"Kim Newman - Tomorrow Town" - читать интересную книгу автора (Newman Kim)

"He's nailed in," said Jess-F. "With rations and a potty."

"Very sensible," commented Richard.

"We can prise the door open now you're here," said Gewell.
Richard thought a moment.

"If you'll forgive me, Mr JepтАФah, Mm Richard," said Mal-K, "I'd like to get
back to my work. I've a batch of anti-virus cooking."

The medico kept his distance from Zootie. Did he think a streaming nose
reflected badly on the health of the future? Or was the artificial breeze
liable to spread sniffles around the whole community in minutes?

"I don't see any reason to detain you, Mm Mal-K," said Richard. "Vanessa might
pop over later. My associate is interested in the work you're doing here. New
cures for new diseases. She'd love to squint into a microscope at your
anti-virus."

Vanessa nodded with convincing enthusiasm.

"Mal-K's door is always open," said Gewell.

The medico sloped off without comment.

"Should we crack out the crowbar, then?" prompted Gewell.

The cofounder seemed keen on getting on with this: to him, murder came as an
embarrassment and an interruption. It wasn't an uncommon reaction. Richard
judged Gewell just wanted all this over with so he could get on with things,
even though the victim was one of his oldest friends and the crime
demonstrated a major flaw in the social design of Tomorrow Town. If someone
battered Vanessa to death, he didn't think he'd be so intent on putting it
behind himтАФbut he was famous for being sensitive. Indeed, it was why he was so
useful to the Diogenes Club.

"I think as long as our putative culprit is safely nailed away, we can afford
to take our time, get a feel for the place and the setup. It's how I like to
work, Mm Gewell. To me, understanding why is much more important than knowing
who or how."

"I should think the why was obvious," said Gewell looking at Sue-2, eyes
visibly darkening.

She looked down.

"The arbitration went against Buster, and he couldn't accept it," said Jess-F.
"Though it was in his initial contract that he abide by Big Thinks's
decisions. It happens sometimes. Not often."