Hi all, I'm about half way through Devine Enquiries 3. Here's a little taster, chapter 1:

“Ow, ow.”

We had made love for hours last night then fell asleep snuggled up to each other, Sam’s head tucked into my shoulder, my arm around her. Now my arm was completely asleep and as I tried to move it pins and needles raked my arm with blood flow returning.

Sam moved her head onto my chest, her body pressed against mine. Slowly and carefully I extricated myself, resting her sleeping head on my pillow and crept out of our bedroom heading for the kitchen for a desperately needed cup of tea. Gizmo was stretched out in the hallway. He raised his head briefly (and I swear he was grinning) then dropped back down to continue his snooze.

I made a cup of tea and also took one into Sam although she was still asleep so I put it on her bedside table then went back to the kitchen to start breakfast.

Before I got to the kitchen the office phone rang and in my rush to get there before it woke up Sam I clipped my shoulder on the door frame and tripped over a chair making more noise than the phone ever could. Eventually I picked up the phone and spat out

“Hello. Who is it?” Before realising that it had already gone nine o’clock so I may be snarling at potential customers.

“What an excellent telephone manner you have.” It was Detective Inspector Hilary St John Stevens of New Scotland Yard, an old friend.

“Sorry Hils,” I said “But if I’d known it was you I wouldn’t have been so polite. What can I do you for?”

“As you know, whenever weird shit happens,” he said “I come to you because let’s face it you are weird.”

I smiled because that’s as close as he ever came to showing emotion.

“So what particular weird shit is happening now?”

“Bank raids.” He said, deadpan.

“Bank raids?” I said. “What’s that got to do with us? Surely that’s purely a police matter.”

“Normally I’d agree with you,” Hilary answered. I was expecting his usual coughing and spluttering from too many cigarettes but then remembered Sam had turned him into a vampire. Cancer no longer affected him - but he still smoked. “The trouble is that no one sees the robbers arrive or leave and when one gets shot nothing happens, The robber just carries on walking and disappears. There have been ten banks hit in the last month - plenty of witnesses seeing half a dozen thieves, no one hurt, no visible weapons - no getaway car, they just walk out the front door and vanish.”

I had a sinking feeling that I knew what was happening. Ishaaq Ibrahim was not the only person who could find and “span” gateways.

“In one case,” Hilary continued, “We had a van load of armed police waiting outside. The witnesses inside saw the thieves walk out the front door but they never appeared outside. The only descriptions we have are that they looked like zombies. Do we now have another mythical group to contend with?”

“Hi Hils,” Sam came into the office, stark naked and beautiful.

I thought “Good job it’s not a video call.”

Then I thought “Don’t be daft, Sam wouldn’t care.”

“Hi Sam,” Hilary called out. “No doubt you heard the conversation.”

“Yeah,” Sam replied. “I didn’t realise that zombies needed money or that zombies existed.”