I checked Dead Man. He wasn’t stirring. I told Dean, “I’m going out. I’ve got stuff to do.” I mapped a route in my head. Morley’s place, Temisk’s office, then the Bledsoe to check on the burned woman.

“You have your stick?”

“What?” His asking startled me.

“Shouldn’t you be ready for the worst? Considering recent events?”

I gawked. That was out of character. But he was right. And didn’t know the half. A lot of bad guys saw me at Whitefield Hall. Some would believe I was hooked up with Belinda.

I loaded up on self-defense devices, a few enthusiastically disapproved by the city Watch.

The boys at The Palms weren’t pleased to see me, but they didn’t haul out any cleavers. For a wonder, though, I caught Morley working for the second day in a row.

“What’s going on?” I asked Puddle. “What’s his problem?”

Puddle’s face exploded in a big old ugly, broken-tooth grin. “He’s down here getting in da way. He don’t got to be upstairs.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“One a dem silver-elf womens is here.”

I chuckled an evil chuckle. “It took me a long time… Hey, buddy! I came to see what you think about last night.“

Morley pulled up a chair. “Sit. Puddle, tell Skif we want a pot of tea. The real stuff. My friend doesn’t like weed leaves.”

“You don’t really drink herb tea, do you?”

“I serve it. You give the marks what they want. I’ve heard a rumor, says you’ve already had some excitement today.”

“A double dose. Some Green Pants guys tried to break in. Then Block showed up, wanting to know all about everybody’s business.”

“And you told him?”

“The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I don’t know nothing about nothing. He mostly wanted to know what happened to Belinda and Chodo after the party. He didn’t care about the fires, the riot, or the dead men.”

“Belinda better take care of Chodo. We’re picking up storm warnings. Some of the underbosses are getting ambitious.”

“Rory Sculdyte?”

“Teacher White, too.”

That wasn’t good. Though they do tend to kill only each other. Which Relway would encourage wherever he could. “Figures. They got out alive.”

“You said the Green Pants Gang hit your place again?”

“Yes.” Stupid me, I’d been too excited about being able to get out. I hadn’t gotten the promised reports from John Stretch and Melondie Kadare. “Block’s gang has them. He claims he has all but two locked up now. One of those two is following me right now.”

“We can take care of that.”

“You might want to be better prepared than yesterday.”

“Same guy?”

“I think so.”

“Not to worry. Help is on its way. About last night. What happened?”

“You were there.”

“I was kitchen help, Garrett. I didn’t see anything.”

“You saw as much as I did. Probably more. You had a whole crew in there and none of them were blind.”

“I’m sure it was your fault everything turned weird. Weird things happen when you’re around.”

“Only because of my unfortunate taste in friends.”

“You’re a misfortune for anyone who gets close to you. What’s the thing with Block and Chodo?”

I explained.

He said, “There was a lot of confusion. Somebody might’ve grabbed Chodo.But you would’ve heard about that from Belinda. She’d want Daddy Garrett to save her again.”

“Maybe.”

“Want some advice, Garrett? Stay away from Belinda. No telling how hairy it might get, but she isn’t likely to be the winner.”

I drank the tea Skif brought. “They’ll be that knee-jerk?”

Of course they would. The Outfit includes the most old-fashioned people alive. They don’t want a girl running the show.

I mused, “I wonder, though. Last night fell apart on Belinda, but it didn’t go the way anybody else expected, either. She’s no dummy. And she’s got a big head start.”

“She remains, still, just a woman.”

“I’m telling you, don’t underestimate her. Especially if you suddenly notice yourself between her and somebody giving her a hard time.”

He nodded. I doubt that he meant it. He asked, “Where are you headed from here?”

“Harvester Temisk’s place. Then the Bledsoe.”

“You can stand that place?”

“I don’t hold any grudges.”

“I mean, it’s the antechamber of one of your most pedestrian human hells. I get the wet-spine creeps just thinking about it. Let alone getting close enough to smell it.“

I held my tongue. TunFaire’s poor depend entirely on that nightmare establishment for what little medical attention they receive.

“I know what you’re thinking, Garrett. And I don’t care. You know perfectly well where the road paved with good intentions leads.”

I was being followed. As I’d reported. But now I had an entourage. The guy in the green pants was only the closest and most obvious tagalong. And the least skilled or most naive. He seemed to think I wouldn’t notice him. He didn’t notice the parade behind him. Which, at first, I thought was Morley’s crew.

Using a few tricks meant to look like accidents, I decided I was wrong. One was a man who worked for Relway. And Spider Webb, an enforcer for Teacher White, who was a small-time renaissance crook Chodo never liked but who’d always avoided giving offense enough to get his run canceled.

Why would Webb and Teacher be interested in me? White wasn’t big enough to try for Chodo’s spot.

Were my fans aware of one another?

They all knew about Ugly Pants. Webb didn’t seem to notice Relway’s people, maybe because half a dozen were taking turns.

I decided to forget Harvester Temisk. I angled off toward the Bledsoe. I took a stroll through a tight neighborhood, turned a few corners quickly, ducked into a church. I scampered up into its bell tower. That gave me a view of the developing confusion.

Morley did have men out, including himself. They laid way back, observing. Morley eyed the belfry as soon as he knew that I’d disappeared.

The Watch had a less relaxed attitude. Their immediate response was to arrest Spider Webb and Ugly Pants. Spider surrendered meekly. He knew you don’t mess with Relway’s Runners.

When I left the church there were six people dead or crippled. Ugly Pants had developed a bad case of being the former. I was glad I didn’t like green. The secret police were about to make green pants a lethal stylistic faux pas. Meantime, Spider would be back on the street before dark. He’d helped them drop the moron in the ugly trousers.

I’d just hove in sight of the Bledsoe when Morley fell into step beside me. “Any theories?” he asked.

“Other than that Ymber breeds them strong but stupid?”

“That was a dirty trick, back there.”

“I learned from a master.”

“Conscience not bothering you?”

I looked inward. “You know, it isn’t.”

“You sound surprised.”

“I am.”

“You’ve turned into one of the boss class since you got involved in that manufactory business.”

“What’re you talking about?”

“Some other time. I have a new venture, too. It’ll be a place where crackpots can spout whatever nonsense infests their pointy heads.”

“We have a place for that. The Chancellery steps.”

“Not anymore. Relway is moving them out. Nobody was making any money off it, apparently.”

“Sure there was. The sausage guys. The rat-on-a-stick guys. The tempura tarantula guy.”

“Who bought those?”

“I don’t know. Somebody. Or he wouldn’t be out there every day. Yuck!”

That wasn’t a comment on deep-fried spider. We were close enough to the Bledsoe to hear and smell the place.

It’s a hell in brick. Those who deliver themselves to the hospital’s mercy are, generally, thoroughly desperate. Meaning parts may be falling off already. The stenches of disease, rotting flesh, and deep despair lie heavy on the whole area. The neighbors pray for foul weather to wash and blow the stink away.