‘We got news,’ Scorch said, looking surprised by his own words, ‘and if you’d just shut your trap, you’d hear about it too.’
‘News! Why, Kruppe is news personified. Details, analysis, reactions from common folk in the street, all in the blink of an eye and the puff of a single breath, who needs more? This new madness we must witness now weekly and all the bolts of burlap wasted on which some purple fool blathers all manner of foul gossip, why, ’tis nothing but rags for the ragman, or wipes for the arse-wipes or indeed blots for the blotters bless their feminine wiles-Kruppe rails at this elevation of circumstance and incidence! A profession, the fops now claim, as if baying hounds need certification to justify their slavering barks and snarls! Whatever happened to common decency? To decent commonry? What’s decent is rarely common-that is true enough, while the obverse is perverse in all prickly irony, would you not agree? Kruppe would, being such an agreeable sort-’
‘We found Torvald Norn!’
Kruppe blinked at Leff, then at Scorch, then-seeing perhaps the disbelief mirrored in the face of the latter-back to Leff. ‘Extraordinary! And did you horribly hand him over to hirsute Gareb the Lender?’
Scorch growled under his breath.
‘We worked out a better deal,’ said Leff, licking his lips. ‘Torvald will pay Gareb back, in full, and, you see, to do so he had to pay us for the privilege, right? So, Torvald pays us, Gareb pays us. We get paid twice!’
Kruppe lifted one pudgy finger-on which, he saw with momentary dismay, there was a smear of something unrecognizable ‘A moment, please. Torvald has both returned and bought you off? Then why is it Kruppe buying the drinks this night? Ah, allow Kruppe to answer his own question! Why, because Torvald in yet to pay off trusting Leff and Scorch, yes? He begged, yes, for one night. One night! And all would be well and such!’
‘How’d you guess?’
Kruppe smiled. ‘Dear foolish friends, should Gareb hear of this any time soon-should he, yes, learn that you had the notorious Torvald Nom in your very grasp, why, you will find your names on the very list you hold, thus forcing you to turn in yourselves to great reward, which will avail you nothing when Gareb hides and quarters poor Scorch and Leff. Ah, calamities await!’