Glen Cook - Cruel Zinc Melodies

‘‘You’re chock-full of bad commercial ideas, Garrett. Or great ones for losing money.’’ He explained why a sewer company would go bankrupt.

My feelings were hurt for seconds. Which didn’t last. Most of my schemes eventually reveal big flaws. Why, indeed, would anyone pay to use a sewer system when they can throw the stuff in the street for free?

Heather said, ‘‘Tinnie, I talked to Alyx. Formal rehearsals will be held when you can attend.’’

The redhead put on a hard-ass look but that was the best she could expect.

Max, Heather, and Gilbey could have a social impact as profound as Block, Relway, and Prince Rupert. It would be a new world once a theater put real, virtuous, upright women onstage. Relatively speaking.

The visit to the Weider mansion lasted well into the afternoon. Nervous little men came in to talk about deficiencies in the design of the World. We found out that the absence of relief facilities wasn’t entirely an oversight. Competitors had trenches out back—when they had anything. The Edge added quicklime. Infrequently. The architects hadn’t been concerned so the problem hadn’t gotten much consideration.

Heather insisted that facilities with a hint of privacy included would be a big selling point for women. Gilbey told us, ‘‘Trust her judgment in these things.’’

Kip’s lighting notions generated more excitement. Though how he meant to create the flammable gas went over my head.

Tinnie insisted that she had to get home before her family disowned her. Plus, she had uncles to brief and a kangaroo court to arrange. Singe got her to tag along to the World, where they caught a ride with Playmate, John Stretch, and the rats when they headed home. The rats had found nothing bad down under, going deeper than ever they had before. I kissed Tinnie, promised I’d see her soon, then checked in with Saucerhead. Tharpe promptly warned me that one of the workmen said he’d seen a ghost. A woman. A real looker. Which nobody else saw. The man was a known shirker.

‘‘I didn’t see no ghost, neither, Garrett. But I ain’t gonna spend no more time inside there than I got to.’’ He wasn’t convinced that it hadn’t been a ghost who had attacked those sorcerers.

‘‘I’ll check it out. There anybody in there now?’’

‘‘That foreman guy, scoping out how to get back into full swing. He said they might hire some extra guys.’’ The way he looked at me told me he was wondering how much longer he’d be employed.

I told him, ‘‘Unless there’s a flare-up I’ll be looking for work tomorrow. You should be all right. Max won’t go back to the fools he had before.’’

‘‘That’s good. It’s been a weird one, Garrett. Awful low-key.’’

‘‘Yeah.’’ Just the existence of TunFaire had been threatened. And a guy named Garrett had stumbled deep into alien territory in his personal life. In both cases the biggest show ever had stirred behind the veil, but quietly, quietly— and had not yet achieved resolution.

Tharpe grinned. ‘‘I guess if I was you . . .’’

‘‘Don’t even start. I’m in a state of flying panic now.’’

‘‘Flying panic, eh? So tall, so thin, and Tinnie knows who she is? That must be just about the worst kind.’’

Sarky bastard. ‘‘I’m going to go see Luther.’’

‘‘Later, then.’’

I found the foreman at the edge of the finished floor, which had advanced a half dozen feet. The mess downstairs was gone. Luther seemed bemused. I told him, ‘‘Good progress today.’’

‘‘You got the fear of the gods put in them.’’

I grunted. More likely the fear of unemployment. ‘‘Can we get back on schedule?’’

‘‘If there isn’t any more craziness.’’ He eyed me like he thought I could pass on some valuable scuttlebutt.

‘‘It’s under control, Luther. The kid gangsters are off to the work camps. Belinda Contague has developed a business interest in the neighborhood. That should discourage vandalism. The kids who created the big-ass bugs have been hammered into line. We won’t see any more of those.’’

Luther pointed down and raised a brushy eyebrow. ‘‘And that?’’

‘‘That’s still a work in progress. What can be done is being done. Inertia is our ally. It should be asleep again now. For another hundred generations, one hopes.’’

Luther wasn’t comfortable with that. He was a guy who wanted absolute solutions. But those are the solutions that come by burying the problem in corpses.

I said, ‘‘There was mention of a ghost sighting. That what’s bothering you?’’

‘‘Some. But it was Lolly doing the whining. Which didn’t start till he got told he couldn’t have the afternoon off. First damned day back, he’s already wanting time off.’’

‘‘Going forward, keep it as cold as possible in here. If it starts to warm up inside but not out, I need to know right away.’’ That wouldn’t close the matter. Max wouldn’t let the dragon business slide, hoping it would go back the way it was. What had awakened once could awaken twice. He’d want some solid assurance.

‘‘Not my problem,’’ Luther confessed. ‘‘I’ll get the place built. The rest is up to you.’’

I liked his attitude. It was a dramatic improvement. ‘‘I’ll do what I can.’’

‘‘That’s good, Mr. Garrett. Hey, I’ve got to go. It’s a holiday tomorrow. I promised I’d get home at a reasonable hour tonight.’’ Just reminding me that he had a life when he wasn’t standing around jawing. ‘‘We’re having a birthday celebration for my kid.’’

People do go on living and changing when they’re not onstage with you.

Luther left. I decided to give the World the once-over before I followed suit. One last detailed snoop before I took a quick run home for supper. I’d come right back. There were things I wanted to do when I wouldn’t be interrupted.

Creak and a puff of cold air. I figured it was Saucerhead coming to find out what I wanted him to do. It was Tharpe, yes, but following stubby little Deal Relway himself. Tharpe’s shoulders hunched in a combination expressing apology and an appeal for instructions.

I shrugged. It couldn’t be too bad. The man who never left the Al-Khar had come out alone. Meaning he’d have to get back out on his own.

‘‘Can I help you?’’ That most annoying of questions, usually heard when you’re doing something someone doesn’t think you ought to be doing even when you’re not breaking any rules.

‘‘Wanted to see the scene of the crime with my own eyes. Nice coat. Beaver?’’

‘‘I think so.’’

‘‘We nabbed Belle Chimes.’’

‘‘Good for you. I knew you could do it.’’

‘‘Then we lost him before we could get any serious answers.’’

‘‘He escaped from the Al-Khar?’’

‘‘He didn’t get away. He was taken away. Custody transferred. By order of Prince Rupert. You have any idea why?’’

‘‘You’re better positioned to guess than I am. You work for the man.’’

‘‘I do, don’t I? And I don’t have a clue what goes on inside his head.’’ He kept wandering. Was he looking for one of the infamous ghosts?

We should tame them. We could turn them into another paying attraction. Spend some quality time with your dead folks in exchange for a few pieces of silver.

Relway stopped pacing. ‘‘Then there’s the guy we found way down in the underground last night. All chopped up and out of his mind. Bad actor known as Urban Jack Tick-Tack.’’

No way I could claim ignorance. His troops had been there with me. ‘‘He attacked some dwarves I know. Their little girl came to me for help.’’

‘‘And you sent her to Tharpe. We talked to the dwarf girl. We talked to Urban Jack. We talked to Tharpe’s crew. And we talked to the red tops who were there. Some curious conflicts in testimony turned up.’’