Bodie went out for an early run on one of those bright sunny days that seem a gift to England from countries less shrouded in rain and fog, turning his head to admire pretty girls in skimpy jogging outfits as they went past him. He and Doyle had the weekend off, but his partner was taking a cooking class today and he wrinkled his nose, thinking of the many times he had been required to sample some new dish that his friend had picked up in such classes. Last time it was a vegan class. Bodie had never heard of vegans before, and he could still remember his shock when Doyle brought what he called "food" out of the kitchen.
"You said we were having steak with a side of bacon." Bodie poked at the strange looking mass on his plate.
"It is steak!" Doyle sat across from his friend and took a bite from his own plate. "Delicious. Go on, try it. It's made from the skin of a grapefruit but you can't tell it from the real thing."
"I can tell." Bodie gagged. "I can tell this is not bacon." He held up a hard black strip, looking at it with deep suspicion. "I know this did not come from a pig."
"It's a banana peel!" Doyle plucked the strip from Bodie's hand, popped it in his mouth, and chewed with relish. "I'm telling you, Bodie, this is the coming thing. Plant-based meat."
Bodie pushed his plate away. "How about some meat-based plants? You could make carrots and tomatoes out of ground beef, and slice up ham paper thin for lettuce leaves."
The dark-haired man chuckled to himself at the memory of Doyle's face at that comment, then focused on a pretty girl standing helplessly next to her car. She had a flat tire, and although she had gotten the jack out of the boot, she didn't seem to know what to do with the wheel brace. Bodie jogged up to her with a big smile. "Need some help, luv?"
"Oh, yes, please!" she said gratefully. "I can't seem to loosen these…ummm, these…"
"Wheel nuts," he said helpfully, bending over to look at the tire before darkness descended on him.
The girl looked down at the man she had just clubbed, then signaled to someone waiting behind a tree. "Was that what you wanted, Mr Taggert?"
Taggert knelt and checked Bodie, then nodded. "Perfect." He threw the unconscious man into the boot, reinflated the tire with a hand pump, and drove off with the girl, leaving no sign of what had happened.