... at the crazy caption comics cluedunnit ...

The sun slanted into the room like cold iron bars, ready to knock me out or beat me up, I wasn't quite sure which yet. It was a pitiless afternoon, defiantly bright and cheerful. And here was I, with murder in my heart and last night's hangover scratching at the back of my eyeballs, with a bag full of black pens and a room full of punks eager to put them to bad use. I narrowed my eyes and stepped into the light, feet uncertain on the stained red carpet, fiddling with the piece in my pocket like it was my favourite lucky rabbit's foot, which I suppose, right then, it was.



"Alright," I said, "Let's get started." Not one of them looked at me. Well, a glance, maybe, but they had stuff to say to each other, and only a few hours left to say it. So I pull out the piece and drop it on the table and that gets their attention. Or maybe it's the shouting. Either way, they're listening now, which suits me because they have a hell of a lot to do in the next three hours. Me, though, I'm more focussed on the here and now.

Say, the next fifteen minutes.