“Fear is a choice no man makes, but all men must endure,” Javier corrected.

“That’s it!” Warrick cried. “That’s the one! This is amazing! This is wonderful! So did you fall in love on set, or what?”

Javier’s smile became puzzled. “Sorry?”

Virgil frowned. “Uh, Warrick, we’re not … an item.”

“You’re not?”

“I’m just helping Virgil solve the mystery,” Javier explained.

“What mystery is that?” Ronnie asked.

“You first,” said Virgil. “What brings you to town?”

“A kid is in trouble.”

“Who, this Cooke kid?” said Virgil. “But you’re not from here, so what do you care? It’s hardly any of your business.”

“Well,” said Warrick, “that’s the problem, isn’t it? It’s never anyone’s business, not if they can help it. So, while everyone looks the other way and makes excuses and ignores what’s going on right in front of them, innocent people are dying.”

“Again I ask, why are you taking an interest?”

“It’s what we do,” said Ronnie. “We help people.”

Virgil nodded, and smiled. “Good. That’s good.”

“Tell us about this mystery you’re working on.”

“Not just a mystery,” said Virgil. “A murder mystery. My neighbour got killed a few nights ago. I saw it happen. The killer’s a guy called Oscar Moreno, owns the hardware store on Appletree Street.”

Linda frowned. “It, uh, it’s not much of a mystery if you already know who the killer is.”

“Ah, but there’s the rub. It wasn’t Oscar Moreno who killed him. Well, it was, but he was also someone else. Taller. Thinner. Weird skin and a big mouth.”

Linda took out her phone, brought up the picture she’d taken of the Narrow Man drawing. “He look anything like this?”

Virgil put on his spectacles, and peered at the phone. “Yep,” he said. “That’s him. Well, roughly.”

“Let me see,” said Javier, shuffling in. “Who is he?”

“He’s called the Narrow Man,” Linda said. “Pretty much an urban myth until now.”

“It was no myth that killed my neighbour,” Virgil said. “It was a shapeshifter.” He held up a hand. “Now, before you dismiss me as a nutcase, hear me out. I have a computer, and Javier knows how to use it.”

“I took a course,” Javier explained.

“Last night,” said Virgil, “we were doing some research. It was that … that Narrow Man guy that did the killing, but as he was leaving the house he turned into Oscar Moreno.”

“Wearing my face,” said Javier. “An exact copy of my face.”

“That’s right,” said Virgil. “He changed his looks, his height, his weight … I think that’s all they can do, though.”

“That’s what the website said,” Javier nodded.

“Yeah,” said Virgil. “Shapeshifters can change their appearance, but only in a limited kind of way. I’m not talking about him turning into a panther or anything like that. This isn’t Manimal.”