Skulduggery blinked at the comment. "That was the plan," he confirmed, tilting his head to one side with a slight air of amusement. The outburst had reminded him so unexpectedly of Valkyrie that one edge of his mouth almost twitched up into a smile. That volatile curiosity was a trait any good detective shared, and it was only fair to reward it.

"All right, then," he relented, leaning forward over his forgotten french toast once more. "I didn't die when I was supposed to. Something went wrong, and I... came back, with the unfortunate side effect of my body already being reduced to bones. I thought you might know something that could hint at the cause, but that doesn't look like the case."