Ginger, Alecstar, and Tino didn't remove their carnival masks until they got back to their inn. At almost any other time, this might have earned them some funny looks from strangers they passed on the street, but this month, they weren't the only people who were trying to capture some of the World Fair spirit. All around the world, there were people who didn't have the means to travel to Sorret for the event, but did whatever they could to make merry in their home villages. This fact irritated Sloane just a bit, but she supposed she wouldn't have gotten to see their faces anyway, since she was behind them, not in front. Besides, once she found out where they were staying, she'd have ample opportunity to get a good look at them. When they arrived at their destination, she waited a few centhours before entering the inn herself. However, as soon as she did, an alarm sounded from upstairs. This caused some confusion in the lobby, and the man at the front desk went to find out what it was. Sloane didn't stick around to find out; she had a suspicion of her own. Even if the Sorreter wasn't here, he'd probably established some sort of magical safeguard for his friends, which might be triggered if the wrong kind of magic was detected nearby. While she couldn't be sure the alarm was for her, she didn't want to take any chances, so she left in a hurry.

Meanwhile, Zeke, who was still invisible, had a similar concern, and followed her. He was glad that she'd led him to the friends of Drag's spy, but he also worried that now that they likely knew they'd been discovered, they'd just as likely check out and find somewhere else to stay. And he quickly discovered that he was unable to scry them, which didn't surprise him. On the other hand, the woman he was following went to a house, not an inn, so it was unlikely that she'd be finding new accommodations of her own. Although 'house' is hardly the right word for it, he said to himself. 'Mansion' is more like it. Anyone with that kind of money is sure to have all sorts of security, including protection against magic. That's inconvenient, but on the other hand, it also means it shouldn't be hard to find out who she is. And so, he returned to his own inn, and called his boss to make his report.

It turned out that he'd been right: it was quite easy to learn who lived at the estate to which he'd followed the woman with the glamour mask. It belonged to a clan called Mocha-Java. Most of the family, apparently, had gone to Sorret for the Fair, so currently the only occupant, other than servants, was a young woman named Sloane, currently on summer break from Kurok University. Once they knew her identity, Zeke and his employer learned all they could about Sloane Mocha-Java, but nothing they found out about her provided the slightest clue as to why she'd be spying on anyone, let alone an agent of Drag's. Zeke found that a bit frustrating, but it only served to intrigue his boss.

"Who knows, Zeke, but perhaps she'd make a fine addition to our network. Don't you think?"

Zeke grunted noncommittally.

From the start, Sloane had known she wanted to make sure her plan for the deaths of Faye Mireille and Garrison Finger came to fruition in Pritt, not Kurok. She had occasionally worried about how to ensure that, considering Faye's project was being conducted mainly in Kurok. Her first thought was to have Spike influence Finger as to the location of the trap he set for Faye and Ford, though the question remained of how to get Faye to show up where Finger wanted her. This is more trouble than planning a damned surprise party, she said to herself. In the end, however, she needn't have worried: the problem was solved by Marlowe Gateman, of all people. When Faye called to tell him she was ready to provide a demonstration of the project's potential, he suggested doing so in her own village. He said he thought she deserved to feel at home, besides which he would take a certain perverse pleasure in doing it practically right under Garrison Finger's nose. Of course, he had no idea how true that was.

Faye chose the actual location of the demonstration; it would happen in a little café of which she was friends with the owner. She would get him to close the place early for a private meeting, at which point she'd send Yuki to translocate Marlowe directly there. Yuki knew from his own observations that Spike knew where and when this would be happening, and that he'd advised the don to spring the trap at the café. Spike knew Yuki knew, but Yuki didn't know Spike knew he knew, so Yuki offered Spike information about the upcoming meeting, as a show of good faith. In return, he asked that Spike arrange to delay Finger and the others who were working for him, until Yuki would have a chance to leave the café, so as to keep Finger in the dark as to his own involvement in the project. Spike did his best to hide his amusement, and agreed. Meanwhile, Yuki called Cameron to let him know when it would be happening, and Cameron contacted his friends.

The meeting between Faye, Ford, and Marlowe was scheduled to begin at Third Four on Ha'day, 28 Su'mo'. Finger's trap was planned for Third Four and Twenty. Cameron and his friends (their true faces all concealed by glamour spells) showed up at Third Three and Fifty; their server informed them, just like all the other customers, that the café would be closing in half an hour. They said that was fine, they didn't plan on staying that long, anyway. (Which was, of course, a lie.) Oh, they planned to exit the building before the real excitement got started, but first they wanted to get a feel for the layout of the interior, and maybe even see if the guests of honor showed up a little early, so they could get their first look at them. But when they did leave, they didn't plan on going far. Meanwhile, they all ordered coffee.

Tino ordered biscotti for all of them, and joked to Cameron, "You know, this whole thing started when that old friend of yours brought biscotti to our table in Sorret. I just thought this would be a fun way to bring the adventure full circle. And when we talk about it in the future, maybe we could refer to it as 'the biscotti incident.'"

"Please don't," said Cameron with a sigh. "In fact, once this is all over, I'd appreciate it if none of you ever bring it up again, by any name."

Tino shrugged. "As you wish." But he grinned, and winked at Ginger, who grinned back.

Cameron rolled his eyes. "Oh, fine, I know you two will always have your little jokes together. Just don't mention it again to me, okay?"

"Naturally not," said Ginger. "Never in your presence. Promise."

"Thank you."

They took their time drinking their coffee, wanting to wait until the last possible moment to leave. But when the time came that the few other patrons had to get up and go, they went right along with them. They were a bit disappointed that the people they were here to see hadn't shown up yet, though right as they were leaving, they thought the people in question were arriving. Two men and a woman were trying to enter the café, but were stopped by an employee. The younger of the men complained that there were still a couple of centhours before the specially posted closing time, which in his experience didn't mean the time customers had to leave, but the time after which no one else could enter. The members of the Band had played enough drinking and/or dining establishments to know how much people in the food service industry hated people like that, especially since management tended to side with such customers. But on this one occasion, the would-be customers were turned away, and Cameron and his friends couldn't help but smirk at that. Almost as soon as the last of the customers had gone, the few workers also departed, which left only the owner inside.

Before they'd even come here, Cameron had told his friends that when they left, they'd have to engage in something he called 'inconspicuous loitering.' (Ginger had said, "Pretty sure that's not a thing.") However, now that they had left the building, Cameron just kept on walking, and the others followed. They'd come in their wagon, but he walked right past it, and still the others followed. When they'd gone a block and rounded a corner, he stopped, looked around, and made sure no one was near enough to listen in.

"The place is being watched," he said, before anyone could even ask. "So my lingering plan was a no-go, and we couldn't very well return to the wagon and then not take off." He glanced at Ginger. "In such cases, you're right: any lingering would be conspicuous. It's exactly the kind of thing spies would be watching for."

"But we knew the place would be watched by that gangster, right?" asked Ginger.

"Right, but that's not who I was talking about. I spotted his people before we went in, and they hadn't moved by the time we came out. But new ones had arrived, and they're pretty clearly trying not to be noticed by the first group."

"Do you think they're succeeding at that?" asked Alecstar.

"I've no idea. In any case, neither group is likely to make a move until Mireille, Inspector, and Marlowe arrive. Which, incidentally, I'm surprised they haven't, yet. Yuki said he was supposed to translocate Gateman directly there, so-" suddenly, he slapped his forehead. "Shite, what an idiot I am! When he said 'directly,' I assumed he meant right outside the café, but he probably meant inside, after everyone had left. I thought they'd be meeting the other two outside, but... hell, Gateman's the only one who's not a Sorreter; Mireille and Inspector could just as easily translocate into the building, too. Probably in a back room." He sighed. "Well, maybe we'll get lucky, and both groups of watchers will have made the same mistake I did. Not that that would stop them for too long, I suppose. After all, Finger's got more Sorreters with him, they could scry the interior... unless there's a scry-blocking spell, which would do no good, because it would effectively alert them to their prey's presence, which is all they really need to know, anyway."

"Then what do you think we should do?" asked Ginger.

"I'm not-" but he was interrupted by a buzzing from his pocket. He fished out the t-mail bubble, which indicated a call from Yuki. "Open," he said.

"Cam, just thought I'd let you know I delivered Gateman, and now I'm back home. I can join you, if you like, but-"

"No, you've done your part. Until we see how things play out, there's no sense risking exposing your involvement to Finger."

"Okay, thanks. Well, be sure to let me know how it goes. I'll be worried until I hear from you again. Good luck."

"Thanks. I'll call as soon as I can. Close."

Cameron returned the bubble to his pocket, and sighed. He ran a hand through his hair, looked up into space, and closed his eyes. It was a gesture his friends had seen him use on numerous occasions, whenever he was lost in thought. They waited quietly for him to make a decision. Finally, he said, "Okay, I guess we'll just... hang back, and watch the watchers. Both groups of watchers."

"Can you see them from here?" asked Tino.

"Uh... no. I mean, not without scrying. Which I'd rather not risk. At least... hmmm. Maybe... they'd probably be on the lookout for anyone scrying them, but if I just scry the building itself, they might not detect that."

"Might not?" asked Ginger. "I don't think you should take any unnecessary risks. We're actually not that far away, you know. We may not be able to see what's going on, but it seems to me if we stay where we are, we'll hear a commotion if people start killing each other. Maybe we should wait for that."

"I second that," said Tino.

"Third," said Alecstar.

Cameron grinned at Ginger. "Okay, good call." And so they waited....

Of course, Yuki didn't actually go to Woodstockade after dropping off the businessman; as he told Cameron in his t-mail call, he was at his own home in Pritt. After that call, he called Spike, to let him know he was out. Spike had previously told don Garrison Finger that he was waiting for a call from an anonymous informant, who let him know Mireille and the others had arrived, and the meeting was about to start. It wasn't exactly a lie, even if he'd withheld part of the truth, to protect Yuki. When he received Yuki's call, there were still a few centhours before the attack on the café was scheduled to commence, but Finger figured now was as good a time as any, and so he signaled his Sorreters to begin enacting the plan. The first step was to cast an anti-translocation spell around the building, so that their prey would be unable to escape so easily. But the majority of the group he'd brought with him were not Sorreters, but enforcers. Once the spell was up and running, Finger led his people calmly into the café.

Cameron had rather expected them to make a charge on the building, which would be as easy to overhear as the battle itself, and would have the advantage of alerting them even earlier that the party had started. But even though the wild charge didn't happen, a large group of gangsters could hardly advance on a small building without being conspicuous. Still, he and his friends held back and waited to see what those who had been watching Finger's group would do. They didn't have to wait long; as soon as the gangsters had shut the doors behind them, the second group began even more slowly and quietly approaching the building. They'd had the same idea as Ginger: they would wait to hear the sounds of battle from inside, before entering themselves. But they wanted to be sure they were close enough to join the fray immediately.

Ford Inspector and Marlowe Gateman were sitting across from each other at a booth against the far wall. Faye Mireille had just set a box on the table, and was about to sit down beside Ford, when suddenly the doors opened. Spike and another spy had picked the locks on the two doors, and they'd done so very quietly. But even though the opening of the doors was also fairly quiet, Faye immediately heard it, and her head snapped around to look at who was coming in. When she saw her boss, her first thought was that she should have chosen another location, but she was certain that if, by some chance, Finger had suspected her of something like this, any other place she had private access to would have been watched. Besides which, she could have been followed, wherever she went. So she had set up a scrying spell around the café, to warn her of any uninvited guests approaching. Apparently Finger's Sorreters had deactivated the spell without alerting her of that fact. She was impressed, and wished for a fleeting instant that she could hire them away from whoever they worked for. But as quickly as that thought flashed through her mind, she realized she might soon have no sorretery department for which to hire them.

"Don Finger," she said, trying to sound as casual as she could. "What are you doing here?" She kept her eyes on him, forcing herself not to look at any of his enforcers.

"I'm here for the demonstration, of course. I assumed my invitation got lost in the mail." He looked past her and said, "I recognize Mr. Gateman, but I don't think I know your other friend. Care to introduce us, Faye?"

She took a few moments to compose her thoughts before replying. "Since you knew about this meeting, I assume you also know his identity. His name is Ford Inspector, and he's the Chief Sorreter of the Plist branch of InterGang."

Finger smirked at Faye. "Not even trying to hide it. I like that."

"Let me be clear: the project we've been working on together is not for InterGang, nor is it for LandOrder, specifically. I was asked to embark upon the project, in my spare time, by Mr. Gateman. I don't know what he intends to do with the results of our labors, but I thought that if I was successful in creating the spell he requested, it could be of benefit to LandOrder as well as Mr. Gateman. However, I thought it would be pointless to mention this extracurricular pursuit to you until I knew whether it was even practicable. And before I'd even determined that, I was contacted by Grand Sorreter Durell Turner, who insisted that I work with Chief Inspector. I am, of course, loyal to the Grand Sorreter, but beyond that, I knew that if I refused, the project could be taken from me entirely, in which case it would end up benefiting only InterGang; and, of course, Mr. Gateman. But not LandOrder. I thought it would be best to comply with Durell's wishes, and as I'd planned all along, report to you if and when the project was successful. In the meantime, I feared to let you know what I was doing, for obvious reasons. But I believed that if I presented you with such a valuable new tool as the one we developed together, it would soften the news that I had been working with a member of InterGang to create it."

Finger's smile faded, to be replaced by a more thoughtful expression. He mulled the situation over for a bit. "Well... it may be as you say. Certainly you've never given me reason to distrust your loyalty before. I mean, other than the fact that I always knew most Sorreters who joined any gangs owed their first loyalty to Durell. If anything, your loyalty to him, even if it meant great risk to yourself, proves that you're capable of great loyalty... which makes it easier for me to believe your loyalty to me could be just as strong. So I'm inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt. Of course, in the future I'll be keeping a closer eye on you, and I'll expect you to clear any 'extracurricular pursuits' with me in advance. And you are not to ever work with other gangs. Needless to say, InterGang isn't going to be getting its hands on this... thing... you've developed." Turning to Ford, he added, "And I'm sorry to inform you, Chief Inspector, that you won't be returning to Plist."

Inspector tried to translocate away, and immediately realized it was impossible. Nervously, he said, "People know where I am."

"I'm sure they do. I'm equally sure I don't give a rat's ass. I've already consulted with Capp Primus about this, and he assured me that it was almost inconceivable InterGang would be willing to start a gang war to get you back... and that's what they'd have to do. And of course Durell would never risk exposing his involvement with gangs, so there's no hope for you on that front, either. So you'd best get used to the idea that you work for me, now."

At this point, Marlowe Gateman cleared his throat. "And what of me?"

"Oh, you're free to go at any time, naturally. Since you're responsible for all of this, it seems only fair that you get to make use of the spell my employee- I mean, employees- have developed, whatever your purpose may be. But from now on you'll deal directly with me, instead of Chief Mireille."

Gateman nodded. "Fair enough." Looking at Mireille, he said, "Given this turn of events, I think I'll forgo the demonstration, for today. And... I'm sure I can arrange my own transport back home." To Finger, "So, I suppose I'll be leaving, now."

"Have a nice day," Finger said with a smile. As Marlowe walked past him toward the door, Finger turned back to Mireille and Inspector. "Well, he may not be interested in your demonstration, but I am. So-"

But he was interrupted by a gasp from Gateman, who had just opened the door, but now began backing up slowly, rather than exiting the café. All eyes turned to see what was the matter. At that moment, the other door also opened, and people began entering through both doors. Finger's enforcers immediately stood at alert, ready to take on the intruders upon their don's command.

"And just who are you lot?" asked Finger. "Don't tell me InterGang actually sent you to retrieve one Sorreter?"

"On the contrary," said the young woman who was apparently in charge of the group, "we're not associated with any gang."

"Well you sure ain't cops."

"No, we're not. But who we are isn't important. Nor need you concern yourself with us, because we aren't here for you, don Finger. Rather, I am here for her." She nodded in Mireille's direction.

"What on the Land do you want with me?" asked Faye. "I'm sure I've never seen you in my life."

Sloane smiled, thinking that whether Faye's statement were true or not, the gangster would have no way of knowing, since she was currently wearing her glamour mask. But rather than answering Faye's question, she continued to address Garrison Finger. "I know that in recent weeks you've had reason to question your chief Sorreter's loyalty. I was rather hoping this would lead you to kill her, and thereby save me the trouble. However-"

"Now, wait a centhour-" Faye interjected, but Sloane ignored her.

"-it sounds like you're not going to do that. So I'm afraid I'll have to dirty my hands, after all."

"Why do you want her dead?" asked Finger.

"She once killed someone I loved." With a glance at Faye she said, "I'm sure that doesn't really narrow it down appreciably." Turning back to Finger, she continued, "Nor is there any need for you, or her, to know which of the doubtless countless deaths she's been responsible for, throughout her life, has led to her own imminent death. All she need know is that she deserves to die. As for you, don, I don't want any trouble. But if you choose to make trouble, I'm prepared to take you on, as well. But really, I see no reason for you to object. You said yourself, just before my friends and I came in, that you'll have to keep a close eye on her from now on. That sounds needlessly taxing. Better to be rid of her, and promote a new chief Sorreter. Someone you trust more than you'll ever trust Faye again. You'd save yourself a lot of trouble, and you'll still have her project, as well as a valuable prisoner from your rival gang. It's win-win-win, I'd say."

"Huh. I guess you have a point, there...."

"My don! Please!" exclaimed Faye.

He turned to her and said, "Well, I'm sorry, but she's right. I can't trust you anymore. Not for sure."

"Well then fire me, but-"

"She's also right that you deserve to die. Look, we all do, or at least a lot of us. I've no illusions about that. Each of us chose this life, and it has sometimes meant doing terrible things. And from what I've seen, ever since I first met you, you really don't even care about any of that. I might be a bad guy, but you... you're a sociopath. I've actually always considered that a useful quality in you, but there's no denying that this person has reason to hate you. Let me be clear: I don't hate you. I appreciate the service you've provided, over the years. You're good at your job, and replacing you won't be easy. But she's also right that I was planning on killing you, when I came here today. I changed my mind, but I have no problem changing it back. With most of my employees, I would have somewhat more of a problem handing them over to some random person who has reason to want them dead, but you... Eh. My feelings about your death are almost as neutral as your own feelings about all the people you've killed. Again, to be clear, I do care. I'm sorry. That may not mean anything to you, since you have no concept of being sorry for ending a person's life, but still, I wanted you to know."

"Glad to hear it," said Sloane. "Then I guess my friends and I will take her, you and yours can take that InterGang chap, and each go our separate ways."

Finger nodded. Sloane waved her hand, and a few of her people advanced on Faye, restrained her, and clasped a necklace around her neck. "What's the deal with the pendant?" asked Finger.

"All-purpose magic-inhibitor. I appreciate your Sorreters preventing any magical escapes from this building, but once we get her out of here..."

Again, Finger nodded. "So you're not going to do the deed in here?"

"It's such a nice place, I'd hate to make a mess of it." Sloane's allies cuffed Faye's hands behind her back and began marching her toward the door.

Once Sloane and her group had exited the café, don Finger sat down across from Ford Inspector and said, "Well, now that that's over with, how about you show me how this spell of yours works?"

Ford sighed deeply, closed his eyes, and sat in silence for a few moments. Finger was feeling magnanimous enough to allow him this little bit of time to resign himself to his sudden and unexpected change of employment. But Ford was sure the don wouldn't wait too long, so he opened his eyes and began the demonstration.

Part Eight