Skulduggery Pleasant: The End of the World Read Online Free

was startled by the scream, but not half as startled as Ryan himself. It had been a surprisingly high-pitched scream this time, and to make matters worse, it resulted in Valkyrie leaping in front of him protectively.
    “Oh,” said the middle-aged woman. She wore a floral dress and a cardigan. As middle-aged women went, she wasn’t particularly frightening.
    Skulduggery walked forward, a new false face smiling broadly. “Hello there,” he said. “How are you on this fine day? Come in, come in. And you are…?”
    “Francine,” the woman said, a little flustered. “I live down the hall… What are you doing in Deacon Maybury’s apartment?”
    “You know Deacon?” Skulduggery asked. Valkyrie walked behind her, checked the corridor for anyone else, then stepped back in and closed the door.
    “Well, yes,” said Francine, frowning at Valkyrie and then looking at Skulduggery. “He’s my neighbour and he’s a good man. If you’re robbing him, I must warn you – we don’t take kindly to that sort of thing here.”
    “We’re not robbing him,” Skulduggery said. “But I’m afraid I have some bad news.”
    “Is it Deacon?” Francine asked, her eyes wide.
    “It is.”
    “Is he sick?”
    “It’s a little worse than that.”
    She gasped. “He’s dying?”
    “He was briefly dying,” said Skulduggery. “Now he’s dead.”
    Francine’s mouth dropped open. “What? Deacon… Deacon is dead ?”
    “I’m afraid so.”
    “Oh no. Oh no, no, no.” She sagged, and Valkyrie caught her before she collapsed. “My Deacon… My poor Deacon…”
    Valkyrie staggered over to the only upright chair, and dumped Francine into it.
    “He was so strong,” Francine sobbed. “So proud. So much dignity. How did he die?”
    “Wood chipper,” said Valkyrie.
    Francine wailed again, pounding the table with her little fists. “Why?” she cried. “Why did you take him, Lord?”
    Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery, and Skulduggery shrugged.
    “Uh,” Valkyrie said. “I’m sorry for your, you know, your loss. I’m sure he was a great… I’m sure…” She faltered, and gave a shrug of her own. Ryan looked at Skulduggery, but he showed no signs of offering any real comfort to the poor woman.
    “You obviously loved him very much,” Ryan said, surprising himself by stepping forward.
    “I did,” Francine sobbed.
    “I’m sure he loved you back.”
    Francine looked up, her eyes red and puffy and pleading. “Did he ever mention me?”
    Ryan hesitated, and Valkyrie smirked at him from behind Francine. “All the time,” he said. “Yes. God, every time I spoke to him he was all, Francine this and Francine that and… ohh, how I love Francine.”
    “He said that?”
    “Uh, something along those lines, definitely…”
    Francine clasped her hands to her chest. “I knew it,” she said. “I knew he loved me. All those long silences. All those awkward moments. I should have told him I felt the same way. Then we could have… Then we could have…”
    She broke off into a fit of sobbing. Behind her, Valkyrie gave Ryan the thumbs up. He had a feeling she meant it sarcastically.
    “Did you talk to Deacon much?” Skulduggery asked, leaning down to gently pat her hand. “Did you tell each other about your days? Did you confide in each other…?”
    “With a love like ours,” Francine warbled, “we didn’t need words.”
    “How inconvenient,” Skulduggery muttered, straightening up immediately and walking away.
    “Francine,” Ryan said, “we’re looking for something that Deacon was keeping for us. Do you know where it is? It’d be big, now, as big as a house.”
    Francine blinked away tears. “What could he have had that was as big as a house?”
    Ryan frowned. He really had no answer to that.
    “A house,” Valkyrie said quickly. “He had a house. He was keeping it for us. One of those mobile houses, you know the kind.”
    “A mobile home?” Francine asked.
    “Something like that. A little bigger. Do you