Baccano! - Volume 22 - Chapter 25

Chapter 25 No Use for Small-Time Crooks

That same morningMillionaires’ Row

“I see, yes, all that makes sense… Get out.”

The woman who’d introduced herself as Pamela was sitting at a table with Nader Schasschule when she delivered her point-blank reply.

“No, uh, miss? This isn’t your house, you know,” said Rail, a kid with a scarred-up face.

Behind Rail, another child—Czeslaw Meyer—was watching Nader and Pamela closely.

They were currently in the Genoard family’s second residence, the house Jacuzzi’s group was using as their base of operations.

Jacuzzi and the other delinquents were still asleep, so Rail had smuggled Czes, Nader, and Pamela into a basement that was being used as a storeroom.

The previous night, Nader had noticed Pamela behaving suspiciously during the casino party, so he had struck up a conversation with her. He’d hoped to form an alliance, but just then, Leeza and Chané had attacked.

Rail and Czes had rescued him just in time, and all four of them had fled.

The smoke screen they’d used in the process had caused a traffic accident. A truck had tipped over, and an enormous grizzly had escaped…but none of them knew about that yet.

Czes and Rail had been avoiding questions about themselves. All they’d told the two adults was that they were fighting against “all those birds, aka Leeza.”

Something about that statement seemed to have relieved Nader. He’d relaxed noticeably, and then, in fits and starts, he’d begun to tell them about himself.

Not that he’d done so voluntarily. It was more that Czes, Rail, and Pamela had kept asking questions and pried it out of him.

When they heard that Leeza and Chané were after him because he’d sold Huey out way back when, everything seemed to make sense to Rail and Czes. After that, they’d lost interest. However…

Although she was only here because she’d been dragged into this mess, Pamela apparently felt more of a connection to Nader than the children did. She kept up her questions until he’d told her everything from the time he’d left his small town up to the present.

Then, once she’d heard all of it, she’d drawn a deep breath and told him to get out.

Giving the silent Nader a sidelong glance, Pamela turned to Rail. “You’re right; I’m sorry if that came out wrong. I didn’t mean he should leave the house. I mean, if you tell me to go, I’ll get out, too…but that good-for-nothing needs to get out of town.”

That was even harsher than running him out of the house, but Nader couldn’t argue with her.

He did say something, though. “Listen…ma’am. You said your name was Pamela?”

“Yes.”

“So you know Sonia.”

“…Yes.”

Sonia was Nader’s childhood friend, a girl raised in an odd family that worshipped guns.

He’d understood that Pamela was an acquaintance of hers, but he didn’t know any of the details. She’d only told him that they traveled together.

“Tell me about yourself. Then I’ll talk.”

Nader had fulfilled his end of the bargain, but he hadn’t heard anything about Pamela and Sonia’s relationship yet.

“Well, uh…since you know her, I bet you don’t want her meeting me.”

“…You’ve got that right.”

“Is it because I’m the scum of the earth?”

“I wouldn’t say you’re the worst in the world. From what you said, it sounds like you’ve clawed your way out of that situation, so… At best, you’re a small-time crook.”

As he’d related his life story, Nader had become filled with self-loathing. He’d recognized his own depravity many times before, but personally talking about his life had forced him to see that he really had wasted his life.

“You’re not going to argue that?”

“Well…no. If you’re Sonia’s friend, you wouldn’t want her meeting a small-time crook like me. I get that.”

“No matter what sort of lowlife you are, I can’t throw stones. I’m a small-timer myself: I went from breaking casinos to committing petty robberies, and I can’t claim I’ve been a good influence on Sonia. In fact, I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to punch me.”

Pamela gave a brief self-deprecating smile. Then, across the table from Nader, her expression turned serious. “But if you’re still… If you’re going to keep on being a small-time crook, then I’m sorry, but I don’t want Sonia seeing you. If it were anybody else, I wouldn’t care. But, Nader Schasschule…as long as you’re a crook, you’re the last person I want her to see.”

“……”

“The thing is, she believes in you. She believes that whatever danger she’s in, you’re the hero who’ll come and save her. She thinks you’ll come galloping back into her life on a white horse… Actually, just for my own curiosity, is that all Sonia projecting her hopes onto you? Or was it…?”

Nader shook his head. “No, it’s not just her. I really did…say that to her. To Sonia.”

Tears at his own wretchedness threatened to spill over, but he went on. He told her about a promise he probably wouldn’t even have remembered when he was Huey’s underling.

“I told her I’d be a hero.”

“When I grow up, I’m gonna be a hero!”

“Like the ones in the history books.”

“Yeah, like Wyatt Earp or Jesse James!”

“I said I’d get stronger…”

“Just you watch—I’ll get super strong!”

“And then, I’d protect…Sonia…”

“And then, hey… I could protect you, too, if you want.”

He could remember that memory clearly now, although there was a time when he’d forgotten it.

The promise he’d made when he was still a boy.

As a child, he’d made that pledge to a girl who was even younger than he was.

The girl, his neighbor, had adored him for it.

Before then, she’d never showed much interest in the world around her. But she’d broken into an ingenuous smile and replied in a voice that didn’t hold a trace of doubt:

“That’s a promise, Nader!”

He could vividly remember how Sonia had looked as she’d said it. He could almost hear her voice in his ears now.

“Yeah… I…promised. I promised Sonia.” Nader faltered, squeezing his hands into fists.

When Pamela saw how mortified he was, her opinion of him rose ever so slightly. Still, thinking of Sonia, she spoke harshly to him. “Sonia is… She’s kind. I’m sure she’d forgive you for your crimes, but I think she’d keep naively believing you’d turn into a hero at some point. Can you live up to her expectations?”

“…”

Unintentionally, Pamela’s voice was growing more intense.

The words that had built up in her heart, everything she’d always imagined herself saying to him whenever she heard Sonia talk about him, just flowed out of her.

“She’s been going on and on about you all this time. When we had the mafia on our tails, and when we were surrounded by the cops, and when we got into an accident and the truck tipped over, she’d say, ‘It’s okay. Nader’s going to save us.’ That kid believed in you. She never doubted you for a minute. You never did show up and save her, not even once, but she still believes in you. Can you imagine it? Even after a mafia bullet went right past her head!”

“…”

“Can you be worthy of that? Can you handle her genuine thoughts, her wishes—her worship of you? Can you make her happy in the truest sense of the word, not just a superficial one?”

“I…”

He wanted to say he could.

But Nader knew better than anyone that he couldn’t.

“If she said any of that to me, I’d probably use it as a crutch. I’d tell myself, ‘I’ll be a hero starting tomorrow. I’ll be a hero the day after tomorrow. Or next week, or next year…’ And all the while, I’d probably…keep on betraying her. Yeah—yeah, I sure as hell would! Dammit! That’s the kind of guy I am!”

“…In that case, I really can’t let you see her. I’d like to let her keep hoping that you’re being a hero somewhere. I don’t want to lie, but if she walked in and saw you right now, I don’t think it would do either of you any good.”

“Yeah. I couldn’t agree with you more. Frankly, I wouldn’t even know how to face her.” Nader rested his fists on the table and stared at them sadly. “Tell me,” he said. “Is… Is Sonia doing well?”

“She’s just fine. I guarantee that.”

“She’s pretty close to twenty now, isn’t she? I bet she’s gotten taller, huh?”

“No, not that tall… In most ways, she’s still a kid. She could probably pass for fifteen. She’s never been a real active type.”

Pamela remembered she’d underestimated the girl’s actual age by three or four years when they’d first met. She felt as if Nader and Sonia would probably look more like siblings than childhood friends.

“Is that right…? Well, she always was kind of a kid. You seem a lot more capable than I am, so if she’s with you, I guess I won’t worry.” Nader gave a sad little smile.

Watching him, Pamela felt a growing urge to turn and run. “Cut that out. I’ve caused trouble for her, too. If anything, she’s constantly saving me.”

“?”

“When we were just starting out, my partner and I pulled petty heists and beat casinos. When the cops or the mafia came after us, Sonia ran them off with her rifle. Remember what I said earlier? I’m a small-time crook, just like you.”

“Sonia did that? With a rifle?” Nader’s eyebrows drew together, but not because he couldn’t picture it.

The neighbors’ house had been far away, on the other side of their farm fields, but he’d heard muffled explosions over there every night.

Gunshots in the forest that didn’t sound like they were from hunters.

His childhood friend returning from the forest with her parents afterward.

He’d felt all along that something wasn’t quite right.

Nader’s father had told him, “Maybe you shouldn’t have too much to do with them,” but the boy hadn’t understood what he really meant.

Just as Sonia didn’t know what he was like now, he didn’t know what she’d been like back then. Suddenly very conscious of that, he looked at Pamela again. “Listen, is Sonia…okay? You’re not still pulling heists, are you?”

“…We’ve mostly turned over a new leaf. Granted, we might get yanked into something ugly, but we’ll handle that ourselves.”

“But…”

“It’s selfish of me, but I want you to believe that. Sonia’s important to me, too.”

Pamela wasn’t lying.

She and the others were employed at Senator Beriam’s mansion as cleaning ladies, but what Beriam really wanted was Sonia’s skill as a sniper. The girl was practically a gun herself. He’d put her under the instruction of a man called Spike, and he intended to make her shoot something on the final day of the casino party—in other words, the following day.

The identity of that “something” hadn’t been settled yet.

Beriam was probably planning to judge who among the mafia was in his way within the next day or two.

Pamela didn’t want Sonia to kill anybody. She knew it was a selfish thing to think, given that she’d roped the girl into wandering around committing robberies. She knew that, but it was a line she didn’t want to cross.

If it came down to it, she’d grab her friend and run.

To get the money to do that, Pamela had used her particular skills on the first day of the casino party to win chips.

If this guy saw what I was doing, though, I’ve gotten rusty.

“If I’m planning to really turn over a new leaf, my final job will be to head into that trouble, lift any valuables, and make myself scarce. The getaway will probably burn through most of it, but still.”

“This ‘trouble’ has something to do with the casino party, right?”

“…” Nader was a crook, but he wasn’t dumb. She’d gleaned that much from hearing his life story.

Would it be better to give him some basic information about her situation? Otherwise, he might get suspicious and stick his oar in.

Pamela hesitated. Nader watched her face.

For a little while, silence fell between the two of them. Rail, who’d been listening to their conversation as if it was somebody else’s problem, was the one who ended up pulling the conversation in another direction.

“Hey. You keep calling yourself a ‘small-time crook’ and ‘scum’ and running yourself down, but I think selling the Lemures out was pretty impressive, mister.”

“Huh?”

“If you’re looking at Huey’s subordinates who were still basically human, you had some of his best running that team. You had Huey’s right-hand man, Goose; Chané the fanatic; and Spike, a crack sniper… Although I do hear there were signs of trouble. If you’d actually pulled off that betrayal, now that might have made you a hero.”

Rail snickered, but instead of Nader, Pamela responded. She’d been caught completely off guard.

“Spike…a crack sniper?”

“? You know him, Miss Pamela?”

“How do you—? Actually, Nader, when you were talking about selling them out—you said something about doing it in parallel with a plot to take a train hostage. Do you remember when exactly that was?”

“Huh? Well, that’s the day I almost died, so yeah. It was 1931, the end of the year… Hey, never mind that. You know that bastard Spike?”

“……!”

Inside Pamela’s mind, pieces were rapidly clicking into place.

Spike’s terrible injuries when they’d found him lying beside the railroad tracks on New Year’s Eve, 1931.

The destruction of a group of terrorists called the Lemures.

And “Spike, the crack sniper” that Rail had just mentioned.

There was no telling why this kid knew so much about the inner workings of a terrorist group, but from Nader’s reaction, that had been accurate.

Was the guy we saved a terrorist who attacked a train?

Why is somebody like that working for Senator Beriam?

Even as the pieces came together, new questions came to take their place.

But before she could figure out the answers, Nader rose from his chair, staring at her desperately. “You know Spike?! You said something about Sonia and rifles; did you mean—? Is he somewhere near her?!”

“…”

Nader took her silence as a yes.

“Dammit! I’d heard all those black suits died! It wasn’t just Chané and Upham?! That bastard lived, too?!”

“Guessing you didn’t get along…”

“Of course we didn’t! I know I got no right to say this as the one who sold them out, but that guy will believe in whatever you want if there’s money involved! He was the one who was the most on board with my betrayal, but he was secretly weighing me against Goose!”

Nader seemed to be remembering what had happened. For a moment, anger flared in his eyes, but it was promptly replaced by anxiety.

“Look, did Spike get something on Sonia?! Is he threatening her? Who’s he working under now? Is he still with the Lemures?!” he asked.

Pamela was frustrated with herself for letting him see she was flustered, but she gave up on the idea of hiding their situation from him.

Even so, if she was going to talk about it, she had to steel herself.

She knew it was going to make Nader lose all hope.

Pamela might have been a crook, but this man was Sonia’s old friend. She wasn’t callous enough to tear his heart open just because he was a stranger to her.

“…Spike hasn’t harmed Sonia. Actually, they’re pretty friendly. He’s basically her sniping instructor.”

“Hey… Wait just a minute. ‘Sniping’?”

“Sonia hasn’t shot anybody yet. That may not be true after tomorrow, though. Depending on how things look at the casino party then, it sounds like our employer might make her shoot something…or maybe somebody.”

“So who’s this employer?! Is it Huey Laforet?! The Runorata Family? If it’s a much smaller outfit, I might be able to shut this down! It’s not a sure thing, but I’ve got connections!”

Remembering Ladd, Nader grilled Pamela about her employer’s identity, but the answer he got was far beyond anything he’d imagined.

“He’s a senator.”

“Huh?”

“Senator Manfred Beriam. You know him, right?”

“W-well, of course…”

Nader had originally been a member of the Lemures. When he’d tried to sell them out, he’d been scheduled to attack the train as one of the black suits and take a politician’s family hostage. That politician had been none other than Senator Manfred Beriam.

“Hold the phone… When I told the cops about them, that name came up quite a bit, too… No, that can’t be right. Spike was supposed to take that guy’s family hostage, so… Huh?”

“Spike would flip for money, wouldn’t he? That’s what you said.”

“…!”

The shock had left Nader bewildered—but Pamela hit him with cold, hard facts.

“Meaning if you screw up, it won’t just be terrorists or the mafia you’re dealing with. You’ll have an enemy in one of the most important people in the U.S. Maybe the country itself will be against you.”

His enemy was the nation.

He was struck by the feeling that he’d reverted to being one of Huey’s terrorists, but then something occurred to him:

His situation had been a lot more hopeful then.

Right now, he had no allies who could back him up with brute force.

If he made trouble, he’d end up fighting America all by himself.

MeanwhileAt the Beriam residence

“Pamela never did come home, huh?”

As she cleaned her guns, Sonia looked out the window.

Lana shrugged, busy tidying up the room. “I swear, staying out all night… Must be nice to be her! I bet she drank the night away at a bar somewhere!” She sounded disgusted, but behind her glasses, her eyes were vaguely uneasy.

After all, Pamela had gone to the casino at Ra’s Lance to cheat. Lana believed in her skills, but if someone had managed to catch her at it, she could easily be on the bottom of the East River.

Sonia seemed to have picked up on her worry. She smiled innocently, although she didn’t stop working. “It’s okay, Lana. I’m sure Pamela’s just fine.”

“…Why?”

“Because Nader’s bound to save her.”

“Haaah… Nader again? You think he’d save Pamela when she was just passing through? How convenient is this hero, huh? If he’s saving everybody in the world, he’ll never get a break.”

It’s about time Sonia quit relying on Nader, Lana thought. From what the girl had said, she could only assume that her brain was running on autopilot. However, Sonia’s next words quickly contradicted that assumption.

“Right, so I’m going to do my best, too.”

“Huh?”

“If Nader’s a hero now, he’s probably got it rough. He’s nice, so I bet he’s trying to save all sorts of people. He won’t have any time to rest.”

With a smile that suited her innocent assertion, Sonia held her deadly, perfectly maintained rifle. “So I’ll help him, you see?” she murmured, more to herself than to Lana. “I’ll help lots and lots!”

Her final remark sounded a bit wistful.

“And then…I hope Nader tells me I did good.”

MeanwhileMillionaires’ Row

“…It sounds like you two are in a pretty complicated situation.”

Czeslaw Meyer had stuck to watching at first, but now that Pamela and Nader had fallen silent, he spoke. “And? What are you going to do now?”

Czeslaw maintained his innocent child act as he probed the pair, trying to learn what their next move would be. Privately, he was thinking like an immortal who’d lived more than two centuries.

This is getting strange. Who’d have thought that train would be connected to this as well…

Who does Senator Beriam intend to have this girl Sonia shoot? What should I do? Should I pass this information on to Maiza and Firo?

No, it won’t necessarily help us rescue Ennis. It might just muddy the waters. Maybe I’ll watch and wait a little while longer…

Keeping his calculations to himself, Czes observed the pair.

“…Right. Actually, there was something I wanted to ask. Where are we? Whose house is this? Unless my mind’s playing tricks on me, I’m pretty sure we’re smack in the middle of Millionaires’ Row…”

“It’s a second home that belongs to the Genoard family; they’re rich. Due to circumstances I won’t get into now, Rail is apparently mooching off them.”

“Mooching? Aw, come on… Well, I guess you’re not wrong.” Rail shrugged.

Nader’s eyebrows drew together. “Genoard? Genoard… As in Eve Genoard?”

“Oh, that’s right. You said you were Miss Genoard’s proxy gambler, didn’t you? That’s another odd coincidence… For now, are you sure you don’t need to contact Miss Eve?”

“…Maybe I should. Still, if this is the Genoards’ second residence, mind if I stay here as well?” Nader looked around. He probably wanted a base where he could hide from Leeza and Chané.

Czes shook his head regretfully. “Just so you know, Chané comes here, too, sometimes.”

“Wha…?!”

“Chané is friends with the delinquents who are staying here.”

Which is why I’d really rather not stay here too long myself… The face of a red-haired man rose in Czes’s mind. Mgh… I’ll head back to Alveare as soon as I can.

He’d told Firo that Rail had invited him to stay over, so he’d be spending the night with Jacuzzi and the others. Firo had agreed readily, apparently deciding there was safety in numbers.

That said, the Martillo Family was keeping an eye on this house as well. Slipping out and smuggling Nader and Pamela back in hadn’t been easy.

Hearing Chané’s name had clearly rattled Nader, and his eyes darted around nervously. “I—I see… I’ll get myself back to the lodging house somehow, then. I’ll have to disguise myself so Leeza won’t find me…”

“Unless you put a lot of effort into that disguise, Leeza will see right through it. I’d be careful,” Rail commented.

Nader flinched, but he took false whiskers, glasses, and cotton wadding out of his jacket and started to plan his costume.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

“Agh?!”

A shriek escaped Nader.

Then the individual outside the door spoke, and with a surge of relief, he realized the voice was male.

“Heya. How’s it going? Are Nader and Pamela awake?”

“Oh, Shaft. It’s okay; you can come in,” Czes called.

The door opened, and a man Nader recognized stuck his head in.

The man’s name was Shaft, and he was a friend of Graham Specter, Ladd’s sworn brother. He’d also helped Nader and Pamela escape under cover of that smoke screen earlier.

“It’s you, huh…?”

From what he’d heard, when they reached the mansion, the guy had distracted Czes’s friends who were on guard duty and then headed straight home.

“Yes, Nader. Glad to see you’re doing well.”

“Y-yeah. I’m not doing so great mentally, though.”

“Well, that’s not good. If your nerves are already shot, you won’t last to the evening.”

“?”

That was an odd thing to say. Nader cocked his head, perplexed, and the other man quickly clarified.

“Graham and Ladd are calling. So, um…my condolences.”

“Wh-why…?”

“Who knows? There’s no telling what goes on in their minds. Oh, but there’s one thing I can tell you.”

Gazing at Nader with pity in his eyes, Shaft said something intended to give him a little peace of mind.

“If you’re with those two, they’ll probably beat back both Chané and Leeza for you, whether you ask them to or not.”

Shaft nodded confidently. Then, averting his eyes, he added one more unnecessary comment.

“Although I think you’re more likely to get dragged into some other fight and killed…”

MeanwhileSomewhere in New York Fred’s clinic

“No, no, no, c’mon… Are you kidding me with this?” The bespectacled man was grinding his teeth.

Firo shrugged. “What’s the matter? Your two-bit goon face is looking even cheaper than usual. You ain’t scared, are ya?”

“What is wrong with you?! You— This is— What the fuck is wrong with you?! What am I supposed to do about this?!” the man—Victor Talbot—howled angrily. He was staring at the enormous grizzly that was snoozing peacefully in the clinic’s reception corner, with several blankets draped over it.

Isaac and Miria were leaning against the bear’s side, fast asleep. Fred, the clinic’s owner, and a pale-faced Who were standing a short distance away, keeping an eye on them.

“For goodness’ sake… Animals aren’t exactly hygienic. We’ll have to sweep up the hair later.”

“D-Doc, now’s not the time to be saying that! Are you okay with this?!”

“I’d be quieter, if I were you. Relax. If this bear genuinely wants to kill us, one swipe of its claws would be enough to knock off our heads. We’d likely be dead before we had time to feel any pain.”

“How the hell’s that supposed to help me relax?!”

Fred had hung out the CLOSED TODAY sign. At the moment, only a handful of people were inside the clinic: Firo and several Division of Investigation men, the head of the clinic and his assistant Who, plus Isaac and Miria.

If the surrounding residents found out about the bear, they’d have a panic on their hands. Victor’s men had made up a likely sounding reason and cleared the area so that no one would notice it.

“First you call my department out of nowhere, then you tell me to find the owner of this huge goddamn grizzly?! What the hell, Firo Prochainezo?!”

“What was I supposed to do? You’re the only ones I know who might be able to get this sorted out. Oh, and I think it’s used to people, so if you shoot it or poison it or something, the owner’s probably gonna come after ya.”

“Thanks for that extra headache! Aha—I see your game! You’re planning to yank us around with this shit, then charge into the Runorata Family with a bomb under your jacket while we’re distracted.”

“Don’t say that.” Firo gave a little sigh, then went on indifferently. “That’s a last resort.”

“…”

Not only was it a very real possibility, it was a tactic an immortal could use as many times as he wanted.

Victor had taken an attack from something very similar to a suicide bomber before, and he gave Firo a sour-faced glare. “So? Is this your revenge for Alcatraz?”

“No, only half of it was to ruin your day.”

“You little— What about the other half?”

“Is Edward doing okay?” Firo asked, giving the name of a policeman he’d always been on bad terms with. The guy had joined the Division of Investigation, and apparently, Melvi Dormentaire had attacked him just because he knew Firo.

“You do get whose fault it is that he got hurt, right?”

“Just ‘hurt’? So it’s not too bad, then. That’s one consolation, I guess.”

“…Huh. Trying to win some points by acting worried?”

“I am worried. He’s the only one who could actually arrest you once you turn dirty.” After that offhand response, Firo narrowed his eyes. “That’s about half of the second half of the reason I called you. The rest of it is an easy question—are you friendly with the House of Dormentaire?”

“Did Maiza tell you that? …Well, I knew ’em a long time ago. I doubt any of them are still alive.”

At the name “Dormentaire,” Victor tipped his head back, reminiscing. Then, as if something had occurred to him, he shot Firo a hard glare. “Hold it. You don’t need Maiza to tell you this stuff. You’ve got that old bastard Szilard’s memories. Wouldn’t it be faster to just haul those out?”

“What I want to know about is what they’re up to now. The last few years.”

“And you want the Division of Investigation to be your errand boys?”

“I’m not lookin’ for an alliance. I’m asking you…as an immortal. That’s all.”

Victor grimaced. Then his face went blank. “Those people should have come way down in the world. But they took the fortune they’d accrued through maritime trade and spread it all over the world. They’ve got tons and tons of resources squirrelled away. It was a tax evasion scheme to end all tax evasion schemes, conducted over a century or two.”

“Yeah, there were several big money streams between them and Szilard. It looks like they were buying rare materials to create a homunculus.”

“…”

Firo’s expression didn’t change, but Victor didn’t miss the surge of emotion in his eyes as he said the word homunculus.

This was an opportunity to put Firo in his debt, and Victor planned to capitalize on it. “This isn’t confirmed, but we can guess where Ennis is.”

“…Out on the ocean?”

“Wha—?”

Firo said the answer before he could get to it, and Victor’s mouth dropped open.

“We’re not dumb. We can pull in decent information and draw conclusions. If it was confirmed, you’d be sitting on a scoop even the Daily Days doesn’t have yet.”

“You’re a little shit, you know that?”

And? How are you going to save her? Victor considered asking the question aloud, but he kept his mouth shut for two reasons.

The first was that he had a hunch he wouldn’t get a solid answer.

The second was that one of his men called to him just then. “Uh… Assistant Director? Got a minute?”

“What’s up?” He turned to Bill Sullivan.

The man scratched at his cheek. From his face, this was obviously nothing good.

“I recognize that bear,” Bill said.

“You what?” Firo looked up, too.

“Well, this fella here is, uh… He’s a grizzly that lives at Bartolo Runorata’s mansion. I hear his grandkid Carzelio is taking care of him.”

Then fate began to turn again—completely ignoring the wills of the immortals and the underworld syndicates, set in motion by an encounter between two different species.