"Ah, a detective." Skulduggery wasn't quite sure what to make of that fact yet. In a perfect world, all detectives would think the way he did, and therefore immediately be trustworthy, as well as worthy opponents in chess. But that obviously wasn't the case. And it might also be true that detectives, wherever Badd came from, were not the same as detectives Skulduggery was familiar with - or worse, were like Remus Crux. "I was a detective, too," he continued, "although I wasn't retired so much as fired. I accused the man I worked for of treason." He paused, and tilted his head slightly to the side. "To be fair, he was actually innocent of that charge, but I had very good reasons for suspecting him."

The slight headache was back, and it was worse. Did he need to hydrate? Skulduggery glanced back down at the tea, but didn't reach for it just yet. "How long have you been trapped here?"