Book 11 - Whispering Nickel Idols Read Online Free PDF

me if I swore ten thousand ironbound oaths. That’s part
of her insanity. She can’t trust anybody. Except you. Probably for the
same sick reason Chodo trusted you. From where I sit, that would be
because you’re too damned dim to be anything but honest.”
    Morley’s morals and ethics are situation dependent. Which doesn’t
stop him being a nice guy. Most of the time. When it’s convenient.
    “Your expression of confidence warms the cockles of my heart, Mr.
Dotes.”
    “What does that mean? I’ve always wondered. What are cockles?”
    “Seafood? I don’t know. But it sounds good.”
    “I’m tempted to change my mind again.”
    Even so, looking sour, Sarge, Puddle, and the rest went back to work.
    “This will be the event of the decade for the Outfit.”
    “Isn’t that special?”
    “You know Harvester Temisk?”
    “Chodo’s legal beagle? I’d recognize him if I tripped over him.
That’s it.”
    “He’s still Chodo’s mouthpiece. Know anything about him?”
    “He played straight. For a lawyer. He was Chodo’s friend since they
were kids. Why?”
    Sometimes the best way to handle Morley is to tell the truth. Or
something approximating truth, truth being so precious you don’t just
give it away. Something close enough to get him to do what you want,
that’s the thing. “He came at me when we were putting the three-wheel
company together.”
    “Where they give you extra profit points to stay away. I’ve heard
about what a pain in the ass you are with your moralizing and ethics
jabber.”
    I refused the bait. “I’ve got a case.”
    Morley loves to argue. It makes him the center of attention.
    “Come tell me all about it when you’re done, Garrett.”
    “You got any idea what she plans to pull tonight?”
    “No. But I’ll be very careful. Very alert. Very stay in the kitchen.
You might do the same. If you really must attend.”
    “Oh, I must. I must. Maybe I’ll wear my iron underwear. You ever
hear of Chodo doing anything with sorcery?”
    “No. He didn’t like it. Though he’d hire a hedge wizard sometimes.
That’s all. He resented wizards for having more direct power than he
did.”
    “I mean himself. Personally.”
    “His gifts ran to murder, mayhem, and management. As a wizard he had
all the talent of a tombstone.”
    “That’s what I thought.” Admitting what I was thinking. Twice. Being
right up-front with my pal.
    “What have you got going?”
    “Temisk says strange things keep happening since Chodo’s accident. I
want to get a handle.”
    “That your case?”
    “That’s not what it’s about. It’s just something I need to
understand.”
    “Is Temisk working you by claiming you owe Chodo?”
    “Some. I need to work that out, too.”
    “Walk away. Stop being you. Save yourself the pain and grief.”
    “You know anything about these people who’ve been catching on fire?”
    “No. That part of your case, too?”
    “I don’t think so. I just wondered. Never hurts to ask you
something. You’re full up on weird and wonderful. And sometimes, you
tell me what you know.”
    “Weird and wonderful, he says. And he’s the one shacking up with a
dead thing and a talking rat.”
    “And Dean. And a bucket of baby cats. I think I’ll bring those with
me tonight. Give them away.”
    “There’s an original idea. Giving away kittens at a mob summit. The
one guy who takes one will feed it to his pet anaconda.”
    “An idea whose time has come. Feed all the cats to the snakes. Singe
would go along.”
    “Then what do you do with the snakes? They like rats more than cats.”
    “Know anything about a street kid, calls himself Penny Dreadful?”
    “I know he needs to find another name if he doesn’t like being
smacked around. Otherwise, no. Why?”
    “He’s really a girl pretending to be a boy. And Dean’s source for
the bucket of kittens. He has a majorly strange story about the kid.”
    “Strange stories about people in your life? Fie! Balderdash!”
    “Sarcasm