A body in the mud by the Miskatonic River is just an average day for Detective Vergil Levard. But when the cadaver shows signs of something more sinister afoot, Vergil is forced to make a deal with the devil and work with the leader of the local bootleggers, Jimmy Hogan, to track down the killers.<br><br>If Vergil were a normal copper, the strange sigil wouldn’t have meant anything to him. If Hogan were a normal mobster, Vergil wouldn’t be falling for him. And if the fishing village of Innsmouth were a normal smuggler’s front, neither of them would have to fear for their sanity.<br><br>With darkness closing in and some terror from the deep creeping up behind them, Vergil and Hogan have nothing left to hold onto except each other.

Moonshine

Vergil went for his piece but Hogan already had his up, aimed straight at Vergil’s heart. His hands were not shaking and those emerald eyes were narrowed to slits. “Vergil, you snake.”


“What the hell are you doing here?”


“What am I doing here? What are you doing here? We had a deal.”


Vergil kicked the door shut behind him and Hogan’s aim didn’t even falter.


“What you thought I was going to let you handle it? It is a murder investigation, I can’t just hand it off to the mob and hope for the best.”


“Horsefeathers. If you gave a damn about the murder you wouldn’t be here, you’d be back in Arkham or heading further upriver, trying to find my stolen boat.”


“Smugglers don’t pick up hitchers and ships small enough to run up the Miskatonic don’t got the space for a big crew. I find out who was on the boat when it left, mark Louis off that list and what is left are my suspects. Your boat is just a thing. Things can be tossed aside. People are what matter.”


Chapter 5