Cruel Zinc Melodies (17 page)

He meant that the new woman was somebody I shouldn’t offend.

You would disappoint Manvil Gilbey if you did.
And Gilbey, in his sly, quiet way, is as ferocious as Max Weider if you pop up on his shady side.

You are maturing.

Alyx came in huffing and puffing and spoiling for a fight. She shoved me aside. Heading up the hallway, she snarled, “What the hell am I paying you for, Garrett?”

“Zip, last time I checked.” I winked at Tinnie. The redhead seemed subdued this morning. There was something on her mind.

“Huh? What?”

“Zilch. Zero. Nothing. Your daddy is paying me. And I’ve been doing pretty good. The theft and vandalism are over.”

“You leave that crusted old son of a bitch out of this!” I eyeballed the new woman. She had a few years on the others but carried them as though they were just another plus. “Manners, girl child. And respect for the man who keeps a roof over your head.”

“I'll show that son of a bitch some respect!”

Alyx’s companions got busy tutting and patting and generally trying to calm her down. Except Tinnie. Tinnie had witnessed Alyx’s histrionics for most of Alyx’s life. Tinnie worked her fish-eye on me because I’d dared eyeball the new woman.

I said, “Don’t waste your time, ladies. Alyx is just practicing her acting.” Overacting.

I’d been around Alyx before, too.

I flashed her my disarming boyish grin, then sealed the deal with my raised eyebrow trick.

“You bastard.” With most of the energy gone.

“So you were in the neighborhood. And you just decided to stop by and complain. About what?”

“Our theater, Garrett. You were supposed to clean it up. So the tradesmen could finish their work.”

“And? You might want to consult Director Relway. Who hasn’t been that happy about me cleaning up those bugs. Likewise, the Outfit in the Tenderloin, because their business has been affected. And, especially, the parents of the kids who created the bugs.”

“Screw the bugs, Garrett. Get rid of the ghosts. The ghosts are why the workmen won’t work.”

“Really? What ghosts would those be, Alyx? I didn’t find anybody who said he’d seen a ghost. All I got was guesses that what somebody thought were ghosts was really the bugs making noise in the walls.”

Alyx wasn’t listening. “Ghosts, Garrett! Listen to me! There are ghosts! And the workmen are staying away because of them. I want them dealt with.”

I made a couple of lazy warding signs, then asked the rest of the covey, “Did she have too much to drink last night? Or did she just get out on the wrong side of the bed this morning?”

Alyx sputtered. Fetchingly.

She’s one of those women who can’t do anything that doesn’t instantly chunk my mind into a man’s main track. I have to confess, I’ve been heroic in my struggle to maintain my good behavior.

All those witnesses helped, right then. Especially the quiet one.

Garrett.

And that witness, almost as much as the one with the copper hair.

The lovelies restrained themselves. Though it was clear that Bobbi and the new woman had reservations about Alyx’s histrionics.

“Anyone like tea? Or a beer? Got some Arctic Moposko....”

Alyx sputtered again.

The new woman said, “Alyx, the Moposkos went out of business before you were born. Control yourself.” Her calm, emotionless voice reminded me of long-service NCOs in the Corps. And had the same effect.

The blond brat stopped her tantrum.

Hmm.

Keep talking.

“Alyx, sweetie, you need to give me information, not attitude. Why do
you
think there’s a ghost problem when nobody else down at the World does?” the Dead Man would dig around inside her head while I distracted her. If there was anything in there, he’d find it. Which could be a straight line leading to a crack about a long search.

Unkind thought, Garrett. I do not believe that Max Weider considers his youngest child empty-headed. Overindulged, certainly, however. A weakness on his part. He cannot help himself after all that happened to the rest of his children.

Dean materialized. His appearance had a magical effect. The women turned convivial instantly, Alyx included. The geezer sped me a smug look. Unaware that Old Bones had taken the opportunity to indulge in a little emotional expurgation. Not to mention shameless snooping.

I remember when he bragged about never going where he wasn’t invited. I remember believing him.

I said, “I’d really like to hear what you have to say, Alyx.”

The newcomer said, “She’s upset because the project is behind schedule.”

Tinnie nodded. As though the contention needed special support.

“I understand that. But why ghosts? And you are? Since none of these fine ladies have bothered with an introduction? Me Garrett.”

“Me Heather Soames. Manvil Gilbey’s favorite niece.”

Alyx snickered. Tinnie’s face darkened. Niece must be a euphemism. Which gave me a whole new appreciation for Max’s best pal.

Heather Soames stilled Alyx with a glance. She paid no attention to Tinnie. Tinnie was playing ghost here, herself. “I’m set to become TunFaire’s first female theater manager.”

“Wow.”

“Yes. It'll be tough. But not as tough as if I didn’t have Manvil and Max behind me.”

No doubt. Not many folks buck Max Weider.

“You’re honest. I like that.”

“Don’t go getting all droolly, Garrett. She’s taken.”

“So am I, Alyx.” I didn’t look but I hoped that played well. “Heather. You talk to me about ghosts.”

“I haven’t seen one. But something is going on. Most of the workmen refused to come in again this morning. And they know the bug problem has been solved.”

I have enough.

Two minutes later, all looking like they couldn’t remember why they had come by my place, Alyx and her henchwomen ’the beautiful Miss Tate included? slipped back out into the weather. Which had improved during their visit. Macunado Street was busy.

34

When I got back to the Dead Man’s room, I said, “You want to take a feel around the neighborhood? See if you can spot anything that might be a Lurking Felhske?” I’d caught something from the corner of my eye.

A moment later,
In the shadow of the stoop, across the street in the downhill direction. Where they always hide when they want to watch this house without being seen themselves.

“That’s the one.” The one the neighbors all watch because a lurker means good family entertainment might be about to happen.

There’s a chaotic shimmering. I cannot penetrate it. But that is of minor import. You need to move forward. Find Mr. Tharpe.

“How come?”

We must take full charge of the security function at the World. Using people we trust.

“Ah. I see.” Not really. He isn’t a managerial type. He wants to unravel puzzles, not to get tangled up in mundanity. “This based on what you learned from the ladies? And what was Tinnie’s problem?” If she’d been any more remote, she’d have been invisible.

Women talk about relationships. How they are working. How they are not. Miss Tate has been the butt of considerable pessimistic speculation concerning her most significant relationship.

Uh-oh. Something more to worry about.

I understand that the complications are as much her creation as yours. She recognizes that herself. But she cannot blame herself in front of her friends. They would say she is enabling you by making excuses for your bad behavior.

Definitely not something I wanted nagging me right now. “Back to the subject. You learned things.”

Principally from Heather Soames. She has an organized, scholarly mind. She is slightly insane, as well. Miss Weider, on the other hand, is as empty-headed as she appears. Yes, I know. She has her positive attributes. From a young man’s point of view. But you, as you declared earlier, are taken.

“Taken. But not dead. Or blind.”

The other women, including Miss Tate, have no particular knowledge concerning the World’s troubles. Only Miss Soames and Miss Weider do. Miss Soames is interested in the opportunity the World offers. Miss Weider despairs of it ever coming to fruition.

“She isn’t sabotaging things, is she?” I’d seen stranger things.

No. But there seemed to be substance to her ghost story.

“How could she be the only one who...?”

There have been others. Few with the regular sightings she has experienced, however. It would seem the sightings are of considerable emotional impact. Denying them might be easier than discussing them.

“Hang on. How would Alyx see them? Max wouldn’t let her go near the World.”

Max Weider knows only what Max Weider sees. And what Manvil Gilbey chooses to tell him.

“Like that, eh? So. A targeted ghost?” In TunFaire most anything can happen. And eventually does.

Based on anomalies in Miss Weider’s memories, it could be that she was hypnotized and told that she saw ghosts. But that seems unlikely.

“That would mean someone close to the Weiders, or who can get close, wants to sabotage the World. I’d agree. Improbable.”

That is all I can give you. Nothing inside her head looked like a thread begging to be tugged.

“And Heather Soames?”

Miss Soames is, truly, an interesting mix. Very nearly two people in one body.

“Another one? Let’s fix her up with Barate Algarda. They could be their own extended family.”

You find me in a charitable mood. I have been handed several worthy puzzles. So I will exercise my benevolence and stipulate that your observation included amusing elements.

“Score one for Garrett. All right. Give me the gory details on Heather.”

Miss Soames is determined to develop the soul of a serpent.
But she cannot get shot of a soft spot for Manvil Gilbey. Whom she seems to have met the week she started tricking, at a tender age. Who has always treated her with respect, as an equal, not as what she was determined to be.

“So Gilbey is a good guy.” No earth-rocking secret wriggling out of the sack, there. “And, hard as she tries, she can’t help liking him. And can’t make herself work evil on him.”

In essence.

Because she needed one anchor in the world outside. She had to have somebody out there to care about. And who she could let care about her.

Been there. On the anchor end. For Belinda Contague, psychotic queen of TunFaire’s underworld.

He understands. He is clever in the ways he manipulates Miss Soames. Refusing to let her slide under by placing less destructive alternatives in her path. In such a manner that she cannot refuse without worsening her own concept of who she is.

“I’ve known Gilbey a long time. He wouldn’t waste the time if he didn’t see something worth saving.”

Just so. And try as she may to trip herself into falling down the well of perdition, the thing Gilbey sees betrays the destructive urge. It compels the other Heather to respond and produce. She has found a passion for the idea of the World. She could be the finest theater manager working?
if she steps off the road to hell long enough to give it an honest effort.

Heather Soames would not be the first or even tenth person I’d met who came with a wounded personality, fitting a similar mold. There are droves of them. The cleverest and strongest have learned to hide it. “Why do so many people get that way?”

In your species the most common cause is what the child must endure. Especially from their own families.

“Huh?” More of that wit on the razor’s edge.

It is the cruelest secret of your race, Garrett. I have seen dozens of generations of your people. I have seen the bleakness and darkness and despair haunting ten thousand human minds. It would amaze and horrify you to discover how many of your young are maltreated, how often, and how terribly.

? I’m not sure I can be amazed by human evil.” He was right, though. The exploitation of children isn’t uncommon. Nor is it illegal, except in the churchly, moral sense. For some faiths.

I have no direct experience but I’ve known plenty who do. And suspect there are more who just can’t talk about it.

That is true. You see only the surface reality. Exploitation is so common that your people shrug it off as part of growing up. Assuming the victims will forget. And many do, because so little is made of what was done to them. But the internal influence never ends.

Now I was uncomfortable. I felt a crusader zeal beginning to bubble down deep inside him. And that was not a crusade I wanted to take on. The cure for that lay in the hands of fanatics like Deal Relway. People who saw in black and white exclusively and would act on what they saw. Change doesn’t come through persuasion. Not in a single lifetime.

I could imagine numerous commonlaw and customary exceptions to any do-gooder law the Crown might hand down. Including the inarguable fact that before your thirteenth birthday you’re legally the property of your parents. Unless you have the stones to run away.

There’s a timeless conflict between what’s right and what’s legal. Laws, most times, get handed down with good intentions. And immediately become cobblestones in the highway to hell. The instant the grand good purpose thuds down, unintended consequences start bubbling up around the edges.

You are a cynical beast.

“It’s the company I keep.”

Indeed.

Amazing how much sarcasm can be loaded into one supposedly neutral message.

The perverse foibles of your species need not concern you now. Unless the children of the Faction turn out to be products of abuse. Which could well explain their penchant for sneaking around. Ah! Interesting.

“What now?”

Another of the company you keep is about to pass across the stage.

“Huh?” Master of witty repartee. That’s Mom Garrett’s ever-lovin’ blue-eyed baby boy. “Tinnie came back?” I was in a mood for that. In a mood, lately, for having the redhead underfoot most of the time.

Pular Singe, in damp street clothes, stuck her snoot through the doorway briefly. She didn’t say anything. She wore a chagrined look, near as a ratperson can. She went on, not in silence, raising an angry racket climbing the stairs.