“You’re shitting me.”

“Not hardly. You’re my favorite turd.”

“Saucerhead. We’re in mixed company here.”

“As mixed as it gets, I’d say.”

“Talk to me about Chodo’s part.”

“He was there. Every time. Hang on. I might be misspeaking. Somebody in a wheeled chair was there before the fires happened. But not when the bodies was found.”

At this point Saucerhead’s marvelous legwork petered out. Meaning there might yet be legwork reserved for me.

I went through the other Ymberian’s pockets. He didn’t have his own roc’s egg. He did come equipped with a little teak box. Inside: “One of them metal dogs.” Frost formed on it. Despair hit like a kick in the gilhoolies. Whispers of darkness filled my head. I just managed to shut the box. “Whoa! That was ugly.”

Saucerhead and John Stretch were glassy-eyed, with Tharpe smitten harder than the ratman. Cutlery hit the floor in the kitchen. A-Laf’s boys didn’t react. Because the Dead Man had frozen up. Those he controlled had followed his lead.

Old Bones had taken the psychic equivalent of a punch to the breadbasket. He huffed and puffed, on the mental side, getting his balance back.

“That was some bad shit,” Saucerhead rumbled, shivering. “How about you don’t open that friggin’ box no more?”

“You got a deal, buddy.”

The situation improved once those of us who weren’t guests of the Crown surrounded a few beers. I told John Stretch, “You’ve been quiet.”

“As a mouse.” A joke? “My mouth has been full.”

“You got a point. It’s not full now, though. What’s up?”

“We have located your lawyer.”

“What?” I chomped down on Harvester Temisk’s name in a moment of paranoia. “Why didn’t you say so?”

“I just did. And your partner has known since my arrival.” John Stretch no longer seemed intimidated. “There is no need for haste.”

It was night out and winter out and the Dead Man wasn’t excited about getting something done right away. Maybe it could wait.

Saucerhead reminded me, “Chodo don’t move so fast and light no more, Garrett. I figure, wherever the mouthpiece has got him stashed, that’s where he’ll stay till he gets flushed out.”

“That’s the common wisdom now? That Temisk kidnapped him at Whitefield Hall?”

“Ain’t no better theory ever come up. Some folks even wonder if the Green Pants guys wasn’t just a diversion for to cover his getaway.”

Interesting theory. “And, flushes him?” What? I felt an idea trying to be born. Kolda. Yeah. And my late bout with herbal poisoning. “Hey. Old Bones. What’re the chances Belinda’s been poisoning her old man? Temisk might be trying to get him straight.”

Ifso, the woman is more clever than we credit. She has been here many times, betraying only her ongoing complicity in profiting from her father’s misfortune. In the financial and emotional senses alike.

There may be substance to your speculation, however. If other parties had regular access.

“Didn’t Merry say Rory has somebody inside?”

Interesting. Yes. Let me reflect on the possibilities.

“It would explain some stuff. You sure I shouldn’t hit the bricks right now?”

You are not yet recovered.

John Stretch said, “My people will keep watch.”

That wasn’t reassuring. Ratfolk are notorious for cashing in on anything salable. The whereabouts of the kingpin might be the most marketable commodity in TunFaire today.

John Stretch tried to reassure me. “My watchers do not know who they have staked out. They believe we are watching a burglary ring whose plunder hoard we intend to convert to our own advantage. They know only that they are to inform me who goes in and out.”

This ratguy was a natural. Dangerously bright. “Can you track somebody to their next hideout in this weather?”

“Singe can.”

I was skeptical.

Your anxiety is understandable, Garrett. And not misplaced. But you must regain strength. You are not yet capable of an extended journey, let alone physical excitement.

“If John Stretch can find them, so can Rory or Teacher.” Chodo had had friends on the Hill. No doubt Rory Sculdyte did, too. Those people and Syndicate bosses are sides of the same coin, down in their bloody, greedy black hearts.

And there are countless low-talent, self-taught storefront and street-corner magicians. Not all of them are charlatans.

“Good work, all,” I said. “What do I owe you, Saucerhead? After deductions for food and beer?”

“What? You got no sense of hospitality. I wouldn’t never try to charge you if you was a guest at my place.”

“How do I know that? I don’t even know where you live.”

Saucerhead showed me one of his professional hard-guy looks. It didn’t take. After a pause, he said, “Singe paid me.”

“If I go get in line now, a place might open up in the workhouse before I’m completely destitute.”

“I wish I was half as bad off as you’re always poor-mouthing. I’d have to go live on the street.”

I could see how. Saucerhead comes equipped with low expectations and a knack for showing up at suppertime.

John Stretch told me, “The stewed apples and Weider’s Select are compensation enough for me.” He had to work at “compensation.”

I nodded but thought, “Not good.” What insanity would the rat king drag me into if I stumbled into his favor-for-a-favor universe?

That kind of nightmare had me chasing Chodo now.

The Dead Man suggested, You all should turn in for the night. Garrett, I will generate a distraction that will allow you to leave unnoticed in the morning. Mr. Tharpe. We have further need of your services.

Evidently I was expected to improve dramatically during the night.

So I went upstairs and slept some more. I had to move Tinnie with a crowbar. If she’d been any more asleep, we would’ve needed an undertaker.

“Don’t you ever sleep, girl? Where’s Tinnie?” I was alone.

“She went home. Saucerhead took her. She was not feeling well. She was afraid she caught what you had. She wanted to be where she could get a real physician to visit.”

“Crap!” Something to worry about on top of everything else.

“She said don’t worry on her account. She will be with her family.”

“Double crap. You know what that means.”

“In my limited experience, I would say it means you had damned well better find room in your busy day to go hold Tinnie’s quivering hand. You can rest after you are dead.”

She’d read Tinnie pretty good. “Nothing I can do about that right now. So why wake me up?” There was no light from outside.

“The Dead Man says it will be time to get moving when Saucerhead gets back. Also, Mr. Dotes just returned. I thought that might be important.”

I glanced at the window. It had better be real important. It was flat dark out there.

Singe told me, “Dean is grumbling like a volcano god, but he is cooking and fussing about going back to bed later. When you dress, remember that it is raining again. And looks likely to turn to ice or snow.”

“Sounds exciting.” I swung my feet onto the floor, stood. I didn’t know how bad I’d felt before until I realized how good I felt now. “Wow! I think I’m cured.”

“Yes. And your bed buddy left a little too soon.” She nodded toward half-mast.

I glanced down. And flushed. “We’re getting too casual and comfortable with each other around here.”

Singe resisted further comment. “I should consult the poisoner. I’m due for a season. None of us need that distraction.”

She was right. Ratgirls in heat distract everybody. They have no more control than a cat in heat.

“Where are our kittens? I haven’t seen them for a while.”