she chastised herself. I’m so dependent on approval, and this circus cares so little for me, that I am terribly grateful if a bear likes me. Still, he does like me.
Dulcie was saying something and Phryne wrenched her attention back to her companion. It seemed that Phryne had impressed Dulcie with her aplomb.
‘Whew!’ said Dulcie. ‘I wonder you wasn’t scared to death! He’s supposed to keep that infernal animal chained up!’
‘Bruno’s all right,’ said Phryne. ‘Bruno is fine. But those lions are not. I do not like lions. What about those two men, then?’
‘Oh, just that they didn’t seem used to the lions. Everyone gets told not to go near ’em. They ain’t safe. Even Hans knows that. Every wild animal trainer gets mauled sooner or later. And don’t you go taking liberties with any of ’em, even if they look harmless, like Rajah or the bear. Rajah can pull up the big top on his own and Bruno nearly bit a kid’s arm off down at Colac. Kid thought that he’d tease him with a toffee apple, pulling it out of reach. Bruno took the apple and bit the kid to teach him not to tease bears.’
‘I’ll be careful,’ promised Phryne. ‘But it worked, didn’t it?’
‘What?’
‘I bet the little ratbag didn’t tease any more bears.’
Dulcie laughed. ‘Now, you know your way round, Fern? Are you staying here tonight?’
‘No, I’ve still got a day on my lodging. I’ll come in tomorrow.’
‘And you all right for . . . I mean, you got somewhere to sleep and all?’ said Dulcie. ‘Cos I can lend you a few shillings if . . .’
‘No, that’s all right.’ Phryne felt suddenly ashamed of her house and the exquisite dinner awaiting her. ‘You’re very kind, Dulcie.’
‘I been broke before,’ said Dulcie. ‘That way to the horse lines and you better put on that tunic. And hurry. Miss Molly don’t like to be kept waiting.’
Phryne fell four times during her next lesson. Her knack seemed to have deserted her. Miss Younger scowled but said, ‘You did all right this morning. We’ll try again tomorrow.’
Phryne limped back to groom and water Missy, favouring a scraped knee. Then she walked out of the circus and caught a bus.
Once home, she telephoned her solicitor and ordered him to make urgent enquiries about the ownership of Farrell’s Circus, authorising him to make an offer to buy it if he could not find out any other way. She had to know why Farrell tolerated Mr Jones.
When Alan Lee came to her front door, he was greeted by a woman in circus garb. Phryne had retained the scarf and the washed-out dress and she was limping.
‘Come up,’ she invited, leading him by the hand. He mounted the polished stairs to her boudoir. A sumptuous cold supper was laid out on the table. There were plates of smoked salmon, cheeses, caviar, olives, French bread and crisp salad. She locked the door behind him and led him into the bathroom.
‘Tonight you shall share my luxury,’ she said, pulling off the dress and the scarf and shedding battered undergarments, ‘because tomorrow I shall share your poverty.’
Her fingers found the buttons of his shirt and she stripped him with automatic efficiency, dropping his stained garments to the floor. The bath was full of steaming water, scented with horse chestnut. It was a bewitching, delicate fragrance. Phryne stepped into it and brought Alan Lee with her. The marble tub was big enough for two. He moved like a sleepwalker, overwhelmed by her nakedness and the summer-forest scent.
His hands found the bruises of her falls onto hard ground. He stroked them as she slathered him with sweet- smelling foam, extinguishing the smell of engine grease and fairy lollies. He mouthed at the offered breasts, nuzzling and suckling and she embraced him close in the green water. His black hair was slicked against his head. He laughed, smooth as an otter, strong as an eel, and pulled her under.
CHAPTER NINE
Euripides (translation, Gilbert Murray)
Joining the police force had supplied elements which had hitherto been missing in the life of Tommy Harris, who had led a blameless existence before he left his home in the country and came to the city in search of adventure. He had found excitement, suspense, more people than he had previously known to exist, and doses of carbon monoxide and alcohol that put a city patina on his over-healthy system.
He remained, however, a country boy and discovered that the methods he had previously used to subdue over-anxious horses worked perfectly well on his clientele. Now, taking his lead from his sergeant, he was trying to acquire subtlety. He was looking for Miss Minton, intending to observe her and draw deductions from her behaviour. He had heard that she was having an affair with a well-known theatrical producer, a point that could be checked. Tommy was in plain clothes and alone and was looking forward to an intellectual exercise in scientific police work.
But when he came into the Blue Diamond and found the owner’s large friends beating Lizard Elsie, he felt that subtlety was out of place and that strong and immediate action was needed.
To simplify the situation he waded into the crowd, hauled off one man and threw him against the wall, fatally injuring the decor. He tripped another so that he slid across the room and collided with a pile of chairs. He pulled the old woman out from under a pile of bodies and saw that Elsie had her teeth fixed firmly in one attacker’s ear.
‘Let go, Elsie,’ panted Tommy Harris. ‘I’ve got him. Let go!’
Elsie muttered something and refused to unclench. Her victim was white and screaming.
‘Get her off me!’
‘Let go, Elsie!’ commanded Constable Harris. The woman growled like a mastiff, her skinny hands clawing for the man’s more delicate parts to complete her victory. The victim clutched at his groin and screamed again. He was a lot bigger than Elsie but this did not seem to be of much assistance to him.
The patrons of the Blue Diamond had all withdrawn out of reach and were watching, fascinated. Constable Harris noticed a party in theatre-going clothes. One of the men was smoking a fat cigar, and Tommy was put in mind of a ferret which had been his constant companion during his youth. It had been a good ferret, called Bandit, but it couldn’t help biting. Once, when faced with the prospect of his sole offspring spending a lifetime with a ferret clamped to his finger, his father had found a novel solution. Deciding to apply it, Tommy leaned over, plucked the cigar from the man’s lips and blew a cloud of strong Havana smoke into Elsie’s face. Then he returned the cigar to the patron and dragged Lizard Elsie onto her feet as she sneezed and released her hold.
‘There we are,’ said Tommy in his butter-soft voice. ‘That’s better, Elsie girl.’
Her victim was sitting on the floor, holding his outraged ear with one hand and caressing his outraged genitals with the other.
‘She’s mad!’ he yelled. ‘She came in here asking for a drink and we was just showing her the door and —’
‘Takes three of you to throw me out, you fucking bastards,’ snarled Elsie. ‘Three of you! It would have taken bloody four when I had me strength. I’m fifty years old and it took three of you to get me down.’
‘Now, now, Elsie,’ soothed Constable Harris. ‘Let’s you and me sit down and have a drink, eh?’
‘That’s what I was fucking trying to do.’ Elsie was not pleased. ‘When these curs jumped on me.’
‘Well, well, these misunderstandings will happen,’ said Tommy. ‘Come on. You sit down here and have a drink
