"If she had that much sense, she would have headed out of town as soon as she had her share of the money. She seems to have a certain low cunning, an ability to manipulate men, and complete confidence in her invulnerability, but no brains. I'll take your word. You don't know where she is. But where might she run? Who would hide her?"
Skredli shrugged. "One of her Johns, maybe."
I'd had that thought already. I suspected Skredli was mined out on the subject. And he was relaxed enough for the next stage.
"Why did the Stormwarden's kid have to be killed?"
"Huh? Killed? I heard he committed suicide."
"We're getting along fine, Skredli. I'm starting to feel kindly toward you. Don't blow your chance. I know you and Gorgeous and Donni and somebody were in and out of the room where he died. And I knew him well enough to know he couldn't kill himself that way—if he could ever find guts enough to kill himself at all. I figure you used the choke sack on him and Gorgeous cut him himself. I think Donni—but what I think doesn't matter. The thing I can't figure is why he went within a mile of that woman after what she did to him."
"You don't know Donni Pell."
"No. But I intend to get acquainted. Go ahead. Tell me about that morning."
"You aren't going to spread it around, are you? I don't need no Raver Styx breathing down my neck."
"None of us do. But you don't worry about Raver Styx. You worry about me. I'm the only chance you've got to walk out of here. You've got to make me happy."
He shrugged. He wasn't counting on me. But he did have new hopes that he hadn't had awhile ago.
"All right. What started it was you parading around with that dead woman. Somebody seen you by Lettie Faren's place. They told Donni and Donni must have told everybody in town. She sent a messenger to us. Gorgeous had a fit, but he believed me when I said she had to be dead and you was just trying to stir something up.
"But you did get Donni stirred. Like you said, she ain't too smart. She thought she had her handle on the daPena kid. She sent him a message that told him where to find her, that she had to see him. The dope went there. I don't know what she thought she was going to get him to do. He wasn't having none of her finger-wrapping no more. He'd figured some of it out, and like a dummy she told him the girl was dead.
"That did it. He was going to hike out of there and blow the whole thing wide open. And he would have, too, only me and Gorgeous showed up. On account of Gorgeous was worried about Donni maybe getting too excited and doing something really stupid."
"It wasn't planned, then?"
"I gotta be careful with that. I don't think it was. I wasn't in on no planning, which I usually was because I was the guy who had to go out and do things. But it did have a funny feel. Like maybe Donni rigged it so it would come out the way it did."
"You keep contradicting yourself. Is Donni Pell stupid or not?"
"She's good at coming up with schemes and playing them out, long as she's got the reins in her hands. You catch her by surprise, she don't do so good. She thinks slow, she gets flustered, she does dumb things. So Gorgeous figured we better get over there and sit on her till she calmed down and whatever was bugging her blew away."
"And Karl was there."
"There and throwing a fit. He figured some of it out and he was going to tell the world. Donni even tried to buy him off, saying she'd give him his share after all. Dumb. After the way she screwed him over, and him just about sure what was going on. We didn't have no choice. He wouldn't back down. Even with me and Gorgeous there. It was our asses or his. I thought we made it look good."
"You did. You just didn't know he was so chicken nobody would believe he did it himself. Who was the other guy who was there?"
"What other guy?"
"A man in a hooded black cloak."
"I never saw one."
"Uhm." I paced. There were more questions I wanted to ask, but most had to do with the money. I didn't want Chodo getting interested in that. And Skredli had given me plenty to untangle, anyway. Probably close to enough. Donni Pell would put the cap on it. She would throw some light into the hearts of some shadows. She would cast the bones of doom for somebody.
"I played it straight for you," Skredli said. "Get me out of here."
"I'll have to talk Mr. Chodo into it," I replied. "What will you do?"
"Head north as fast as I can run. I don't want to be anywhere around when Raver Styx hits town. And there ain't nothing here for me anymore, anyway."
"You'd keep your mouth shut?"
"Are you kidding? Whose throat would the knife bite first?"
"Good point." I wagged a hand at Morley, indicating the door. He moved to open it. Chodo rolled out of his way. Morley stepped aside. Chodo and I followed.
"Where do you stand?" I asked the kingpin, indicating the door with a jerk of my head.
"I got rid of the bloodsucker bothering me. That's just a hired hand. You can have him."
"I don't know if I want him. Maybe he swung the knife but didn't give the order." We walked for a while. I said, "You know Saucerhead Tharpe?"
"I've heard the name. I know the reputation. I've never had the pleasure."
"Saucerhead Tharpe has a grievance against Skredli. It supersedes mine. I think he deserves first choice in deciding."
We traveled through that vast room where the naked ladies played. Again Morley had trouble steering. To Chodo they were furniture. He said, "Tell Tharpe to come out if he wants a piece." And, "If I don't hear by this time tomorrow, I turn him loose." And, at the front door, "Sometimes you let one go so word gets around how it goes for those who don't get out."
"Sure." Morley and I stepped outside and waited for an escort. We didn't speak until we were on the public road. Then I asked, "You think Chodo will let him go?"
"No."
"Me neither."
"What now, Garrett?"
"I don't know about you. I'm going home to sleep. I had a late night last night."
"Sounds good to me. You let me know if anything comes of all this."
"How's your financial position these days, Morley?"
He gave me a dark look, but replied, "I'm doing all right."
"Yeah. I figured you would be. Listen, knot head. Stay away from the damned water-spider races. I'm not getting killed in one of your harebrained schemes for getting out from under."
"Hey, Garrett!"
"You've done it to me twice, Morley. This time maybe not as hairy as last time, but that crap down in Ogre Town was too damned close. You hear what I'm saying?"
He heard well enough to sulk.
______ XLI ______
I needed a sixteen-hour nap, but I devoured a roast chicken with trimmings and clowned a couple quarts of beer instead. I went into the Dead Man's den, being careful not to trample on the bodies, and tiptoed over to the shelves on the short north wall. Among the clutter I found a fine collection of maps. I dug out several and settled in my reserved chair.
I see you had a productive day.
He startled me. I hadn't known he was awake. But that's the sort of game he likes to play—sneak and scare. Near my heart I nurture a suspicion that malicious and capricious spirits are dead Loghyr disembodied.
I didn't answer immediately.
A productive day indeed. You are smugly certain you have a handle on everything and no longer need badger me to do your thinking for you. Just to be contrary—though that's probably what he wanted—I gave him a blow-by-blow of everything that had happened since my last report. He seemed amused by my having chewed Morley out. While I talked, I ran my right forefinger along lines on one of the maps, trying to visualize points of interest barely noticed in the real world.