Bryant & May - The Burning Man (48 page)

‘Who?’ asked May.

Bryant pointed to the smudged grey buildings that hemmed the river. ‘Why, London, of course.’

He stood there for a moment, looking out at something May could not see. Then he turned and walked slowly away. After just half a dozen paces, he was already hard to make out.

A moment later, there was nothing ahead but the silent fog.

May unfolded the page Bryant had given him. Set across it was a row of red admirals, but the colours were all wrong. It looked like naval code. Admirals, that was the tip-off. Of course. He translated the letters.

W-E-R-E-O-U-T-O-F-T-E-A

It was the page that Bryant had handed him on the day they met, all those years ago. But now there were some more butterflies, rather more shakily drawn, in a separate line below.

G-O-O-D-B-Y-E-O-L-D-F-R-I-E-N-D

‘Arthur, what will I do without you?’ May called, seized with sudden anguish. ‘How will I manage?’

In his heart he knew the answer to his question. Bryant had been right, as usual. They would always have Waterloo Bridge, on the span of the Thames, in the city which had created them.

Christopher Fowler
is a Londoner born (in Greenwich) and bred. For many years he jointly owned and ran one of the UK’s top film marketing companies. He is the multi-award-winning author of many novels and short-story collections, from the urban unease of cult fictions such as
Roofworld
and
Spanky
, the horror-pastiche of
Hell Train
and the haunted-house thriller
Nyctophobia
, to the acclaimed Bryant & May series of detective novels – and his two critically lauded autobiographies,
Paperboy
and
Film Freak
. He lives in London’s King’s Cross.

To find out more, visit
www.christopherfowler.co.uk

Also by Christopher Fowler, featuring Bryant & May

FULL DARK HOUSE

THE WATER ROOM

SEVENTY-SEVEN CLOCKS

TEN-SECOND STAIRCASE

WHITE CORRIDOR

THE VICTORIA VANISHES

BRYANT & MAY ON THE LOOSE

BRYANT & MAY OFF THE RAILS

BRYANT & MAY AND THE MEMORY OF BLOOD

BRYANT & MAY AND THE INVISIBLE CODE

BRYANT & MAY: THE BLEEDING HEART

PAPERBOY: A MEMOIR

FILM FREAK

For more information on Christopher Fowler and his books, see his website at
www.christopherfowler.co.uk

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Transworld is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at
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First published in Great Britain in 2015 by Doubleday
an imprint of Transworld Publishers
Copyright © Christopher Fowler 2015

Christopher Fowler has asserted his right under the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Every effort has been made to obtain the necessary permissions with reference to copyright material, both illustrative and quoted. We apologize for any omissions in this respect and will be pleased to make the appropriate acknowledgements in any future edition.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781448170210
ISBN 9780857522047

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