Saul did not sob, but his cheeks were wet. Wasn’t it odd and sad,he thought a little hysterically, that it was only on learning thathis father was not his father, that he realized how completely hisfather he had been?

There’s a dialectic for you, Dad, he thought, and grinnedfleetingly.

It was only in losing him that he regained him, finally, after somany dry years.

He remembered being carried on those broad shoulders to see hismother’s stone. He had killed her, he had killed his father’s wife,and his father had set him down gently and given him flowers to puton her grave. He wept for his father, who had been given his wife’smurderer, the child of her rapist, and who had decided to love himdearly, and had set out to do it, and had succeeded.

And somewhere he kept telling himself how stupid a boy he was. Anew thought was occurring to him. If King Rat lied about this, hereflected, and the thought trailed off like a sequence of dots…

If he lied about this, the thought said, what else did he lieabout?

Who killed Dad?

He remembered something King Rat had said, a long time ago, at theend of Saul’s first life. ‘I’m the intruder,’ he had said. ‘I killedthe usurper.’

In the succession of words the sense had been drowned, had beenanother surreal boast, a crowing, bullish aggrandizement withoutmeaning. But Saul could see differently now. A cold stone of furysettled in his gut and he realized how much he hated King Rat.

His father, King Rat.

The door to the flat opened.

Saul and Deborah had been huddled together on the floor, shemurmuring nervous words of support. They looked up at the samemoment, at the gentle creak of hinges.

Saul scrambled silently to his feet. He was still clutching thebook. Deborah rocked herself, tried to rise. A face peered around therim of the door.

Deborah clung to Saul and gave a tiny whimper of fear. Saul wasprimed like an explosive, but as his eyes made light of the darknesshis tension ebbed a little, and he stood confused.

The face in the doorway was beaming delightedly, long blond hairfalling in untidy clumps around a mouth stretched wide in childishjoy. The man stepped forward into the room. He looked like abuffoon.

‘The thought I heard someone, I thought so!’ he exclaimed. Saulstraightened a little more, his brow furrowed. ‘I’ve been waitinghere night after night, saying no, go home, it’s ridiculous, he won’tcome here, of all places, and now here you are!’ He glanced at thebook in Saul’s hand. ‘You found my reading material, then. I wantedto know all about you. I thought that might tell me a bit.’

He looked a little closer at Saul’s red eyes and his own facewidened.

‘You didn’t know, did you?’ His smile of pleasure was broader thanever. ‘Well. That does explain a few things. I thought you wererather quick to join your so-called father’s murderer.’ Saul’s eyesflickered. Of course, he thought, giddy with grief, of course. Theman was eyeing him. ‘I thought blood must have been thicker thanwater but, of course, why on Earth should he have told you?’ Herocked back on his heels, stuck his hands in his pockets.

‘I’ve needed to talk to you for a long time. The rumours have beenflying about you, you know! You’ve been famous for years! So manyplaces, so many leads, so many possibilities… I’ve been all over,chasing impossible crime… You know, any time I heard about someweird break-in, some murder, something that doesn’t fit the bill,something people couldn’t have done, I’d run to investigate. Thepolice can be very helpful with information.’ He grinned. ‘So manydead ends! And then I came here…’ The man grinned again. ‘I couldjust smell him, and I knew I’d found you, Saul.’

‘Who are you?’ Saul finally breathed.

The man smiled pleasantly at him but did not answer. He seemed tosee Deborah for the first time.

‘Hi! My God, what a night you must be having!’ He strolled forwardas he laughed. Deborah clung still to Saul. She gazed at the man withguarded eyes. ‘Anyway,’ he continued easily, reaching out his handtowards her, ‘I’m afraid I’m not interested in you.’

He snatched her wrist and wrenched her out of Saul’s grasp. Toolate, Saul realized that the urbane man had taken her, his head movedslowly down to look where she had been even as his mind screamed athim to look up, to move.

He dragged his head up through the thick air.

He saw the man close his left hand in Deborah’s hair, Saul reachedout in horror, determined to intervene, but the man who was stillsmiling broadly glanced down at her briefly and sent his other fistslamming into the underside of her chin just as she opened her mouthto scream, and the impact split the skin and bone of her jaw andsnapped her mouth closed so fast that blood spurted out from betweenher lips where she bit deep into her tongue. The scream died beforeit appeared, mutating into a wet exhalation. Even as Saul’s slow,slow feet took him towards her the man swivelled on his toes andpulled her body around from the nape of the neck where he held her,built up momentum, spun fast and buried her face in the side of thedoor-frame.

He released her and turned back to Saul.

Saul shrieked in anguish and disbelief, stared past the man atDeborah’s carcass, which slid down the door-frame and tumbled backinto the room. It was twitching as nerve endings died. Her flattenedand distorted face stared blindly up at Saul as she danced in aposthumous fit, her heels pattering on the floor like a monsoon,blood and air bubbling out of her exploded mouth.

Saul bellowed and flung himself at the man with all hisrat-strength.

‘I’ll eat your fucking heart!’ he screamed.

The tall man sidestepped the flurry of blows easily, stillgrinning broadly. He pulled his fist back leisurely and sent it intoSaul’s face.

Saul saw the blow coming and moved away from it, but he was notfast enough and it snapped into the side of his skull, sending himreeling. He spun round, hit the floor hard. A shrill sound hurt hishead. He turned to look at the man, who stood with his lips pursed,whistling a jaunty, repetitive air. He glared at Saul and his eyesflickered dangerously. Without pause, the tune he was whistlingchanged, became less organized, more insidious. Saul ignored him,tried to crawl away. The whistling stopped short.

‘So it’s true,’ the Piper hissed, and his urbane voice hadmetamorphosed into something unstable. He looked as if he was aboutto be sick, and he looked enraged. ‘Dammit, neither man nor rat,can’t shift you. How dare you how dare you…’ His eyes were wildand sick-looking.

‘I can’t believe how stupid you are coming here, rat-boy,’ saidthe Piper as he approached him. He shook with effort and his voicerighted itself. ‘Now I’m going to kill you and string your body up inthe sewers for your father to find, and then I’m going to play forhim and make him dance and dance, and eventually when he’s reallytired I’m going to kill him.’

Saul pulled himself up, stumbled out of his way, sent a lumberingkick at the Piper’s balls. The Piper grabbed his foot, pulled up veryfast, sending him thumping onto his back and pushing the wind out ofhim. All the while he kept talking, amiable and animated.

‘I’m the Lord of the Dance, I’m the Voice, and when I say jump,people jump. Except you. And I have you here about to die. You’re afucking abortion. If you don’t dance to my tune, you don’t belong inthis world. Twenty-five years in the planning, and here’s the rat’ssecret weapon, the supergun, the half and-half.’ He shook his headand wrinkled his nose sympathetically. He kneeled next to Saul whostruggled for breath, tried to hold his head up.

‘I’m going to kill you now.’

A high-pitched screech made them both look up. Something burst theplastic sheet shrouding the window with an improbable pop, shotthrough the tattered window of the flat, a figure, careering throughthe air towards the Piper, shoving into his body with an impact thattook him flying away from Saul’s supine body. Saul struggled up, sawan immaculately suited man trying to strangle the Piper, whoconvulsed, sending his adversary flying back across the room.