The Equivoque Principle Read Online Free PDF

as he could. Even though Prometheus was only fifteen years younger than he, Quaint regarded the man-mountain as a surrogate son. ‘Are they treating you well?’ he asked.
    Prometheus nodded, resting his head against his chest, his neck without the strength to support it. He sniffed a lion’s roar of a sniff, and wiped a huge paw across his nose like a disobedient schoolboy.
    ‘What happened last night, Prometheus?’ Quaint asked. ‘What did you see?’
    Prometheus twitched his bushy beard at the question, and shook his head. He held his hands across his eyes like the See-No-Evil monkey.
    ‘Nothing? You saw
nothing?’
Quaint translated. ‘Prometheus, you’re in a great deal of trouble here. I want to help, but you’ve got to tell me what happened, man. I need to know specifics. Was there more than one of them? Was there a struggle? Are you hurt?’
    Prometheus clawed at his bald scalp in frustration, and let his arms flap down to his sides like dead flesh. The giant motioned for something to write with, and Butter produced a small pencil and notebook from one of the pockets of his oilskin coat. His nostrils flaring, his muscles finding renewed strength, Prometheus began scribbling away in the notebook frantically. He tore off the page and handed it to Quaint:
    I WAS DRUGGED
.
    ‘Drugged?’ demanded Quaint. ‘Drugged by whom?’ Prometheus took back the notepaper and wrote some more words, just as the loud crack of Constable Marsh’s key turned in the door’s lock. He handed the note back to Quaint with haste, eyeing the cell door. Constable Marsh poked his head around the door, and stared numbly at the huge man sitting on the bench next to Quaint. It was the first time he had seen the giant moving about since he was brought into the station. The man was a lot bigger than he recalled.
    ‘Are you nearly done, sir?’ asked Marsh. ‘It’s been five minutes.’ ‘Of course, Constable,’ Quaint said, leaning closer to Prometheus, who thrust the notepaper into his hand. Quaint’s eyes darted across the note:
    LANDLORD BLACK SHEEP PUB GAVE ME WHISKY
.
    DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS POISONED…YOU DON’T BELIEVE THEM, DO YOU?
    I DIDN’T KILL TWINKLE
    ‘Don’t be preposterous, Prometheus, of course I don’t believe them,’ said Quaint, trying hard to keep out of the constable’s earshot. ‘But they found you at the scene covered in Twinkle’s blood. As far as they’re concerned, they aren’t looking for anyone else. Listen, I can’t do anything right now to get you out of here. Just keep calm, and don’t do anything stupid…leave this to me.’
    ‘Come on now, Mr Quaint,’ said Marsh standing in the open doorway, making a point of jangling the cell keys loudly. ‘I hate to rush you, but it’s my job on the line here.’
    ‘Yes, yes, thank you, Constable, we’re finished,’ said Quaint. ‘Come on, Butter, let’s head back to the train.’

    A few minutes later, Quaint and Butter were standing outside on the grimy steps of the police station. Quaint pulled his cloak tight against his chest, trying to shield himself from the cold wind. He was unusually quiet, and this fact made the Inuit at his side very uncomfortable. Butter stared up at Quaint’s weathered face.
    ‘We now wait and let police handle, yes?’ he asked.
    ‘We now wait and let police handle, no,’ replied Quaint.
    ‘But boss, we can do nothing until this Commissioner arrives.’
    ‘How long have you known me, Butter?’
    ‘Perhaps nine or ten in years, boss.’
    ‘And in all that time have you ever known me to stand idly by and do
nothing
when people I care for are in trouble? Do you really think I’d let that lot in there deal with this? Prometheus wouldn’t last an hour.’
    ‘But, boss…from here, where we go?’
    ‘From here, Butter?’ Quaint answered. ‘From here we go back to the train and try and form a plan of action. There’s something rotten going on in this district, and if members of our family have been caught