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felt any anger towards the other. But for whatever reason, be it personal or professional, what they had obviously wasn’t destined to be a long-term thing. It almost seemed to Archer that a man in this career had to pick between his work and his personal life. You couldn’t have both. But then he glanced at Josh and realised that wasn’t true. You couldn’t find a happier married man or a more doting father. Josh was getting it right. Archer wanted to find out what his secret was.
    The horn of a passing car blared, bringing Archer back to the situation at hand. They’d just moved off the Bridge and were now in Manhattan . Josh drove down 59 th, headed west, past 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd Avenues. Then Park, Madison and 5 th . Central Park rolled into view on their right. Everywhere he looked there were red and gold Christmas decorations, shoppers wrapped up in thick coats, many of them laden with bags as they made their way to a coffee shop or back to their hotels. A group of carol singers had taken up a position on the sidewalk by the south-east entrance of Central Park and he caught a glimpse of an ice-skating rink through a gap in the trees as they drove down the street. New York did Christmas damn well. There were throngs of people everywhere, all enjoying a festive weekend. All of them blissfully unaware that a man had died a horrific toxic death across the Park last night.
    ‘You got plans Christmas Day?’ Josh asked.
    ‘Haven’t thought about it.’
    ‘What about your sister? She’s in DC, right?’
    ‘She’s having a hot one. Going off with the family to the Caribbean .’
    ‘Never understood that. It wouldn’t feel right having a barbeque on Christmas Day.’
    ‘Right now I wouldn’t mind.’
    Josh grinned. ‘You should come over. We’d love to have you.’
    ‘I can’t do that. Christmas is family time.’
    ‘Yeah, but now I won’t be able to fully relax. When I’m sitting by a warm fire with a cold beer and a plate of food, I’ll think of you alone in your apartment looking pathetic, pulling the ring off a can of soup.’
    ‘OK, I’ll think about it.’
    Josh shook his head. ‘It’s not your decision anymore. I’ll tell Michelle. The moment I do that, it’s a given. Otherwise she’ll head over to your place on Christmas morning and march you over to our house herself.’
    Archer laughed. They stopped at a red light at Columbus Circle , then once it turned green drove around the monument and headed uptown on Broadway.
    ‘Where is this place?’ Josh asked. ‘66 th , right?’
    ‘66 th and Amsterdam .’
    From Columbus to around West 86 th , Broadway was positioned at a right-diagonal that eventually straightened out. Given its slant, the road met 9 th Avenue on 64 th Street . Josh held at a red light, then took a left across the intersection and headed down 65 th . The next Avenue over was Amsterdam . When the light was green, Josh moved out and over to the left hand lane. He pulled up to the kerb just past 66 th , applying the handbrake and killing the engine.
    The two men stepped out of the car, Archer hunching into his coat and pulling his collar up against the blast of the cold wind. Being on the west side of Manhattan , they were close to the Hudson River and the wind had an extra bite to it. Slamming his door and jamming his hands into his pockets, he walked around the front of the car and joined Josh on the edge of the sidewalk. Several stores and a frozen yoghurt place were lined side by side up the block, but the building in front of them had to be the address they were after. Judging by the entrance, a number of different businesses and companies had office space here. A series of company names and logos on metal placards lined the walls either side of the entrance, all in different swirling calligraphy and fonts.
    Archer looked up at the building as Josh walked forward to check out the plates.
    About a third of the way down, in plain, printed, no-bullshit style was Flood