Mr Hook's Big Black Box

Ferrari Delguessimo: A Trusted Contact

I wasn't sure how to go about getting back into Monty's house, but I knew I could probably rely on the friends I'd made within the local police. Even if the Tightrope had disowned me, that information wouldn't be disseminated so widely. My first port of call was to find some police officers, and I'd seen enough flashing lights go past in the last half hour that I thought it was worth checking out what was happening on campus. There was a chance one of the cops I knew would be there, and they'd be able to give me a bit more information. If not, I could go to the police station in town, or call some people I knew.

All around the Geography department, there were police cars. More than I would have expected, until I heard what had happened. Dwayne trailed a little way behind me, staring around him at the disruption of normal campus life.

"What happened?" he asked someone, presumably at random. I doubted they'd know; they wouldn't be gawking like that, peering past the interested crowds, if they had any idea what was going on.

"Somebody's been shot," a girl's voice with a Welsh accent answered, "Somebody couldn't take the pressure, walked into a Sports Science lecture and shot the lecturer and then everybody else." I almost stopped when I heard that. Sports Sciences and Physiology only had a single building amid the Geography department, and it was entirely possible that was where the police were gathered. That was also Marco's course, which made it entirely beyond doubt that this was somehow related to the Box. Spenser, I guessed. I didn't stop to listen to uninformed theories, though. I ducked and weaved through the rubbernecking crowds, heading towards the nearest set of blue flashing lights. The skills in dodging that I'd picked up from many different martial arts proved to be good for moving quickly through a crowd too, spotting the narrow paths between people with their own destinations. I could walk through an active crowd about as fast as most people would walk on an empty street, I thought, but maybe that's just my ego talking.

It took about three minutes to get to the front of the crowd. There was police tape stopping anyone getting into the quad which housed the sports building, supporting theories that whatever had happened had been there. There were also a couple of cops walking back and forth to make sure nobody was crossing the cordon in the hope of finding a better view. There was one of them I recognised, a slightly chubby guy I'd seen around. John, I thought his name was, he was involved with a few of the area's youth and community projects. The kind of things it was helpful for someone in my position to volunteer at, as a good way to build a reputation for being honest and reliable. Even though I hadn't expected to be doing Company business in this town, building a legitimate trail of references would be so useful for future assignments.

"Hey, John," I waved over, "What's going on?"

PC John turned around, and straightened his hat. There was a lot of background chatter, a lot of people talking on their phones, and it took him a second or two to spot who had said his name.

"Ah, Ferrari! Don't tell me you're here to take pictures as well? Once upon a time we used to have people gawping and a couple of reporters making trouble of themselves, but now it seems everybody wants to write for some news blog."

"No," I shook my head, "I'd appreciate a chance to talk to you, though. A man I can trust." Of course, if I wanted someone I could trust, there were those higher up the chain of command. I'd chosen John because he knew my face, he wasn't likely to realise too quickly that I wasn't being entirely honest with him, and because he was convenient. Still, I'd had some small amount of training in manipulation, and I knew the right buttons to push.

He nodded, looked around to make sure some of his comrades were around to cover the cordon, and led me away to one side. Across the quad, of course. The crowds made walking back the way I'd come practically impossible. We stood beside a marked police car that was parked in the next avenue over.