‘What’s your game, more like?’
‘We’re from the council. According to our records this hole belongs to a Mr Harold Patrick Sauce.’
‘Damn right it does. I’m H.P. You’re a bit fucking late.’
‘I see,’ said Daisy. ‘So the infiltrators—’
‘The what?’
‘The beggar who stole the hole off you—’
‘Fucking big bastard he was.’
‘He’s moved on, has he?’
‘Well he’s not here now, is he? A Saturday as well. Prime time, juicy pickings. Silly sucker. Aren’t you two a little young to be—’
‘We’re raw recruits, Mr Sauce,’ replied Daisy. ‘Keen to learn. Was he alone?’
‘What?’
‘It’s quite simple, Mr Sauce,’ came in Jazir. ‘My partner’s asking if this infiltrator was working alone.’
‘Do you think he’d throw me out of here alone? No way. Had a gang with him, didn’t he? Big bastards the lot of them. Of course, I fought back, just too many of them, that’s all.’
‘Interesting. Does that tally with our findings, Officer Baloney?’
‘No it doesn’t. Officer Sutch. Our findings indicate he’s working with a young girl.’
‘That’s a shame, because there’s a reward for information leading to their capture.’
‘Yeah, that’s right,’ said the beggar. ‘He had this little kid with him, now I come to think of it. Rude little bleeder she was. Can I have my reward now?’
‘Well, we need to know where they are?’
‘That’s easy, isn’t it? They’re living on Alma Street. Seen them hanging round there, haven’t I? Fucking dump, they deserve it.’
‘I see. Would you have the number?’
‘Numbers? I can’t even write me own name, never mind adding up.’
‘You’ve been very helpful. Of course, you’ll let the authorities know you’ve got your hole back.’
‘I can’t be arsed. You can do that.’
‘A puny says you will.’
‘A puny says I probably will. Two says I will, most definitely.’
‘You can add up fine, Mr Sauce. Two it is.’
Jazir threw the coins down into the pit. The beggar caught them both, one in each hand. ‘What about my reward?’ asked the juggler.
‘You just got it. Let’s go, Officer Baloney.’
‘I’m gonna report you two.’
‘That is your right. You have our names. Sutch, Baloney.’
‘Hey! Wait! Fucking bastards! Come back here!’
Harry the Sauce was barely out of his hole before the two officials had vanished into the crush.
‘We’ll need a map,’ said Daisy.
‘Already got one.’
Jazir waved his arms in the air. A blurb landed on one of them.
Walking out of the consumer stretch, into limbo zones, into half-empty streets. ‘What’s Joe going to do with Celia, if we find her?’ Daisy asked.
‘Take a DNA sample, get it analysed. It’s got to be genetic, being a lucky bleeder. Something you’re born with. That’s why we need Benny on our side.’
‘Why couldn’t the AnnoDoms do the same, on the earlier cases?’
‘I think they did. I’ve no doubt about it. They only need a drop of blood, you know that. Maybe they haven’t found anything yet.’
‘They didn’t have to kill them for a drop of blood.’
‘Why not? This is my view of the situation: first they identify a potential cheat, and take them in for testing. They test them, they kill them, they dump them. Perfect cover, with the jealousy they’ve infected us all with. Game play; take out the opposition and you can’t fail to win. Remember, the dominoes will be desperate to know what this winning spirit is. If the government finds out that the games aren’t total chance, goodbye to the national bones. That’s their bottom line. The company is the game, we’re just the players. They can’t afford to have these lucky bleeders wandering about, free to play. It’s like if the boot in Monopoly kept landing on the best streets, on purpose! So, they die. Simple. Expert play, actually.’
‘As long as they don’t get found out.’
‘That’s where we come in.’
‘You find this easy, don’t you?’ asked Daisy.
‘What?’
‘Thinking like the dominoes.’
‘I feel for them.’
‘You what?’
‘I mean… I feel like I… like I know them.’
‘You sound like an advert.’
‘Oh yeah. Play to win, baby!’
Alma Street was a desert of bricks, broken windows, boarded- up doors, collapsing roofs, misspelled graffiti, paved with dead bones. No blurbs flew. There was no point, and Jazir let his loose out of kindness. ‘Where do we start?’ Jazir asked.