Sarge looked a little shifty. ‘‘Don’t you figure you about got even by now?’’
‘‘Hey. You’ve had the Goddamn Parrot here all winter. What do you think? Is a hundred years long enough to get even for that?’’
The big slob just laughed. ‘‘Dere ya go, overreactin’ agin. You oughta sign up wit’ one a’ dem actin’ companies. Ye’re so big on da drama.’’
So I’ve heard from a few folks. Who are just fooling themselves.
Morley appeared. He had a big smile pasted on. Which just revealed the sharpness of his teeth.
‘‘Gee! You guys must want something real bad.’’
‘‘Garrett, you have to be the most cynical human being I know.’’
‘‘The key phrase being human being, of course. I can think of a whole list of folks more cynical and manipulative than me. But they’ve all got a little nonhuman in them somewhere.’’
He did not stop smiling. ‘‘What did you want?’’ Implying that I wouldn’t be seen around The Palms unless I wanted something.
‘‘Just putting you on the spot with the guys following me around.’’
His smile vanished. ‘‘We could put a sign out. Invite them in. Help build the business.’’
‘‘So we’ve pranced around. Now what?’’
‘‘You go first. What do you want?’’
‘‘Just to put my dogs up. On the way down to the World. To find out why Alyx Weider insists it’s haunted when nobody else sees any ghosts.’’
‘‘Going to bullshit a master bullshitter?’’
‘‘How’s this, then? I want to leave a message for Saucerhead. He’s never home anymore. You’re likely to see him before I do.’’ I don’t know what it is with Tharpe. He’s no born-again vegetarian but he likes The Palms. ‘‘The Dead Man has work for him. He’s having trouble recalling who the senior partner is again.’’
‘‘And?’’
‘‘Where can I find me a gypsy necromancer? I could settle the ghost business in a minute with a professional.’’
‘‘Now we’re getting somewhere.’’
‘‘I thought that up on the spot. I was telling the truth about wanting to put my feet up. I haven’t been getting enough exercise.’’
‘‘You never did.’’
‘‘Your turn. How come the nice show? Give it to me straight. I can take it.’’
‘‘It isn’t that big a thing.’’
It was that big a thing.
‘‘We want to borrow Singe. For a tracking job.’’
Aha. ‘‘Singe is a free agent. Go over to the house and ask if she wants the work.’’
‘‘We were hoping you could intercede on our behalf.’’
‘‘Of course you were.’’
‘‘You know she won’t lift a paw if you don’t give her the go-ahead.’’
‘‘Then when you go see her be sure to tell her I said it’s all right by me.’’ I struggled to keep a straight face.
Morley gave me the fish-eye. Wondering if I realized that he didn’t want to talk to Singe where the Dead Man might take a gander at the circus inside his head. He decided I was smart enough to see it.
I said, ‘‘Of course I am. It’s my only joy in life.’’
‘‘What?’’
‘‘I’m a major pain.’’
‘‘You got that right.’’
‘‘You thought of a gypsy necromancer?’’ He knows everybody on the underbelly of society. I know a few myself but am intellectually allergic to the region of the beast’s belly where the parasites practice the sorcery trades.
‘‘Belle Chimes.’’
I managed a credible impression of a bass out of water. Mouth moving but producing no sound till, ‘‘You’re kidding.’’
‘‘Probably not a real name.’’
‘‘You think?’’
‘‘I’ve never met the guy. He’s way on the down low. He has a reputation like yours. Straight arrow in a sleazy racket. Better dressed, though.’’
‘‘Thank you. I think. The coat’s a loaner.’’
‘‘Of course it is. You’re Mr. Style.’’
‘‘You saw what your guys did to my good coat.’’
He couldn’t argue with that. He said, ‘‘Go to a tavern called the Busted Dick.’’ He offered an approximate location in the Tenderloin. ‘‘Buy yourself a beer. Talk to a barkeep named Horace. Tell him you need to talk to Bill about last week’s D’Guni tournament. Buy yourself another beer. If they decide you don’t look like a bonebreaker from the Hill or a ringer on the Director’s payroll, they might hook you up.’’
‘‘I’m not looking for a vampire.’’
‘‘A vampire might be an easier find. They don’t have Hill folks wanting to exterminate them.’’
‘‘I’m out of here, then.’’ Getting up and getting gone before he could nag me about Singe again.
If he was desperate enough he’d turn up at the house, Dead Man or no.
37
Manvil Gilbey was outside the World when I got there. ‘‘Don’t see you roaming around much anymore.’’
His frown wasn’t encouraging. ‘‘Your efforts haven’t gotten things moving again.’’
‘‘Bugs shouldn’t be a problem anymore. Goofy teenagers, I don’t know. I’m working on the ghosts nobody but Alyx believes in as we speak. How about you? Seen any? No? Hey, I met your niece, Heather. Seems to have a good head for business.’’
That didn’t improve his mood.
‘‘No worries. I’m a one-woman man these days.’’
‘‘Getting ready to settle down?’’
He meant to be sarcastic.
‘‘Maybe. Not sure the other half of the equation is, though.’’
‘‘And you’ll never know if you don’t come up with the guts to ask.’’
‘‘Voice of experience?’’
‘‘Lots. Long time.’’
‘‘So. Again. What’s your take on the ghost business?’’
‘‘I think they’re there. I think somebody besides Alyx has seen them. But they don’t want to admit it. No telling why. I think ghosts are why the workmen have been staying away. In this town it could all be just business. Somebody who wants to keep us out of the theater game maybe hired a sorcerer. Because once we’re serving our beers in our theaters we’ll have a huge competitive advantage.’’
Meaning that the Weider brewing empire wouldn’t supply competing theaters. And Weider is the main source of liquid refreshment in commercial quantities.
I didn’t dismiss that, silly as it sounded when it plunked down in the light of day. Raw capitalism goes on all the time.
‘‘There was anybody whose head had that kink, I’m sure you’d know his name, rank, and pay number.’’
‘‘Guess what, Garrett? You got rung in because Max and Ican’t put a face on that somebody.’’
‘‘I’ll figure it out,’’ I promised. ‘‘One way or another.’’
‘‘Or die trying?’’
‘‘I don’t love you guys that much. You found out anything useful here?’’
‘‘That it’s possible the workmen are scared of something nastier than ghosts. Something about spooky music. Nobody wants to talk about that, either.’’
‘‘Smells like a protection racket trying to move in. But I dealt with that already.’’
‘‘And nobody is asking for anything. The purpose of a protection scheme is to extort money. Isn’t it?’’
‘‘You’d think. You going to be around? I’ve got something to do. But I’ll be right back.’’
‘‘I’ll be here. Though all I can do is look for proof that somebody lied.’’
‘‘Whatdid they tell you?’’ I hadn’t yet seen anybody who looked like a workman.
‘‘The ones who did show up are staying out of sight. They don’t want to be seen.’’
‘‘Gilbey, you, me, Max, and every idiot on the payroll here survived the war. That should’ve taught them how to deal with fear.’’
‘‘These are construction guys, Garrett. They did their time in construction companies. If they got into fights it was because the combat battalions didn’t do their job.’’
‘‘Fire some of the people who aren’t showing up. I’ll find replacements. They might not be as skilled but they won’t run away. Hire the real guys back later, after they’ve gotten intimate with the terrors of unemployment. For now, I’m going looking for a specialist who can help us with the ghost business.’’
I headed into the Tenderloin, pursuing Morley’s instructions. I assumed I was being followed despite a lack of evidence.