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I started walking for my car, and beckoned Father Vincent to follow He did, and I walked fast enough to make him work to keep up with me "You must understand," he said, "that I e details of my problem to you"

I frowned at him and said, "You think I&039;m a crackpot at best, or a charlatan at worst So ould you want me to take your case?"

Not that I would turn him down I wanted to take his case Well, more accurately, I wanted to take his money I wasn&039;t in the bad fiscal shape of the year before, but that meant only that I had to fend the creditors off with a baseball bat rather than a cattle prod

"I aator in the city for it," Father Vincent said

I arched an eyebrow at hi on?"

He rolled his eyes "No, naturally not I am not naive, Mister Dresden But I am told that you know ator in the city"

"Oh," I said "That"

I thought about it for a ured it was probably true The occult co, tarot-turning, pale city Most of theic Add in a dash of feng-shui artists, season liberally with Wiccans of a variety of flavors and sincerities, blend in a few ion with their ic, so of Satanists, all garnished with a crowd of young people who liked to wear a lot of black, and you get what most folks think of as the "occult co in there you found the occasional sorcerer, necromancer, arded that crowd the saerbread ainary klaxon

"Who referred you to me, padre?"

"Oh, a local priest," Vincent said He took a small notebook from his pocket, opened it, and read, "Father Forthill, of Saint Mary of the Angels"

I blinked Father Forthill didn&039;t see eye-to-eye with uy A little stuffy, maybe, but I liked him-and I owed him for favors past "You should have said that in the first place"

"You&039;ll take the case?" Father Vincent asked, as we headed into the parking garage

"I want to hear the details first, but if Forthill thinks I can help, I will" I added, hastily, "My standard fees apply"

"Naturally," Father Vincent said He toyed with the crucifix at his throat "May I assumarole?"

"Wizard," I said

"There&039;s a difference?"

"Magicians do stage hed "I don&039;t need an entertainer, Mister Dresden Just an investigator"

"And I don&039;t need you to believefine"

He gave me an uncertain look and said, "Ah"

We reachednamed the Blue Beetle It has what some people would call "character" and what I would call lots of inal car reen, white, and red VWs grafted onto it in place of the originals as they got daed in one way or another The hood had to be held doith a piece of hanger wire to keep it fro up when the car jounced, and the front bumper was still smashed out of shape frohter Maybe if Vincent&039;s job paid well, I&039;d be able to get it fixed

Father Vincent blinked at the Beetle and asked, "What happened?"

"I hit trees"

"You drove your car into a tree?"

"No Trees, plural And then a Dulanced at him self-consciously and added, "They were little trees"

His uncertain look deepened to actual worry "Ah"

I unlockedbetter for a sweetheart rate "I guess you want to give me the details somewhere a little more private?"

Father Vincent nodded "Yes, of course If you could take raphs and-"

I heard the scuff of shoes on concrete in tiunman in my peripheral vision as he rose froleaun, and I threw myself across the hood of the Beetle, away from him I crashed into Father Vincent, who let out a squeak of startled surprise, and the pair of us tu

The gun didn&039;t split the air with thunder when it fired Typically, guns do that They&039;re a hell of a lot louder than anything un didn&039;t roar, or bark, or even bang Itan unabridged dictionary down on a table The gun a silencer