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He staggered back She picked up another chair
Outside there wereat her and the pseudo-waiter
Irene tried to decide whether it was more important to maintain her cover as a helplessly fe-snatcher over the head with the chair and take him prisoner After all, he wasn’t definitely involved with any larger conspiracies, and ht simply be a petty thief
the hell with it She brought the chair down on his head, and he went backwards like a sack of potatoes
She dropped the remnants of the chair, and put her free hand to her chest, hyperventilating ‘I – ’ she gasped ‘I come here on holiday, and this , and nobody tries to help le person comes to a helpless woman’s defence’
‘My dear Miss Winters, I am so sorry’ Vale had stepped back into the restaurant, sheathing his sword ‘I do regret that you should have suffered assault at the hands of soan--’
He looked at the face of the prostrate man, and blinked ‘Do I understand that this ,’ Irene said, sniffling a little ‘I – I simply reacted on instinct – ’
‘You’ Vale snapped his fingers, and two of the waiters responded ‘Have this ood to be an Earl and a noted detective, Irene reminded herself, a little wistfully
Kai walked into the restaurant, brushing ashes and powder off his jacket ‘Well, that seelanced warily fro if the whole thing had been soer at the ed off by the waiters ‘That person atteest we return to our table at once,’ Vale said, lowering his voice ‘This merely confirms my suspicions’
Five ain The steak had gone cold, but the as still drinkable The general buzz of conversation had resumed its former level Irene was surprised at how quickly people seeotten the centipede attack It i thought
‘Forgive me my earlier discretion,’ Vale said ‘And thank you for your assistance, Mr Strongrock But this attack on Miss Winters only proves what I suspected’
‘And what is that?’ Kai de towards Vale Irene had the ihtly rave;-vis the centipede’s tail She et the full details at soed in sharing useful inforations into the Fair Folk have been noted’ Vale leaned forward ‘I observed your questions at the Erock And now, a ent tries to steal Miss Winters’s handbag Alance She gave hi, sir,’ Kai said firlanced between the the sah possibly from different directions I too arock With the recent thefts of occult asped ‘The ether ‘I have suspicions as to her identity And what is s are connected Even though you are both visitors to our city’ He let the sentence trail away, as though expecting to be challenged on his deductions, then continued ‘Even though you haven’t been here long, the newspapers have been blatant about the thefts You can hardly open a paper without seeing a new headline Let ht Kai’s eye, and gave hiht nod She suspected that Vale would pick up on this, but she hoped that he’d interpret it as a suggestion rather than the order that it was
‘You are correct,’ Kai said
‘Then I suggest we combine forces My card’ He flipped out a silver card-case, selected a card from it, and slid it across the table to Kai ‘Please call on , e can talk more privately Your associate is also welcoave Irene a dry nod, which uessed ‘Thank you for your time and assistance’
Vale rose Kai and Irene rose too There was a quick confusion of bows and curtseys, followed by Vale striding off, the waiter hurrying after him with hat and cloak
Kai and Irene sat back down
‘I’ me earlier at all’
‘Don’t worry,’ Irene said ‘I suspect he’s rarely spotted But I think he could be a very useful contact’
Kai perked up ‘So we got lucky?’
‘It happens,’ Irene said ‘From time to time Now finish your wine and tellout a list of things that she needed to ask Kai later, in private But for the le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true">