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RBB [voiceover]: I didn't move a muscle, only opened my eyes. Not until I felt the pressure of the claymore's edge against my throat lessen to nothing did I dare to move. I turned over with infinite care and slowness and I faced Wulfgar. He hadn't changed much, except that he was now affecting the full Duncan MacLeod look. His eyes were still piercing, though they looked at me with a coldness I'd not known before.
WULFGAR: You walked out on me in the midst of a case. That was nae like ye, laddie.
RBB: I had no idea what that goddamned case was all about, and you know it! It got so damned weird that nobody has figured out what it was about!
WULFGAR: But we were sword-brothers, and you left me behind.
RBB: I thought you were dead!
WULFGAR: Ye ken it's not sae easy to kill me as that.
RBB: Look, I'm sorry. In the past month or so everything came apart. It was as if everybody and everything was aiming for my head and my heart and connecting with every single shot. You can understand that, can't you?
WULFGAR: I'll think on it.
RBB: And then my last case exploded in my face, and everyone in L.A. including Jason Cranky, who's really hard to kill, as you damn well know, joined hands happily to get me the hell out of town! And no sooner was I safely resettled in New York -- new job, revived career, and the whole shebang -- than the most beautiful woman I've ever seen --
WULFGAR: More beautiful than --
RBB: Don't mention her!
WULFGAR: Sorry, laddie. Dinna mean to cause ye pain aboot that.
RBB [voiceover]: Somehow I was able to tell him all about the case -- about meeting Namagomi-chan, about the fast trip to L.A., the confrontation at timleary's place, the loose ends, the unanswered questions, all of it. Wulfgar was a good listener. He tended to react too quickly and instinctively on a case, but when he wanted to be, he was a good, calm listener who brought an intensity and focus to the task that impressed me.
When I finished, he sat, head bowed, considering all the facts. I stared around the room. Namagomi's clothing, which she had tossed everywhere in the first frantic moments, was gone, and so was her bag and her suitcase. My stuff was still there -- suitcase, briefcase, jacket, clothing -- all except...
RBB: The picture's gone.
WULFGAR: Picture?
RBB: Doc Rochelle gave me a picture of timleary from the holographic project.r
WULFGAR: Well, canna ye get another one from the good Doctor?
RBB: Aye -- I mean, yes, but don't you see what this means? Namagomi-chan has decided to go off on her own hunt for timleary.
RBB [voiceover]: We headed back to the coroner's office, and Doc Rochelle gave me another photo of timleary. I showed it to Wulfgar, who suddenly went rock-still, his eyes blazing.
WULFGAR: Do ye ken who this man is?
RBB: That's timleary.
WULFGAR: Maybe, but it's also Hairhead.
RBB [voiceover]: I stared at the picture, and suddenly the tumblers all clicked and the door of the safe in my skull swung open. It was Hairhead -- I curved my hand to block out the hair, and the facial features leaped out at me.
WULFGAR: Ye ken wha' this means, laddie.
RBB: What?
WULFGAR: It's now a job for ScotsIntel.
RBB: No, it's *not!* I checked! You've been off their books for three months, ever since the last case you were on folded and collapsed.
WULFGAR: A true brother of ScotsIntel ne'er leaves the organization.
RBB: They've left YOU, dammit!
WULFGAR: I'll believe it when I have the proof in my hands.
RBB: I can arrange that, sword-brother. They're not worthy of you. Besides, it's better if we just do this on our own; ScotsIntel has no goddamned subtlety, and that makes the L.A. authorities very very nervous and very very angry.
RBB [voiceover]: So now we had three people to look for, or maybe four. First, there was Hairhead, the fake timleary. Then, there was the real timleary. Then there was Namagomi, my erstwhile client and bedpartner. And there was also her cryptic reference to JunkYardDog. I cast my mind back to last night, and tried to remember whether I had managed to get her to say anything more about the case. Again, I felt the tickling at the back of my skull, but nothing more. I remembered Doc Rochelle's advice: Wait, and it will come when it's ready.
RBB: Wulfgar, my sword-brother, we have to figure out our next move. But I have to tell you -- it will not involve oatcakes and haggis, though I can promise you some Scottish smoked salmon on a bagel.
WULFGAR: That will do.
[to be continued....]
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