We found the Silver Medal moored at the jetty and I steered it back toward the mainland. Eric was slumped on the deck. Johnny Nadler was down below, tied up with so much rope that only his head was showing. We weren’t taking any chances after what had happened. We had already radioed ahead to the police. They would be waiting when we got to the mainland. Tim was standing next to me. We had left six dead bodies behind us on Crocodile Island. Well, I warned you that it was going to be a horror story.

“I’m sorry I thought you were the killer,” Tim said. He was looking even more sheepish than . . . well, a sheep.

“It’s all right, Tim,” I said. “It’s a mistake anyone could have made.” He swayed on his feet and suddenly I felt sorry for him. “Do you want to sit down?” I asked. “It’s going to take us a while to get back.”

Tim shook his head. “No.” He blushed. “I can’t!”

“Why not?”

“That bush I fell into. It was very prickly. My bottom’s full of . . .”

“What?”

“. . . needles!”

I pushed down on the throttle and the boat surged forward. Behind us, Crocodile Island shimmered in the morning mist until at last it had disappeared.

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SOUTH BY
SOUTHEAST

a Diamond Brothers Mystery

MCGUFFIN

What can I tell you about Camden Town? It’s a place in north London with a market and a canal. What you can’t find in the market you’ll find floating in the canal—only cheaper.

And that’s why we’d moved to Camden Town. Because it was cheap. Our new offices were small and sleazy but that was okay because so were most of our clients. We hadn’t taken much with us. Just some old furniture and some bad memories. And the door. It was cheaper to bring the door with us than get another one painted.

TIM DIAMOND INC.
PRIVATE DETECTIVE

That’s what it said on the glass.

They were the last words Jake McGuffin ever read. But when you’re being chased by two Dutch killers with a knife and a gun and your name on both of them, you don’t have time to start a paperback book.

It was a long, hot summer. Although I didn’t know it then, it was going to be longer and hotter for me than for anyone else. The day it all started, it was my turn to make lunch—but I’d just discovered there was no lunch left to make. I’d done my best. I’d gotten a tray ready with plates, knives, forks, napkins, and even a flower I’d found growing on the bathroom wall. All that was missing was the food.