Free The Martian Falcon (Lovecraft & Fort) by Alan K Baker

the office.
    ‘How are things, Mr Dunsby?’ asked Fort when Dunsby had closed his office door and motioned him and Lovecraft to a pair of chairs facing his cluttered desk. ‘No more problems with supernaturals, I take it.’
    ‘None whatsoever,’ Dunsby replied. ‘Whatever you did, it worked.’
    ‘By the way, this is my associate, Howard Lovecraft.’
    Lovecraft leaned across the desk, offering his hand, which Dunsby shook reluctantly.
    ‘You wanted a quick word, you said.’
    ‘That’s right.’
    Dunsby smiled humourlessly. ‘Now I understand why you refused payment when you got rid of that imp.’
    Fort shrugged. ‘Now you understand.’
    ‘I thought money was the only thing that mattered to you guys.’
    ‘Far from it, Mr Dunsby.’
    Dunsby sighed. ‘Well… what can I do for you?’
    ‘You can give me a peek at the autopsy report on those three zombies that were found outside the Algonquin yesterday.’
    Dunsby frowned. ‘What’s your interest in them?’
    ‘I had a run-in with some of their pals yesterday morning in Brooklyn.’
    ‘What… kind of a run-in?’ Dunsby asked slowly.
    ‘That’s not important.’
    Dunsby sat forward in his chair. ‘Listen, Mr Fort. I accept that you’re calling in a pretty big favour, but you have to square with me. Why do you want to see the autopsy report?’
    Fort sat forward in his own chair. ‘All right, I’ll square with you. Johnny Sanguine has been murdered, and the police are looking at me pretty hard.’
    ‘They think you might have had something to do with it?’
    ‘They do, and as if that weren’t enough, they also think I might have had something to do with the theft of the Martian Falcon. Seems like those boys have got me lined up to take the rap for half the crimes in New York.’
    ‘John Carter is heading up that investigation,’ said Dunsby.
    ‘Yeah, him and his boyfriend Dave Wiseman. I need them off my back, especially since the vampire mob will also be looking for someone to blame for their boss’s death, and if word gets out that I’m a suspect, I’ll be in more trouble than even I can handle.’
    ‘We must also confront the likelihood,’ Lovecraft added, ‘that the police will be trying very hard for a speedy resolution to their murder investigation, before a war erupts between the Capone gang and Sanguine’s vampires. If they can pin Sanguine’s murder on Mr Fort, it’s all the more likely that a war will be averted.’
    Dunsby glanced sharply at Lovecraft. ‘Are you implying that Lieutenant Carter would pursue Mr Fort under false pretences?’
    ‘Er…’ said Lovecraft.
    ‘No, he’s not saying that,’ said Fort with a quick, narrow-eyed glance at Lovecraft. ‘Mr Lovecraft chose his words poorly.’
    ‘I’m afraid I did,’ said Lovecraft.
    ‘Look, Dunsby, here’s the thing: I need to know exactly who created those zombies, whether it was Sanguine or Capone, and I need to know real fast. Are you going to help me out?’
    Dunsby sighed and began to search the clutter of papers on his desk. ‘The autopsy was conducted yesterday evening. We always put supernatural cases to the top of the list: we don’t like to keep such things in the building any longer than we have to.’
    ‘Very wise, sir,’ said Lovecraft.
    Fort gave him a look that said ‘zip it’.
    Dunsby found what he was looking for and handed a sheet of paper across the desk to Fort. ‘Preliminary report,’ he said, ‘but I think you’ll find everything you need there.’
    Fort scanned the page, then passed it to Lovecraft as he returned his attention to Dunsby. ‘So, no residue of Enochian Magick,’ he said.
    Dunsby shook his head. ‘They had no symbols about their person, and nothing showed up on the æther scanner when we put them through it. No, it looks like they were created through other, more subtle means…’
    ‘Subtle enough for a vampire?’ asked Fort.
    ‘That would be my conclusion. Does that answer your question?’ Dunsby’s tone