Excerpt: Killing With Kindness

The Black Umbrella seemed from the outside to be simply a small club, where could be found live music and dancing at times, or simply its members having a non-alcoholic drink together. The crowd was predominantly young, but there were large groups of the more elderly. Many degrees of rich and poor were found here at all hours of the day, and to the disapproval of many, various degrees of race.

The joint was owned by a woman in her late twenties named Sacrifice Connelly, a widow of three years. Her husband had owned it before her, and when he had died both the Black Umbrella and a great sum of money had been left to her in his will. With it she had redecorated the main area and expanded down to the warehouse below, once used to hold supplies and even as a makeshift factory during the war. Now one could find chairs and tables, a dance floor, and a bar. – not to mention, in the partitioned-off remainder of the storeroom, a large supply of highly illegal alcohol.

Originally it had all been legal – before the Prohibition began, the Black Umbrella had sold alcoholic drinks quite openly, and to a large crowd of patrons. But then the law had changed, and for a while the Black Umbrella had staggered under the weight of a sudden loss of business. George Connelly had been a righteous man, unwilling to break the law to keep his business going. But when his health had failed him and his wife took over, a change took place.

Now the joint was a happening place, with patrons coming in with friends and family or even singly, looking to meet someone. Flappers danced to the swingers of the time, and war veterans showed off their scars and told tales to impressed young women. Sacrifice Connelly herself tended the bar. She was of good spirits even after the death of her husband George, which prompted rumours that she had been unfaithful, or even had bumped him off. But nothing ever came of it. A few suspicious patrons eyed Sacrifice's right-hand man Jaktplan Eriksen and sniffed over the impropriety – so soon after George. But Sacrifice paid them no heed.

Jaktplan Eriksen was a reporter – or had been before. These days, now that the Black Umbrella was thriving, he spent a great deal of his time managing the less legal aspects of Sacrifice's business enterprise. It was he who made connections with Mr Jeremiah Talbot, the best supplier of high-quality moonshine around. He lived with Sacrifice, though despite popular belief was not involved with her romantically. In fact, Jaktplan was not involved with anyone. A short man with a delicate face and ridiculously messy brown hair, Jaktplan Eriksen looked like a typical accountant or reporter, and not particularly Nordic despite his apparent heritage. But as many unfortunate lackeys of Sacrifice's competition could attest to, he packed one hell of a punch.

Jaktplan – or Jakt, as Sacrifice tended to call him – also had a secret.

He wasn't actually a man at all.