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I take out the pistol.

“What if we unstick him?”

Death’s eyes widen and his pupils turn into dinner plates. I wonder if Eric Townsend ever looked that freaked out, like maybe when the market tanked. I doubt it. I get the feeling that Death has found a whole new expression in an otherwise ordinary face.

“I don’t think I like your idea,” he says.

“I think that perhaps you’re getting frustrated and are looking for a quick answer,” says Vidocq.

He puts his hand on the barrel of the gun and points it at the floor.

“You don’t think it’s even worth considering? Maybe we can fix things right here and now.”

“Not all of life’s answers are in guns and na’ats. It just isn’t that simple,” Vidocq says. “Besides, we don’t know what might happen if we damage Death’s body too badly. He might be lost to us forever.”

“I can think of worse things than no death in the world.”

“To spend eternity in a coma like all those poor ­people?” says Vidocq. “That sounds like Hell to me.”

Very quietly, Death says, “Everyone hates me or is afraid of me or both. Angels, Hellions, humans, Gods. It gets lonely.”

“Then there’s no Mrs. Death, I take it?”

“That’s not funny,” he snaps, and for a second Death isn’t just a sad sack in dead skin. There’s a flash of cosmic fury in his eyes. A power that hasn’t been there before. Then it’s gone.

“Hey, I know what hated feels like, so we’re in the same club,” I say.

Death does a small nod, but I don’t think he’s convinced.

Vidocq finishes his drink and motions for the bottle. I give it to him.

He says, “Some texts claim that death is just a way station on a journey to somewhere else. That to die again in Heaven is a gateway to other planes. Is that true?”

“Ah, that. You ­people have a lot of ideas about what death is.”

“You ever hear the name Edison Elijah McCarthy?” I say.

“No.”

“What about Tamerlan Radescu?”

“It’s not familiar.”

“Give me your arm.”

He does it, but slowly, like he thinks I’m going to tear it off and use it for an ashtray.

“We know about the tattoo. I want to know what that brand is.”

Maybe to distract himself, Death turns to Vidocq.

“Why have you been looking for me for so long?”

“Becoming immortal was never my choice. Now I would like to be like other men.”

I look at him.

“You want to die? What about Allegra?”