The Stranger

“No, Sir Max. I really don’t. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that Karry had no interest in anything but the very best. Are you familiar with the fare at the Sated Skeleton?”

“And how! I live in that quarter. I can admit this to you, Lady Tanita. When I found out that the chef dabbled slightly in magic of the second degree, I knew I could get a good breakfast there.”

“Precisely. Karry wasn’t interested in that degree of magic. It didn’t meet his expectations of fine cuisine.”

“Hm. The circle of suspects has just narrowed considerably. You’re certainly making my job much easier. What establishments met with his approval?”

“Let me think. He didn’t like praising competition, but the Glutton Bunba and the Hunchback Itullo>, it goes without saying. They’re the cream of the crop. The Greasy Turkey, Fatman at the Bend . . . Yes, and of all the Skeletons he was fondest of the Dancing Skeleton. You know, the chef there once worked under the legendary Vagatta Vax. Actually, Karry has always considered the best chefs to be those in the service of wealthy families. They have enough leisure time to devote themselves to the culinary arts, rather than ‘feeding any old junk to a bunch of tipsy hicks,’ as he put it. He dreamed of meeting Shutta Vax, son of the famous Vagatta Vax. But it was impossible. The family has its own social circle, very exclusive. Maybe Karry was able to insinuate himself into someone’s private kitchen? I doubt it, though. That would be too unlikely.”

“Thank you, Lady Tanita. This is more than enough for the time being. Don’t be angry if I send you a call again. My foolish brain might come up with a question at any hour of the day or night, so be prepared for the worst.”

“If only that were the worst of it,” Lady Tanita smiled. “Sir Max, I have no one else to ask for advice. Perhaps you could tell me what I should do now? So as ‘not to lose my mind,’ as you put it yesterday.”

“What should you do? I don’t know. I only know what I would do in your place.”

“What? What would you do?”

“I would leave everything behind. I’d begin a new life. I mean, I’d try to change everything completely, right away—a new house, even a new city; but a new house at the very least. I’d get a new job, if I had even the slightest chance of getting one. I’d start dressing differently, I’d change my hair. I’d make a bunch of new friends. Things like that. I’d try to work till I was dead-tired, so that sleep would seek me, and not the other way around. And in a dozen days I’d take a look in the mirror and see some unfamiliar person, someone who had never experienced the woes I had gone through. Strange advice, don’t you think?”

Lady Tanita stared at me in disbelief.

“It is very strange advice, but I’ll try it, Sir Max! It’s better than returning home, where there’s no Karry, anyway. What you’re saying is so simple—but it would never have occurred to me! Are you giving me advice based on your own experience?”

“Yes. Twice I’ve taken that step. The first time it wasn’t very successful. But it wasn’t a complete disaster, either, and I didn’t go mad. The second time, though, I managed very well. You might even say I was wildly successful.”

“Was that when you moved to the capital from the borders of the Barren Lands?”

“Just so. But I was lucky! If Sir Juffin hadn’t—”

“It was our luck!” Lady Tanita said. “If the Mantle of Death conceals such a fine person as you are, it means the World won’t collapse any time soon. Today I will move to the New City, to the very center of town. And I’ll open a new tavern. There is fierce competition there! And I’ll hire new people. By the time we’re able to stand on our own feet or go under, I think I’ll have had time to get used to the idea that Karry has just gone away.”

“Give it all you’ve got, my lady!” I said in all sincerity.

And I thought to myself that I hoped I had the courage to follow my own advice, if at some point the curious heavens chose to test the mettle of my foolish heart.

Lady Tanita took her leave, and I set out for the Main Archive. Sir Lookfi Pence wandered pensively among the preening buriwoks, absently knocking over chairs as he passed. Melifaro sat in state on the desk, dangling his legs, lost in thought.

“Well, anything to report?” I asked from the doorway.

“Nothing. Not a thing,” Melifaro said, enunciating each syllable. “For all intents and purposes, it looks like not a single crazy Magician has ever before attempted this simple way of preparing a quick and delicious holiday meal. Speaking of a meal, I’m ready to fulfill my side of the bargain right now, with you, Mr. Bad Dream. With you or without you, I’m going out to eat. Otherwise you’ll have one more corpse on your hands.”

“Will you accompany us, Sir Lookfi?” I asked.

“I can’t, Sir Max,” the Master Curator of Knowledge said apologetically. “I must stay here until sundown. And my wife is the proprietress of a restaurant, you know. A very good one. When we had just gotten to know one another, I promised Varisha—that’s her name—that I would never go to another establishment for as long as I lived. Except the Glutton, of course, but that’s in the line of duty. Working for Sir Juffin Hully, it’s impossible to avoid going to the Glutton. She understands that. I wanted to please her, and now I have no choice but to keep my word.”

“And what is the name of her establishment? I’d like to try it sometime.”

“Of course, Sir Max. It’s the Fatman at the Bend. It’s in the New City. Have you heard of it?”

I certainly had! The thought that the adored spouse of Sir Lookfi Pence was one of the prime suspects raised my mood considerably, and my appetite, too.

The Hunchback Itullo, the most expensive restaurant in Echo, is located at some distance from our Ministry, which explained why I had only been to the Hunchback twice. The first time I wandered in purely by chance, when I was studying Echo and its environs. The prices astounded me. They were extremely high, even by comparison with my beloved Glutton—not the cheapest place in town. This only whetted my curiosity. I simply had to find out what you could get with money like that.

But it was the interior of the place that surprised me most of all. I had never seen anything like it in Echo. There was no bar, nor were there small tables scattered about. Instead, there was a spacious hall and many small doors. A middle-aged lady with raven hair and a gloomy expression opened one of them for me. Behind the door was a small, cozy booth with a round table, in the center of which was a fountain. Tongues of rainbow-colored flames from myriad candles dispelled the soft darkness. Yes, the ambience was very impressive! And the food was no less so, though I came away feeling I lacked the education and background to appreciate the nuances of this sophisticated cuisine.

The second time I went there was quite recently, to buy the tiny packet of gourmet cookies for Chuff. From the looks of it, Melifaro wasn’t exactly a regular here, either.

“I feel like a complete dolt,” he admitted, sitting down at the little table. “A completely rich dolt who does nothing except torment his belly with delicacies.”

“That’s why I was so eager to come here,” I remarked.

“To feel like a rich dolt?”

“No, so that you could learn your own worth!”

“You’ve overindulged in your Elixir, Mr. Bad Dream. I feed him, and he mocks me! Mysterious Soul, Child of the Barren Plains—what will become of you?”

The door opened. The proprietor of the establishment had favored us with a visit. It was the legendary Hunchback Itullo himself, famous for preparing all three hundred dishes on the menu single-handed. For that reason, the customers of this elegant restaurant were required to have the patience of a saint. It was sometimes two hours before your meal was served.

“Please don’t close the door,” I requested as Mr. Itullo entered. “It’s stuffy in here.”

“I told you you went overboard with the Elixir,” Melifaro muttered with a knowing wink. “Shortness of breath is the first sign of poisoning.”