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Police training cut in, and the cops immediately took cover behind the low bank formed by the roots of the overgrown hedgerows. Using hand signals alone, Luncardy directed parts of her squad to encircle the property to left and right. The she waved me forward. "Was that Drummond's voice?" she whispered. "Yes, I think so," I replied, speaking directly into her ear, "It's a bit difficult to tell." Human-made electronic amplification is usually not very effective for Goblin voices, and the words sounded strangled and tinny to my ears. I was pretty certain it was Drummond, though. "They seem to be expecting us," she said wryly, "You wouldn't have anything to do with this, would you?" I shook my head. "Garrick's a wily old codger," I said placatingly, "And pretty paranoid to boot. He'd have set alarms all over the place. You'll need to be careful." Luncardy led out a long sigh, then squinted at the farmhouse, protecting her eyes against the glare of the spotlights with her own elegantly stylish sunglasses and a carefully manicured hand. "Yeah," she said laconically, "Maybe you're right. I should've expected something like that. Better talk to those inside, then." I guessed that she would want to avoid any kind of full-scale assault. Very wise. Such a thing could get very messy, especially if Garrick's paranoid tendencies extended to defences as well as alarms. Luncardy took a small package from her pocket, an austere grey box of the kind that characterised police-issue glamours. She read the text on the packaging carefully, spoke the words of activation then casually held the cardboard box to her face for a moment. "Attention Drummond," she said calmly, her voice amplified hugely by the glamour from the box. It was what a human would probably think of as a loudhailer operated by magic, and was altogether much more sympathetic to the guttural complexities of the Goblin tongue than loudspeakers. "This is Inspector Harriet Luncardy of the Lower Realms police," Luncardy continued in that clear and strident tone always adopted by policemen under these circumstances, "You are surrounded. Throw out your weapons and come out with your hands up." There was no immediate response. I began to think that this would turn into a waiting game, a long siege - worryingly, a position which might just favour those inside the house, rather than those who would in a few short hours be exposed to the sunlit human world. Luncardy waved at several of her squad who by now were behind the hedge on the left, at the far end of the ruined house. One of the cops started to force his way under the low branches, no doubt trying to approach the buildings undetected. He was only half way through when a shot rang out. He wasn't hit, but it must have been close, judging by the way he ducked back under the cover of the bank. Clathy's voice rang out, sounding panicky and desperate. Never a good combination, in my experience. "Stay back! Stay back! I don't want to shoot." Suddenly there was a crashing noise in the bushes on my right, as if somebody was rather slowly and clumsily trying to force their way through the hedge at the other end of the buildings. "We've warned you, Luncardy," roared Drummond. Another gunshot blasted out, accompanied by a flash of flame clearly visible in the gloom and followed by a cry of pain. There were more crashes in the hedgerow, then a body fell forward and lay motionless on the grass.
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Part 83