Ice rattled, bounced into the frosted tumbler. A pour of clear liqueur followed, thick and sugary. It rolled, diverted like a waterfall's spill over riverstones, became milky clear where it touched weeping water. A thumb and middle finger, all what remained of the drinker's digits, wrapped round the condensing glass, upended it through whiskery lips. […]
"It is a royal sport, Clemensa," said a dark and sunbaked man. With manicured fingers, he thumbed flechette rounds into a squat magazine. Sweat beaded on his forearms and lined brow. Across the folding table, Clemensa, clutching a thick demitasse of coffee, nodded slackly. He peered under his pith hat out into the jungle, blinked […]
"This is the first you've encountered such a thing, Coroner?" * said the man in white. He touched the brim of his wide hat, pulled it low. Beside strode a fellow in a grey apron, shirtsleeves rolled. Sweat glistened on his forearms and brown brow, coaxed from wide pores by heat and anxiety. A brick […]