"Well, I don't remember a time when it weren't those two." It's an admittance - Nancy was young when she started with Sikes, he's just not going to make it clear how young. "Like I said, reckon Fagin wanted someone who could control him, even when he were all wolfed out."

There's a pause, and he thinks carefully. "Sikes... he got a temper, bad one. Ain't to do with being a wolf, just his. Never liked what Fagin had Nancy doin' fer money, even though he liked the money."