Skulduggery gave Krei a steady look, inscrutable on his blank skull. Not the detective, indeed. Bright, almost definitely - but not a detective. Which raised some interesting questions. The backpedal was a logical observation, but why would someone know immediately where the shadow thief had been stealing parts from? Zanru made a public announcement earlier in the month; it was possible Krei's memory picked up and retained small pieces of information naturally, but more likely he was taking a personal interest in the thefts.

"He has indeed," Skulduggery agreed after a few moments, no less friendly than before. "And you're probably right. Stealing the soul gems indicates a very different set of motives to those of our shadow friend. For all we know, there aren't any. It seems more designed for chaos."