through all the branches and all the leaves and straight down a hole that has to be, what, a couple of feet across. A medical student who’s also a world-class basketball player: that should narrow it down.”
“Maybe they weren’t aiming for the tree. They were trying to throw it into the garden, to freak people out, and they missed.”
“And got it through all the branches. And all the leaves. And straight down a hole that has to be—”
“I don’t want this,” Sallie said. She was holding the packet out from her body and she looked like she was on the verge of tears.
“You love that,” Susanna said. “Eat it.”
“There’s snabbits in it.”
“What are snabbits?”
“They’re in there.”
“No they aren’t. It’s carrots and apples and some other thing, parsnips or something.”
“I don’t like snabbits.”
“OK,” Susanna said, taking the pouch out of her hand. “I’ll get you a new one.” She headed out to the kitchen.
“I’m just saying,” Tom said. “It’s not necessarily anything sinister. It could be just—”
“A hippogriff could have dropped it,” Leon said. “On its way to the Forbidden Forest.”
“That would be sinister,” Tom said, aiming for jollity. “The Forbidden Forest at the bottom of the garden.” No one laughed.
My head was still throbbing, faintly but persistently, and my vision was glitching; I couldn’t tell what was in my hand, sevens and nines looked the same, eights and tens. “Oo,” Melissa said, laying down a fan of cards. “Rummy.” She smiled up at me and gave me a small, steadying nod. I tried to smile back.
Susanna came back with what looked to me like the same orange plastic pouch. “Here,” she said. “I got you one with no snabbits.” Sallie grabbed the packet, retreated to a corner of the sofa and started sucking feverishly on the spout.
“The garden’s swarming,” Susanna said to the rest of us, low, glancing over at Zach and Sallie to make sure they weren’t listening. “Guys in white coveralls and hoods and face masks, like in some sci-fi movie where the virus just got out of the lab. Taking photos. They’re putting up a thing, a canvas gazebo thing. With plastic sheets on the ground. Down by the strawberry bed.”
“Jesus Christ,” Leon said. He tossed down his cards, swung himself out of the armchair and started circling the room. “This is fucked up. What the fuck are we supposed to do? Are we supposed to set up camp here until they finish whatever the fuck it is they’re doing out there?”
Tom was making frantic warning grimaces and jerking his head sideways towards Zach and Sallie. “Oh for fuck’s sake,” Leon said.
“Knock it off,” Susanna said. “And relax. This is not the end of the world.”
“Don’t tell me to relax. Of all the stupid bloody things to say—”
“Go have a smoke.”
“I can’t go have a smoke. There are cops all over the—”
“Yuck,” Zach said, shoving his orange pouch into Susanna’s hand.
“Don’t tell me yours has snabbits too.”
“There’s no such thing as snabbits. It’s just disgusting.”
“I asked you if you were going to eat it. You said—”
“If I eat it I’ll puke.”
“Oh, for God’s sake—”
There was a tap at the door, and a man stuck his head in. “Afternoon,” he said. “I’m Mike Rafferty; Detective Mike Rafferty. Sorry about all this hassle.”
We all came up with some shapeless polite nonsense. Leon had stopped pacing; Melissa’s hand was suspended in mid-air, cards fanned.
“I appreciate that,” Rafferty said. “I’m sure this isn’t how you were planning on spending your Saturday afternoon. We’ll be out of your way as soon as possible.”
He was maybe in his early forties; tall, a bit over six foot, with a thin, rangy build that managed to look strong and agile all the same, as if he was a black belt in some obscure martial art that we weren’t cool enough to have heard of. He had rough dark hair and a long, lean, bony face carved deeply with smile lines, and a discreetly excellent gray suit.
“I just have to ask you a few questions, if that’s all right. Everyone OK with that? Anyone feeling a bit too shaken up right now, prefer to wait till later?”
Now was apparently fine with everyone. Leon leaned against the window frame, hands stuffed deep in his pockets; Susanna took up her place on the sofa again, an arm around Sallie, murmuring something in her ear. Melissa swept the cards into a pile.
“Great,” Rafferty said. “That’ll help us out a lot. OK if I sit here?” He turned Leon’s armchair