Book 3 - The Spy Who Haunted Me Read Online Free PDF

tough, but if he was really tough he’d never have put up with his nickname.
    “I know more than most people,” I said easily. “Including a whole bunch of stuff that no one but the Tower staff are supposed to know.”
    “How?” said Coffin Jobe, trying hard to sound like he cared. He doesn’t really have any social skills anymore, but he does try.
    “Because I’m Shaman Bond,” I said. “I know things. So, what is this caper all about, O my brothers? Are we after the Crown Jewels?”
    “Hardly,” said Big Aus. “It would take more than our combined talents to get anywhere near them. Only one man ever got his hands on the Crown Jewels, and that was one Colonel Blood, back in 1671. The guards caught up with him before he even made it to the main gate. Word is he died slowly and very nastily, for his pains. No, we’re after something just as important but not nearly as well defended.”
    “Should we be talking this openly, in public?” murmured Coffin Jobe, staring sadly around him through his oversized lenses.
    “Relax,” said Big Aus. “No one who matters would be seen dead in a dump like this. And listen to the racket! With so many people coming and going, ordering meals and chatting together, and that bloody awful piped Riverdance music, we could discuss kidnapping the Queen and selling her organs on eBay, and no one would hear us. The safest place to conspire has always been in public places. It’s the secret meetings in out-of-the-way places that always attract the authorities’ attention.”
    “What are we after?” I said.
    Strange Chloe grinned suddenly. It didn’t suit her. “The ravens, Shaman. We’re going to murderise the Tower ravens.”
    I frowned, looking back and forth to make sure they were serious. “Are we talking about the old legend that if the ravens ever leave the Tower of London, England will suffer a great disaster?”
    “Got it in one!” Big Aus said cheerfully. “But it’s more than just a legend, sport. I’ve done the research. Buck House takes the threat so seriously that for many years now, all ravens in and around the Tower have to have their wing feathers clipped on a regular basis, just to make sure they can’t fly away.”
    “How very practical, and indeed British,” murmured Coffin Jobe. “Does anyone else feel that draught?”
    “We’re going to use our various abilities to get us close to the Tower, take care of the guards, and then kill all the ravens,” said Big Aus.
    “Aye!” said the Dancing Fool. “A powerful blow against the treacherous English!”
    “Pardon me if I’m being a bit slow here,” I said. “But where’s the profit in this? The hard cash, the old champagne coupons? Kidnapping the ravens for ransom, yes, I can see that; but just . . . killing them?”
    “I’m providing the backing for this little venture,” Big Aus said sharply. “Myself and a small consortium of like-minded Australian patriots. We’re going to strike a blow against England in general and the monarchy in particular. Humiliate Parliament and the bloody Queen, all at the same time! That’s worth ten times what we’re fronting, in the name of the republican cause.”
    Strange Chloe sniffed airily. “It’s something to do. Could be fun. Will I get to kill lots of people?”
    “Almost certainly,” Big Aus assured her. He reached out to pat her hand, and then reconsidered and pulled his hand back again.
    “Burgle the Bloody Tower and make the English establishment look like idiots,” said the Dancing Fool. “A plan with no drawbacks.”
    “I like it when lots of people die suddenly,” Coffin Jobe said wistfully. “I don’t feel so alone then.”
    The Dancing Fool glared at him. “Why don’t you go and haunt a house somewhere?”
    “Because I frighten the ghosts,” said Coffin Jobe.
    He might have been joking, or he might not. It’s hard to tell, with Coffin Jobe.
    As it happened, I knew for a fact there was no truth to the legend about the