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thought I told you to stop.’
    ‘Pleeeassse.’
    ‘I will not tolerate people stealing from the family.’ Barbolini growled, as much for the benefit of the others as for the victim himself. She was trying to stay calm, fighting the temptation to take Fei’s pistol and shoot the little thief’s balls off before she kicked the chair away. ‘We are trying to do a job here. That money was for investment.’ She took a half-step to her left to avoid the pool of urine spreading slowly across the floor. ‘Where is it?’ Grozer’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish; no sounds came out. ‘This is your last chance to avoid a slow, painful death. I suggest that you take it.’
    Still nothing.
    Barbolini stamped her foot on the concrete. ‘You are a stupid, greedy little man, Bodo. We make you rich, yet you have to steal from us. What was the point of that? Did you really think you could get away with it?’
    Once again, the man opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Bodo had gone into shock, his brain had frozen. That was a shame, Barbolini reckoned, seeing as it would take the edge off the pain he was about to feel. But there was nothing that could be done about it at this late stage. ‘You don’t even know where the damn money is, do you?’
    All that Grozer could manage by way of reply was more goldfishing.
    Hovering on the sidelines, Kooy spoke up. ‘If he knew anything, I would have got it out of him by now, for sure.’
    Barbolini gave him a look that said Don’t speak until you are spoken to before glancing down at the pool of urine, which was still expanding. The smell was pungent and disgusting.
    ‘Christ.’ Fei exclaimed, ‘How much piss does he have in him?’ Then a new smell reached his nostrils. ‘Oh fuck,’ he giggled, ‘he’s shat himself too.’
    Barbolini wrinkled her nose in disgust. ‘I’m afraid that you’re embarrassing us, Bodo. You should be able to control it, even now.’ Ignoring Grozer’s continued whimpering, she gestured to Fei. ‘You know, Dante, I seem to remember from my studies that the anal canal is a masterpiece of intelligent design. It’s surrounded by two bands of muscle, an internal and an external sphincter, both in a continual state of contraction. They push inwards to keep the anus tightly closed. It’s just another example of how our bodies are amazing.’ She looked back at Grozer. ‘Of course, as with so many things, the quality of that design only becomes truly apparent when something goes wrong with the machine.’
    ‘Well,’ said Fei, ‘something has most certainly gone wrong here.’
    ‘What do you think we should do?’ Barbolini asked.
    ‘Let’s just finish things off.’
    ‘My sentiments exactly. Goodbye, Bodo.’ Barbolini stepped forward and gingerly kicked the chair away, trying to avoid stepping in the puddle of piss. With little more than a gurgle, the doomed Grozer began thrashing about in mid-air, his eyes bulging as if about to pop out of their sockets. Her job done, Barbolini turned and headed briskly for stairs, without waiting to see the man die.
    Outside, she took a deep breath and put her sunglasses back on. After a moment, she became conscious of the migraine building at the base of her spine. Instinctively, she knew it was going to be a bad one, regardless of how many pills she chewed. Resigning herself to the pain, her mind returned to the root cause of the current anxiety. The money; we’re as far away from recovering it as ever.

7
     
    Sarah Rahn appeared in the doorway and gave him a tired smile. She was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ T-shirt. Even from this distance, he could see that she wasn’t wearing a bra. Her feet were bare and her toenails had been painted an arresting shade of cobalt blue. Pushing a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear, she leant against the frame of the door.
    ‘Would you like something to eat, Max?’
    Sitting at the kitchen table, playing with a