionel golden hair bouncing around as he came running over.

  “Gerald,” Nairo said, glad to see a friendly face.

  “What’s going on?” Gerald asked.

  “These two are trespassing,” the usher said, still nose to nose with Ridley.

  “No they’re not,” Gerald said with a little laugh in his voice. “These are friends of the troupe, Henry. I’ll take them to where they need to be. Come on.” Gerald put a gentle arm around Ridley’s shoulder and led them away. “What’s going on?” Gerald hissed at them.

  “Where’s Manny?” Ridley growled, his eyes crackling with ill intention.

  “Manny? He’s not here. Why what’s happened?”

  “He broke into our office and threatened the daughter of a good friend of mine,” Ridley said.

  “Oh dear,” Gerald said. “Are you sure?”

  “No,” Nairo said.

  “Yes,” Ridley said, eyeing Nairo hotly. “He nicked all the files we’ve been building on LaRue’s murder, and he tried to scare off Quinn’s daughter by threatening her and her children at their home.”

  “That doesn’t sound like Manny,” Gerald said, his voice soft and worried. “Oh gosh, but I wouldn’t put it past him. He does know some real unsavoury characters.”

  “Where can we find him?” Ridley said. “We’ve already gone by his flat, he isn’t there.”

  Geral worried one of his golden locks and looked at Nairo.

  “He umm… he was here. He’s gone with one of the new girls.”

  “Where?”

  Gerald sighed and brushed his hair away from his face.

  “To go get high. There’s a den just off the river on Palace Square. He likes to take girls there.”

  “I know the place,” Ridley grunted, spinning on his heels and marching away.

  “You do?” Nairo said, but he was already gone.

  “That boy is on a path to hurting somebody,” Gerald said as he watched him go.

  “Yeah, hopefully it’ll only be himself,” Nairo said. She flashed Gerald a brief smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll try and keep him on a leash.”

  “Good luck,” Gerald said without much conviction.

  Nairo took off running after Ridley.

  *

  “Where are we going?” Nairo said as they leapt out of their second cab into the bustling northern sector of the city proper. There was a market in full swing selling all sorts of garments, hats, and supposedly waterproof shawls.

  “A Marrek Den,” Ridley grunted as he weaved his way through shoppers and stalls.

  “What’s that?” Nairo asked.

  “Marrek’s a nasty little drug. Gives euphoria and hallucinations, but the comedown is vicious, plus it’s pretty addictive in the long run. The den’s a little spot run by some Gnome villains.”

  “Triads?”

  “Not quite. They’re associated, and they pay tax to them, but their independents for the most part.”

  “And how do you know them?”

  “Any self respecting PI knows where the lowlifes of the city congregate,” Ridley said over his shoulder.

  “And what’s the plan here?”

  “Barge in, find Manny, kick shit out of him.”

  “Then what?”

  “Then… we improvise.”

  Nairo rolled her eyes and narrowly avoided colliding with a group of Dwarves haggling over a meter of dyed cotton. As she turned to apologise, she spotted Ridley diving down an alleyway and hurried to keep up. The alleyway was dank with floating piles of trash almost ankle deep. Nairo gingerly made her way through and then blanched when she saw a half eaten rat carcass float by. Ridley stopped at a flight of stairs going down. He trotted down the steps and then banged on the door. Nairo didn’t hear what happened next, but she heard the sound of a heavy metal bolt being slid back and a door opening. She quickly hopped down the steps and followed Ridley inside.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  Den was an appropriate name for the underground hovel. It was really just an empty space with a series of yellowing sheets thrown up as dividers. The place reeked of something sharp and acrid. Clouds of dark smog rolled across the ceiling and stuck in Nairo’s lungs. She coughed and blinked tears from her eyes. As she followed Ridley, she looked into the rooms and saw creatures splayed out on thin cushions, clutching long wooden Marrek pipes. They sucked on the pipes like a baby on a bottle. Their limbs were all slack, their faces gormless, and their eyes unseeing as they stared up at the ceiling. There were all manner of creatures in here. Humans, Goblins, Gnomes, and even a Dwarf. There was a low murmur of conversation, punctuated by manic giggles and moans, but most creatures simply sank into the floor and stared upwards. The absolute despondency of the place itched at Nairo.

  Ridley had stopped at the counter to speak with a scarred Gnome. The tip of one of his ears was missing, and he had a nasty burn down one side of his jaw. They murmured quietly to one another as Nairo approached.

  “Now Reedly, you know I don’t like-a any trubble in here,” Gnome said with a heavy mountain accent.

  “No trouble Poli, I just need to talk to the feller,” Ridley said smoothly.

  “Why you know talk-a to him someplace else?” Poli asked, narrowing his good eye suspiciously.

  “He’s a hard man to track down. I’ll be five minutes.” Ridley said.

  Poli sucked his teeth and looked at the Gnome who had let them in before nodding.

  “You make any trubble and I cut you with this.” Poli produced a nasty serrated dagger and jabbed it at Ridley.

  “Come on Poli, that any way to treat an old friend?” Ridley said with a disarming smirk on his face.

  “You no my friend. You trubble maker!”

  Ridley shrugged and followed the Gnome to the back of the den. The Gnome silently pointed at a corner segment. Ridley nodded and walked up to it and threw the sheets wide open. Inside, Nairo saw Manny Litteragi, in fact, she saw far too much of Manny Litteragi. He was almost completely nude except for his socks and a comically small pair of briefs. He had a naked young woman wrapped around him. Her eyes were glazed over, and she looked barely conscious as Manny suckled and kissed her neck while pawing her breasts. Manny froze and looked up at them.

  “Who the hell are you!” he demanded, completely sober.

  “I’m the person you robbed, you fuck!” Ridley snarled, stomping into the room and aiming a kick at Manny’s rotund stomach.

  “I haven’t robbed anyone!” Manny wailed, throwing the girl to one side and squirming away from the kick.

  Ridley was on him, aiming stiff punches at his ample gut and chest but Manny was big, too big for Ridley to control. He flopped over and began wailing.

  “Help me! Help me! I’m being assaulted! Oh, please help me!” Manny scrambeld on to all fours, his briefs riding all the way up his arse, showing off his pendulous backside.

  “Ridley!” Nairo said, trying to pull the incensed PI off Manny.

  “Why’d you do it?” Ridley yelled at him, kicking his backside. “Why did you kill Quinn?”

  “What? Who have I killed? Help me!” Manny pulled at the sheet to help heave his bulk up, pulling the whole curtain down on top of them.

  “What you doing?" I told you Reedly you no start trubble!” Poli appeared, dagger in hand with three other Gnomes, wielding clubs.

  “Shit.” Nairo turned just in time to dodge a blow from one of the Gnomes.

  She swiped a kick at the Gnome as Ridley fought to extricate himself from the curtain. Nairo grabbed one Gnome and tossed him into the next room. Another one took his chance and thumped her across the bat with his club. Nairo cried out and stumbled forward, almost tripping over Ridley. She grabbed the Marrek pipe and swung it blindly at the Gnomes, the hot ash within the pipe flew out and burnt the eyes of the Gnome closest to her. He screamed and dropped his club, frantically wiping his eyes. Poli lunged forward to stab Nairo and crashed into Ridley who finally managed to free himself long enough to trip backwards and slam head first into Poli. Nairo quickly kicked the fallen dagger away. Another Gnome leapt on her back, pummeling her with his small fists while the third swung his club with wild abandon. He hit Nairo once in the elbow, then in the stomach, and on the third swing, Nairo spun, and he cracked his own partner across the back of the head. The Gnome fell senseless from Nairo’s back and lay stunned on the floor.

  Ridley rolled across the stained carpet grappling with Poli. He headbutted the Gnome and then roared in pain when Poli bit him. The naked young girl was slowly coming to her senses as they brawled all around her. She whimpered at first and then began screaming. Ridley found his footing and pulled Poli bodily off the floor and hurled him into the wall. He spun, grabbed the Gnome that was menacing Nairo with his club by the back of his head, and slammed him face first into a pillar. Breathing heavily, he looked around.

  “Where’s Manny?”

  Nairo turned and saw the wobbly white arse of the director disappearing up the stairs.

  “He’s running!” Nairo shouted as she took off after Manny with Ridley close on her heels. They tore through the den, most of its occupants completely unaware that anything had happened, and then took the steps two at a time. Manny was running deeper into the alleyway, his marshmallow body jiggling and bouncing as he ran as fast as his peculiarly small feet could. The chase was one of the more visually unappealing that Nairo had ever taken part in. Fortunately, it did not last long. Manny had run maybe a hundred yards before he stumbled and then slowed to a desperate walk. She could hear his desperate wheezing from ten feet away. He sucked wind and stumbled before collapsing to one knee as they caught up to him. Manny raised a podgy hand and flopped down against a wall, gasping and spluttering.

  “P-p-please…” Manny huffed. “I-I-I haven’t done anything…”

  His face was soaked in sweat and ghostly white. He was breathing so heavily that Nairo was worried he might pass out or have a heart attack.

  “Nice try,” Ridley growled at him, lighting a smoke and standing over the trembling director. “We know all about you, you sick fuck.”

  Manny looked up at him, his eyes shaking in fear, his hair slick with sweat.

  “Why did you kill Lana LaRue?” Ridley snapped at him.

  “Wha-what?” Manny stuttered, gulping air like a fish out of water. “Lana wasn’t killed. She overdosed!”

  “We know she didn’t use drugs,” Ridley said. “Her murder was staged to look like an overdose.”

  “What are you talking about?" Manny cried out. “Who are you people?”

  “I’ll ask the fucking questions!” Ridley snarled.

  “I’ll not stand for this!” Litteragi said, his voice regaining some of its strength. “Do you know who I am? I am… I am an important man in this city! You cannot hunt me down… like some sort of-of animal in the streets!”

  “Oh yeah. Wanna bet?” Ridley said a nasty leer on his face.

  Nairo put a hand on Ridley’s shoulder and pushed him back a little. She kneeled down and tucked her hair behind her ears.

  “Mr. Litteragi, my name is Sally Nairo and this is Ridley. We’re Private Investigators, looking into the death of Lana LaRue. We believe she was murdered.”

  “And you did it!” Ridley added.

  “M-murdered? Who would… why would… I did not murder that sweet girl!” Manny cried out, wobbling on the dirty cobbles. “Why would I kill Lana?”

  “Jealousy?” Ridley said. “She knocked you back more than once.”

  “We know you made advances on her, Mr. Litteragi,” Nairo said.

  “Of course I did! She was stunning! But I didn’t… I would never harm one of my girls!” Manny said, his voice desperate and pleading.

  “No, you just get ‘em hooked on drugs and sell them off,” Ridley said coldly.

  A dark look flitted across Manny’s face.

  “What I do with my girls is none of your business!” He snarled at Ridley.

  “Your girls?” Ridley shouted. “They’re fucking Human beings, you piece of shit!” Ridley swung a kick at Manny.

  Nairo just managed to get between them, Ridley's blow skimmed across Manny’s face, making him cringe and cower into the gutter.

  “I never hurt Lana!” Manny wailed. “I swear I didn’t! She was my star! A once in a generation talent! She was going to make me rich!”

  “But she wasn’t, was she?” Nairo said. “She was planning on quitting, wasn’t she?”

  “How do you know that?” Manny said aghast.

  Nairo looked at Ridley and cocked an eyebrow. Even Ridley’s demeanour was less certain now.

  “We know everything, Mr. Litteragi,” Nairo said. “We know what you do with the girls. We know about Queelaria. We know about your mountain of debt. We know you made advances on LaRue. We know she was planning to leave the theatre to start a family with Fred Shumacker…”

  At the mention of Shumacker's name, Manny’s face curled up with festering hatred.

  “That fuck… Friedrich Shumacker… this is all his fault!” Manny choked out, spittle flecking his rubbery lips. “It’s always been him! You think I killed Lana? What about Stacy? Gwen? Cecilia?”

  “Who?” Ridley said.

  “Shumacker has been doing this for decades!” Manny spat. “He takes a liking to one of my girls, fills her head with nonsense about true love and then ruins them! Everyone of them dead or in the gutter once he’s done with them! You think it’s me? Ha! He’s the devil! He tears these girls apart, and they disappear once he’s done with them! Stacey killed herself! Gwen fell ill when he discarded her and died rotting in an asylum! And no one’s ever heard from Cecilia again! This is what he does! He’s an empty pit… a fucking cesspool of a Human that drowns anything beautiful, anything precious that gets too close. And he enjoys it. He’s always enjoyed twisting the knife in me! He takes pleasure in stealing the girls he knows I love!” Manny was quivering with rage now. “I would never hurt Lana! I loved her! She was the sweetest little thing! Why would anyone hurt her?” Manny broke down now. His rage crashed into pathetic tears. He sat, nearly naked, in the gutter, weeping piteously. “I would never hurt her. I would never. I wouldn’t.” He sobbed.

  Nairo looked at Ridley.

  “You still think this is our cold, calculated killer?”

  Ridley looked at the broken, weeping man before them.

  “Fuck!”