•
"Something's off here," Gonko muttered, pacing. His fingernails were gnawed to the quick. Now and then he'd lash out with his boot at anything in range or crush to powder some Chinese stress balls.
"What d'you mean, boss?" said Rufshod, dodging a kick.
"JJ just fibbed to me. Said he'd offed Deeby, but he didn't."
"Say, boss, don't take it wrong, but you're kind of paranoid. Remember five minutes ago when you pulled a gun on your own shadow?" Rufshod pointed at the bullet hole in the ground. "Maybe JJ did it after all."
"And what's Goshy so stirred up about?" said Gonko, as if he hadn't heard. "He's got some beef with Jamie, and he ain't cooling down about it. Maybe he heard something we need to know."
Rufshod saw no way to answer this. He said, "Good photos, hey? They look so guilty."
"You took 'em to the therapist like I told you?"
"Course I did, boss, along with the note. And the stash is buried out behind the acrobat tent like you said."
"Just one thing left for us to do then. Pity about Curls, I really don't mind him so much. Grab yourself an implement of bodily destruction, Ruf. We're going snitch hunting."
•
Kurt's face expressed no anger, only delight as he peered at each of the Polaroid snaps for the thirtieth time. "Oh my," he whispered. "It's so very exciting." The anonymous note, which by some quirk of cosmic coincidence looked rather like Gonko's handwriting, said that the illicit stash of stolen powder could be found behind the acrobat tent. Delicious! Kurt basked in anticipation for just a moment longer, sucking on a wisdom tooth. Then he lifted his frame from the desk and loped outside.
•
Jamie and Dean tried not to be noticed on their way to the fortuneteller's place. Thankfully most of the population was asleep or whacked out on wish powder—only the occasional curtain parted with evil eyes glaring out through lamplight. There at last, a familiar caravan connected to Shalice's hut, a familiar trace of strange perfume threading through the air. The window was dimly lit. Jamie knocked very gently at the window. Footsteps within; the hut's door opened.
"You have to hide us," Jamie whispered. "We're in deep shit. We messed up."
She hesitated. "Did anyone see you come this way?"
"No one important."
With a sigh she moved aside, hushing them at once as they began to thank her. "This arrangement cannot last," she said. "You must do your task tomorrow. Or tonight. Any longer and I will have to turn you in to save myself."
"Some ally," said Dean.
She laughed. "Oh, I am. And yet I have only one useful way to help you."
"I'll bet there's plenty you could do," said Dean. "I've heard what you're capable of."
"My powers are their powers, don't you see? They will not cut their own necks. I will not let myself become a Funhouse plaything if you find you lack the courage to do this thing. Stay here tonight, if you need to, and for some of tomorrow. But no longer than that."
"It's okay, we get it," said Jamie.
Jodi emerged through the curtain and down the three steps that led from the caravan to the hut. She did not have her makeup on. She embraced Dean and then with a moment's hesitation put her hand on Jamie's shoulder. "So, I'm one of the good guys now," he couldn't help saying. And she was about to rise to the bait until Shalice said, "Shh! Quickly now, tell me what happened to bring you here."
In whispers they told her about JJ. She listened without comment or question, but a grim humor seemed to sparkle in her almond eyes . . . maybe at their foolishness, or at the certainty of their doom, Jamie could not tell. She stood, pulled a shawl about herself, and said, "Do not touch the crystal ball while I am gone." She stepped out into the night, a slight, slim, young-looking woman rubbing her arms against the cold, her hunched back making a lie of her mask of youth.
Jodi rushed to lock the door behind her.
•
Rufshod and Gonko prowled through Sideshow Alley, each taking one side of the lane, knocking on doors or breaking them down when there was no answer. Gonko shined a flashlight in the face of a sleeping gypsy who did not stir. Across the way there came a thump-thump-thump, indicating Rufshod had found someone from the show above.
They met outside. "Was it Curls?" said Gonko.
"Nope. His pal, the half bald dwarf who worked the gates with him."
"Dead?"
"Proper dead."
"All right. Keep looking."
They went further up the laneway. Gonko kicked down the door of a caravan with a newly broken roof. He cried, "JJ!"
On the mattress, JJ rolled over and groaned. The face paint had turned the fall from a certain fatality into mere extreme pain. He blinked up at Gonko, taller than death in the doorway with a lead pipe in hand. "Boss," JJ whispered. "If I come clean, promise not to rough me up too bad?"
"I guess it depends. There's a good chance you're gonna be washed off them sheets come morning. But I'll try to be restrained."
JJ sighed, tried to stand, fell back. "Deeby's not dead. Him and Jamie are trying to pull a Fishboy and bring the whole place down."
"You're shitting me."
"No, boss."
"How? They doing the ol' upstairs show routine?"
"They don't have a plan yet, but they're trying to think of one. They asked me to help 'em. I said I would, but just for a lark. Didn't think they'd actually have a chance to do it. I was about to tell you all about it, I swear."
"And that's why Goshy's pissed? He heard 'em scheming and he's been trying to tell us?"
"Yeah, boss. You going to splat me into soup now?"
"Nah. But you could be fibbing. I'll talk to Jamie first to get his take on it. If I smell a lie from you, soup's on. Ruf!" Gonko fished in his pockets, and pulled out several useless items til he found what he wanted: a compass with the letter J on it. Rufshod came in, new blood dripping from his axe. "Got one, boss. I don't think he actually was on our list? But he kind of reminded me of someone who was."
"JJ says Deeby still lives, like I thought," Gonko said. "We gotta get 'em before they blab to Kurt. Curls can wait. Let's go."
They turned to leave and found Shalice in the doorway. She said, "Gonko."
"Oh Christ, what do you want?"
"It's time for my favor, Gonko. If you still honor our bargain. If I may advise you? It would be wise."
"Lady, threat time is long past. You are talking to Kurt's personal hand-picked suck up favorite."
"Yes, I was at that meeting, Gonko. And you recall there were other things said, too. Some unanswered questions."
Gonko appraised her, bluffed: "All talk, just for show, toots. You didn't hear the private chat between me and the boss, where maybe all was revealed and met with approval and gratitude. So how much should I care about the bargain? You tell me."
She met his gaze and matched his smile. The gypsy jewelry around her neck, in her ears, gleamed to share her humor. "Is Kurt the highest authority in the circus? Do you suppose others may have an interest in how their pleasures and needs were deprived, for what must have seemed a very long time?"
Gonko's poker face broke like a dropped plate. He snarled and raised the lead pipe quite involuntarily. "Not this way," said Shalice with annoyance. "You think I made no provisions and precautions, should I happen not to return? Be sensible."
With some effort Gonko splayed his hands; the lead pipe clanged to the floor behind him. Shalice shuffled inside, shut the door, and lowered her voice. "I'm calling in the favor now. What I want is for you to leave the showgrounds for exactly twenty-four hours. Take Rufshod, Doopy, Goshy, and JJ with you. Twenty-four hours, then you may return and we are again on level terms with no debt owed."
Gonko's face twisted, grappled, like someone trying to understand the incomprehensibly stupid. "What? Why?"