Water of Death Read Free Page A

groan. I might have known the public order guardian would get his claws into me late on a Friday afternoon. Not that his rank take weekends off.
    â€œLewis Hamilton,” I said. “What a surprise.”
    â€œWhere are you, man?” he demanded. “And don’t address me by name.” Lewis was one of the old school, a guardian for twenty years. He didn’t go along with the new Council’s decision allowing citizens to use guardians’ names instead of their official titles.
    â€œI’m at Tollcross with Hume 253.”
    â€œDistracting my watch commander from his duties again?” Davie had been promoted a few months ago, though that didn’t stop him helping me out whenever something interesting came up.
    â€œAnd the reason for your call is  . . . ?” I asked.
    â€œThe reason for my call is that the people who run the lottery need your services.”
    I pointed to Davie to pull in to the kerbside. “Don’t tell me. They’ve lost one of their winners again.”
    â€œI know, I know, he’ll probably turn up drunk in a gutter after a couple of days  . . .”
    â€œWith his prizes missing and his new clothes covered in other people’s vomit. Jesus, Lewis, can’t you find someone else to look for the moron? Like, for instance, a guardsman who started his first tour of duty this morning?”
    Hamilton gave what passes for a laugh in his book. “No, Dalrymple. As you know very well, this is a high-priority job. One for the city’s freelance chief investigator. After tourists my fellow guardians’ favourite human beings are lottery-winners.” I knew he had other ideas about that himself. As far as he was concerned, Edlott was yet another disaster perpetrated by the reforming guardians who made up the majority of the current Council. Hamilton particularly despised the culture guardian whose directorate runs the lottery for what he called his “lack of Platonic principles”, whatever that means. I don’t think he was too keen on his colleague’s eye for a quick buck either. The underlying idea of Edlott was to reduce every citizen’s voucher entitlement for the price of a few relatively cheap prizes. Still, the public order guardian’s aversion to the lottery was nothing compared with the contempt he reserved for the Council members who forced through the measure permitting the supply of marijuana and other soft drugs to tourists. As I saw in the park, foreign visitors weren’t the only grass consumers in the city.
    â€œAny chance of you telling Edlott I’m tied up on some major investigation, Lewis? I mean, it’s Friday night and the bars are—”
    There was a monotonous buzzing in my ear.
    â€œBollocks!” I shouted into the mouthpiece.
    Davie looked at me quizzically. “Bit early to hit a sex show, isn’t it?”
    I got the missing man’s name and address from a new generation auxiliary in the Culture Directorate who oozed bonhomie like a private pension salesman in pre-Enlightenment times.
    â€œGuess what, Davie? We’re off to Morningside.”
    â€œWhat?” Davie turned on me with his brow furrowed. “ You’re off to Morningside, you mean.”
    â€œYour boss just told me this is a high-priority job. The least you can do is ferry me out.”
    Davie looked at his watch and gave me a reluctant nod. “Okay, but I’m on duty tonight and I want to eat before that.”
    â€œYou pamper that belly of yours, Davie.”
    He gave me a friendly scowl.
    We came down to what was called Holy Corner before the Enlightenment. The four churches were turned into auxiliary accommodation blocks soon afterwards. They form part of Napier Barracks, the guard base controlling the city’s central southern zone. The checkpoint barrier was quickly raised for us.
    â€œWhere to then?” Davie asked.
    I looked at the note I’d