Stone Cold

Shelter has named his plan “Laughing Boy One.” His first step is to learn the names of the two boys. He waits until they separate. Today, he sees Ginger taking the tube from Camden, while Link is begging on High Street. Shelter hides nearby, trying to escape notice. Eventually, he spots Ginger leaving the station. Shelter approaches him, grabs his arm, and asks if he’s Ginger. He tells Ginger that Link has been hurt—Shelter accidentally ran him over and he’s now severely injured and is at Shelter’s place. As Ginger follows Shelter, trusting him, Shelter notes: “Here was a hard, streetwise kid, cagey as they come, and he followed me home like a three-year-old. And of course, everything was set when we got there” (57). Shelter has set his couch up to look like someone is lying under a blanket. When Ginger lifts the blanket, Shelter kills him. Now Shelter reflects that it’s time to start on “Laughing Boy Two.” He plans to use the same trick with Link but finds that Link isn’t on High Street. Shelter decides to try again the next day.

The next day, Link looks for Ginger, fearing he has abandoned him. At the station, he asks a man selling newspapers if he has seen Ginger. The man recalls seeing Ginger talking to an older man the night before. The man mentions that the older man spoke about Link having an accident: “‘He mentioned Link. The old guy. Link’s had an accident. Something like that’” (59). Link, confused, goes to the market, hoping to find Ginger. He doesn’t, but while looking down from the walkway outside the toilets, he sees the girl who Ginger talked to in the café. She’s alone this time. She introduces herself as Toya.

Link asks if Toya has seen Ginger, but she says she hasn’t seen him since the other day in Holborn. Link shares what the man told him and expresses concern. Toya isn’t worried and suggests that maybe Ginger found work. She leaves without saying goodbye, leaving Link with a bitter thought: “That’s the secret. Don’t let anybody close. Don’t depend on anyone, ‘cause they’ll only let you down” (60).

Later, Link is in a café when a woman walks in. She’s the best-looking unhoused person he has ever seen. She has chestnut hair, dark eyes, and is wearing a worn waxed jacket. She sits next to him and speaks with a Scottish accent. She asks how long he has been in London, and Link lies, saying a year and a half. She introduces herself as Gail from Glasgow. Link starts to leave, but she asks him to stay, saying she’s scared. He decides to stay.

Shelter mocks Link, calling him “Link the Stink,” and comments that he’s in love. Shelter admits that he made a mistake the day before. He went to look for reconditioned army boots for his “army,” or the people he’s killed, whom he calls “the Camden Horizontals” (63). Because of this, he lost the chance to get Link. When he picks up Link’s trail again, he finds him in a café with a woman who also appears unhoused. Shelter now has to devise a new plan to catch Link.

Link and Gail quickly bond as they talk for hours in the café. Link reflects on the alienation of living unhoused: “When you’re homeless and hungry you’re an outsider. Normal everyday experience doesn’t apply to you. […] To all intents and purposes you belong to a separate species” (64). One of the hardest parts, he notes, is how it isolates him from girls. Sitting in the café, chatting with a beautiful girl like Gail, feels surreal. For the first time in months, he doesn’t feel like an outcast. Later, they sit on a wall, holding hands. Gail is curious about life on the streets, which she calls “The Scene,” and asks countless questions. Link answers as best he can. That night, he takes her to one of his favorite doorways, where they bed down. Nothing happens between them overnight.

The next day, they head to Charing Cross, where Link teaches Gail how to “tap,” or beg for money. He mimics what Ginger once did for him, leaving her alone for a while to see how she fares. While they’re apart, he’s haunted by fears that Gail will disappear, just as Ginger did. When he returns, he finds her in a phone booth, and she tells him she was calling her sister in Glasgow.

Months have passed, and though Link has evaded Shelter, Shelter hasn’t been idle: “My tally of recruits now stands at seven” (68), he explains. Shelter notes the diversity of his victims, mentioning a Black recruit. He claims that this shows he makes no racial discrimination in his “Camden Horizontals.” He reflects on his victims, calling them “volunteers”:

Nobody forces ‘em to come. They come for what recruits have always come for, an end to hunger and a roof over their heads, and they get it. None of my lads is hungry, and they’ve got a roof over their heads and a floor as well (68).

Spring has arrived, and Link’s relationship with Gail has deepened. They turn begging into a game, competing to see who can make more money. Link feels possessive and hates letting Gail out of his sight. He dreams of finding work to provide a home for her, but he knows his appearance as an unhoused person holds him back: “They’ve so many applicants to choose from, why should they take on a dosser? I wouldn’t, if I was in their shoes” (70). He even attends some interviews, but he remains jobless.

In April, Gail is still by his side. She doesn’t seem to mind that he has nothing to offer. One Saturday, a middle-aged man approaches them. He’s searching for his daughter, Tanya, and shows them her picture. Link recognizes her as Toya, the girl from the market. The man explains that someone saw her entering a ground-floor flat with an older man about a week ago. He went to the flat, but no one answered the door. Link agrees to help him search for Tanya.

Shelter recalls the previous night, when someone rang his doorbell, agitated. He stayed silent, pretending not to be home. He speculates that the visitor might be a relative of one of his “recruits.”

Link meets Nick, the paper seller at Camden Station, who shares something strange. He was approached by a man asking about his missing daughter, and Nick recalls seeing her leaving the station with the same man who was with Ginger months ago. They realize that both Ginger and the girl disappeared after being with this man. Nick mentions that someone else saw the girl entering the man’s house, and they deduce it must have been Captain Hook, whose apartment is in the same building. Link and Gail decide to watch the man to see what he does. Gail excuses herself to call her sister, and when she returns, she suggests that they go to the police. They do, but the police say that the case was already investigated and closed.

Shelter mocks the failed police investigation: “The enemy has attacked in strength and has been repulsed” (77). He recounts how two officers, a man and a woman, arrived at his flat while he was feeding his cat. They were investigating a young woman’s disappearance and showed him a photo. Shelter feigned concern, claiming that he recently helped the girl by offering her a bath and a meal. He expressed worry for her safety, and the officers left. Shelter is amused by their failure.

Link and Gail discuss what to do. Gail obtains Captain Hook’s address, and they decide to go to the house. The first day, nothing happens. The next day, they see a man in his forties with short, sandy hair leave the house briefly to buy a newspaper. They observe him and notice a cat sitting outside. Later, they decide to leave, and Link notes, “It was the business with the cat that fooled me. You can say what you like but there’s something reassuring about a cat” (81).

That afternoon, it begins to rain. Link suggests that they return to the house, but Gail refuses, unwilling to stand in the rain. They argue for the first time, and Gail leaves. Link decides to continue alone, feeling miserable and thinking about Gail. Eventually, the man opens the door, calling softly for his cat. After a moment, he steps inside to get food for the cat and continues calling. Link doubts the man could be a serial killer. The man notices Link and asks if he’s seen the cat. When Link says no, the man invites him inside to dry off and have some food. The cat reappears, and the man cradles it.

Inside, the house is immaculately clean. Link’s suspicions fade as he observes the man’s obsessive tidiness and affection for the cat. He notices a familiar object on the sideboard: his stolen watch. The man’s demeanor changes, and he smiles, calling him “Link the Stink” and “Laughing Boy Two” (85). Link, paralyzed with horror, wants to leave, but Shelter reveals his plan to add Link to his “army.” Link tries to escape through the window and pulls down the drapes, causing both to fall. Shelter eventually overpowers him and throws him into the hole in the ground, where Link sees the bodies of seven victims, including Ginger. Horrified, Link vomits. Shelter begins choking him. Suddenly, they hear the sound of sirens. The police break in, led by Gail. They rescue Link, and he and Gail embrace.

Shelter is taken away in a police van, and Gail reveals her true identity: Louise Bain, a journalist researching the experience of living unhoused. Link is overwhelmed with anger and betrayal. Gail, in tears, hands him some money and wishes him good luck before leaving. Shelter ends up in jail, ironically now with a roof, a bed, and regular meals, while Link remains unhoused. Reflecting on the injustice, Link hopes Louise’s story will raise awareness and inspire change. He considers leaving London to escape the ghosts of his past.