“Hey, I’m not judging,” said Pleasant. “We have a lot in common, you and I. Especially now, with the overt murderous impulses. But I never took Valkyrie under my wing. She was never my protégée. She was always my partner. She made her own decisions and her own mistakes. Maybe that’s where you went wrong with Jeremiah. Maybe you were so focused on teaching him that you never allowed him to find his own place in the world.”

“The mistake I made with Jeremiah was not killing Valkyrie Cain the first moment I saw her.”

Pleasant chuckled. “Yeah, she has that effect, all right.”

Lights flashed behind, and a siren gave a short blare. As Pleasant’s façade flowed up over his skull, Cadaverous glanced in the rear-view. Two cops were getting out of their car and approaching.

Pleasant got out first, then Cadaverous. Ignoring instructions to return to their vehicle, they approached the uniformed men. The cops raised their voices and backed away, pulling batons as they did so. Confidence renewed, they came forward now, furious that their authority had been so directly challenged.

The first one swung at Pleasant and Pleasant smashed his face into the bonnet of the patrol car.

“Hey!” the other cop cried, taking his eyes off Cadaverous. Cadaverous grabbed him, crushed his throat and let his body crumple.

“All I’m saying,” Pleasant said, his false face slipping away as he got back in, “is that you got unlucky with Jeremiah. He just wasn’t cut out for this. Maybe next time, you’ll find someone who is.”

Cadaverous put the car into gear and they moved off. “Luck had nothing to do with Jeremiah’s death, and you may try to convince me otherwise, but you will fail. Valkyrie Cain is mine to kill.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Pleasant said, and they spoke no more until they found the small house on the very tip of the peninsula and got out of the car. Pleasant put his hat on. The stiff wind didn’t even try to budge it. Cadaverous followed him to the front door.

It opened before they reached it, and a man with wild greying hair stepped out. The wind had fun with his hair.

“Tanner Rut?” Pleasant said, walking towards him with his hand extended. “Skulduggery Pleasant, very pleased to meet you.”

“You can stop right there, Mr Pleasant,” said Rut, and Pleasant duly stopped. “I haven’t had any visitors in over thirteen years. I got used to the solitude. I liked it. Now you two. A skeleton and an old man. I’ve heard of the great Skeleton Detective, of course, but what about you, old-timer? Got a name?”

“Cadaverous Gant.”

“Never heard of you.”

“Nor should you have.”

“What do you want?”

“We need you to come with us,” said Pleasant.

“What if I don’t want to?”

“We’ll have to insist.”