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Page 120
a series of atrocities that began forty-four years ago. You are many things, Mr. Wages, but you most certainly are not a casual tourist."
I didn't have to ask for the source of his knowledge. My files were all too casually stacked on the top of my dresser and all too carefuly labeled. I glanced at my watch for effect.
"You see, Mr. Wages, we, you and I, share a common interest in these unsavory episodes from our history."
"All right, I'll bite. What kind of common interest?"
"I too have been following these events. The difference, you see, is that I have been doing it far longer than you."
"How much longer?" The little bastard was beginning to intrigue me.
"Twenty-two years." There was no hesitation in his voice, only the element of something haunted and mysterious.
"That would have been about the time of Battle Harbor."
"I was at Battle Harbor," he said evenly.
It's strange how some words or statements or admissions can zero right in on your personal gyro. Kelto just had. I was off balance with a funny taste in my mouth. I did a couple of quick calculations; if he was actually at Battle Harbor, he was older than I had him pegged. "You were," I repeated in amazement, "at Battle Harbor? You

 
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