Eye for an Eye

shadow to be invisible to all except the keenest of observers, and waited another fifteen minutes before he peered over the wall once more.
    Garvie’s house lay in darkness. Several lights still brightened the McLarens’ ground floor, and through the light blue sheen of a fabric roll-blind he saw the silhouetted form of someone by the sink. All the lights were out in the house on the other side of Garvie’s, grey windows dulled by drawn curtains. He toyed with the idea of entering Garvie’s garden from that side, but doing so would still leave him with an exposed climb over the dividing wall.
    Decision made, he placed his hands on top of the wall, gripped the stone, and pulled himself up and over.
    He dropped onto damp grass as thick as wet straw.
    He was in.

CHAPTER 20
     
    Kev opened the door with a ‘Yeah?’
    Nance gave one of her gentler smiles. ‘We’re looking for Sebastian Hamilton,’ she said to him.
    Kev’s gaze slid to Stan by her side, then back again. ‘It’s a bit much calling round people’s houses at this time of night, is it not?’
    ‘We like to work late,’ said Nance. ‘Is Mr Hamilton in?’
    ‘He’s gone.’
    ‘Out for the evening?’
    ‘Gone tattie bye-byes. Doesn’t live here any more.’
    ‘Moved, has he?’
    ‘You could say.’
    Nance’s smile thinned. ‘Where’s he moved to?’
    ‘How would I know?’
    ‘We need to talk to him.’
    ‘Well, when you find him, tell him he owes Robbie for the mess in here.’
    ‘Robbie?’
    ‘The punter who owns this dump.’
    ‘What’s Robbie’s surname?’
    ‘His what?’
    ‘His last name.’
    Kev sniffed. ‘McRoberts.’
    ‘Robbie McRoberts?’
    ‘That’s him.’
    ‘So, this Robbie McRoberts, he’s the landlord, is he?’
    ‘That’s what I said.’
    ‘So who are you?’
    ‘Assistant landlord.’
    ‘And your name?’
    ‘Am I being interrogated, or what?’
    ‘Not yet,’ said Nance, and let her smile go. ‘Name?’
    ‘Kev.’
    ‘Short for Kevin, is it?’
    ‘That’s right.’
    ‘Kevin what?’
    ‘It’s Kev.’
    Nance waited.
    ‘Morris,’ said Kev.
    Nance glanced to her side. ‘Like blood from a stone, Stan.’ She gave a sliver of a smile, and said, ‘That wasn’t too hard now, was it, Mr Morris?’
    Silence.
    ‘You live here, do you?’
    Kev’s face shifted with indecision. ‘Yes and no.’
    ‘Which is it? Yes? Or no?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘So why are you here?’
    ‘Clearing up the mess.’
    Nance pushed past Kev’s stubby bulk and into the hallway.
    ‘Oh, that’s great, that is,’ complained Kev. ‘Why don’t you come in and make yourself at home?’
    ‘Thanks,’ said Stan, and followed Nance inside.
    Bare floorboards stretched the length of the short hall and spread into the kitchen and living room. Two doors either side were closed, suggesting cupboards. The place smelled of stale food and sweat, the air thick with dust.
    ‘Quite a mess.’
    ‘You should’ve seen it before we kicked him out.’
    Nance pushed through to the kitchen.
    Black plastic bags lay stacked against the wall in one corner. Cracked linoleum had been ripped up to expose boards blackened with rot. A sledgehammer stood on its head by the sink. Nance lifted it up and turned to Kev. ‘Kicked out, you said?’
    ‘That’s right. Evicted.’
    ‘When?’
    ‘This afternoon.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘’Cause we couldn’t kick him out in the morning.’
    ‘Fancy yourself as a comedian, do you?’ Nance shifted her stance as if preparing to thud the sledgehammer onto the sink.
    Kev stared at her.
    ‘Just answer the question.’
    ‘What one?’
    Nance sighed. ‘We’ve got a right comic here, Stan. Wouldn’t you say?’
    ‘Regular laugh a minute,’ Stan replied. ‘Should be on the telly.’
    ‘Do stand-up, do you?’ Nance sniffed. ‘Something stinks in here. And it isn’t the floor, Kev.’
    Kev eyed the sledgehammer.
    ‘I’ll ask the question again,’ offered Nance. ‘Why was Mr Hamilton evicted?’
    ‘’Cause he wasn’t paying his rent.’
    ‘That sounds like a fair comment. Evicted because he wasn’t paying his rent. Don’t you think that’s a fair comment, Stan?’
    ‘Very fair.’
    ‘How many months behind was he?’ Nance continued.
    ‘Dunno.’
    ‘And here was me believing you really are the assistant landlord.’
    ‘Yeah, well, I don’t know everything.’
    ‘Do you know anything?’ Nance shifted her grip on the sledgehammer. ‘Is this the same sledgehammer that knocked the hole in the