"Think someone knew about the tattoos?"
Block shrugged. "I haven't mentioned them. Yet."
"How come?"
"I wanted to see what happened when they figured it out. I'm just a dumb lawman. I wouldn't notice, anyway."
And what might he be holding out on me? "You'll let me know if anything comes of it?"
He nodded. My coconspirator. "Some big-toothed hounds are going to be on this trail before long." Which was maybe as much as he dared tell me.
That didn't excite me. I don't like sorcerers. They're dangerous. And they're unpredictable. Like lawyers. You don't want to turn your back on one of them. Most of them aren't even kind to their mothers. Still, it would be stupid not to hear what Block was trying to say. "You guys have been awful nice to me lately."
Block shrugged again. "That's because you can help us. We need to make you want to cooperate."
He sounded like Chodo Contague about to offer an infernal deal. "It might be easier to leave town. My mother has cousins upcountry."
"Then you'd be stuck wearing scratchy homespun and couldn't indulge yourself in all this elegant luxury." He indicated my clothing. "I can't see you as a peasant, anyway."
"They raise sheep."
"That's different. You'd never have trouble finding a girlfriend."
"I liked you better when you were worried about hanging on to your job. You were crabby all the time, but... "
He smiled. "I'm a much better person now."
"All right, much better. Where're you headed on this? Let's not duplicate each other's work."
"Then concentrate on infiltrating The Call."
"My loyalty is to Max Weider. The Call isn't going anywhere. The Weiders might. I've lost three of them already, when I was paying attention."
"Can't fault your logic."
"Yeah? Relway mention that we caught up with Crask and Sadler?"
"You fishing?" Block isn't as dim as he pretends.
"I'd like to know."
"He did. You rescued the fair maiden."
Interesting. Relway apparently kept his boss informed.
Relway's boss continued, "You let them get away, Garrett. What kind of hero are you?"
"The living kind. I thought somebody was watching us."
"Lucky for you."
"We got out of the tomb without help."
"Not what I meant. You came home instead of running after the bad guys. Your unsavory friend also chose to abandon the hunt. We can only assume that he was concerned for Miss Contague." Looking out for Belinda was, of course, looking out for himself.
"You have a point?" I asked.
"Yes. Somebody did stick to the bad guys."
Came the dawn. "You know where they are."
"Sure do. And we wondered if you'd want that information."
"I took them on last night. With help and with them hurt. They still might've gotten the best of it."
"Did I say we'll stand around and watch? These are famous villains. And they don't have any friends now that Chodo don't love them anymore. That gives the Guard a chance to put on a big show for some very important observers. With the invaluable assistance of a certain public-spirited subject. You want to be the public-spirited subject?"
"That why you're here?"
"I want to be visible when the Guard is doing its job right. Let's walk up there and see what happens."
"Let me get myself organized. I wouldn't want your reputation bruised because of the company you keep."
"If that could hurt me, I'd have been exiled ages ago."
"You got a point. I won't be long. Go settle in my office. Try not to poke around."
I knew the Dead Man couldn't keep an eye on Block but Block didn't.
60
I was beginning to like Tad Weider's sense of style. I selected an outfit that he might have worn to the horse races. It included a lot of yellow and red and brown. There were ruffles at wrist and throat. I spiffied myself, considered the result in my little mirror. "Oh! The elf girls are gonna carry me off and make me their love slave." I stepped back. "But if I'm going to dress like this, I'd better get a new pair of shoes."
My ragged old cobblehoppers sported memorabilia of a thousand city adventures. They didn't complement the look.
"What happened to you?" Block demanded when I got back. He looked me up and down.
"The Weiders felt I should upgrade my wardrobe."
"People been telling you that for years. But... You really need new shoes. Those clogs look like you wore them in the service."
"That's on my list. I thought we had a riot to attend. I'm ready," I said.
"New door?" Block asked as I locked up.
"Yeah. Somebody busted the old one."
"There's still snow piled up here and there. You sure you didn't have anything to do with that? I hear rumors with your name in them."
"How could I make it snow in the summertime? Even if, according to Tinnie, everything is my fault."
"You put in a key lock? You must be doing pretty well."
I'd been doing very well lately but he didn't need to know that. He might let something slip around crooks or tax collectors. Or crooked tax collectors. Or is that redundant? Doesn't it take a unique breed of pyschopath to prey upon his fellows that way?
The street was quiet except for the moans of stragglers nursing injuries sustained during the earlier debate. "This is better," I said. "You should've seen it here a while ago."
"I did. I'd have been here an hour ago if it wasn't for that damned parade."
We walked. I didn't like the direction he chose. If he kept on, we would stroll right into the Bustee, the ultimate slum and the most dangerous neighborhood in a city famous for bad neighborhoods. The only law in the Bustee is the law you make yourself. Outsiders won't go in except in big gangs. "I hope we aren't headed where I think we're headed."
"North side of the Bustee."
"I was afraid of that. Another reason to make a show?"
"Yes. To show that the Guard won't back off."
Relway I could see playing to the Bustee audience. Relway doesn't have sense enough to be scared. I was surprised he got anybody to go in with him, though, let alone the sort of highlifes he and Block would want to impress. Maybe I was out of touch.
When we arrived it was evident immediately that the Guard had impressed both the locals and the observers already. They had a dozen prisoners in chains, none of them the great villains Crask or Sadler.
I'd expected troops or something. But Relway had brought only the dozen Guards he would have assembled for the same job anywhere else. Observers outnumbered working lawmen even after we arrived. Block introduced me around. I knew several of the witnesses, though none well. You run into people in my racket. Some are friendly. Some aren't. You rub some the wrong way if you're determined to do your job.
I was overdressed. The most foppish dude there wasn't showing any lace. They all wore grubbies.
I faded away from the Names, joining Relway. Sullen neighborhood brats watched from a safe distance, as friendly as feral cats, waiting to spring their friends in chains. Or maybe to murder somebody from a rival gang. They were filthy. None wore clothing fancier than a loincloth. Several weren't that dressy.
In the Bustee sanitation is the exception rather than the rule. The quarter doesn't have even the rudimentary street-center sewage channels found elsewhere. There are few streets as we know them, just stringers of space where there are no buildings. The Bustee has its own unique aroma, and plenty of it.
"Figure Crask and Sadler know something's up?"
Relway glanced at his prisoners, then at me like he'd suddenly discovered that I was retarded. "Probably. We've been standing around here way too long, waiting to get started."
"I'm sorry. But—"