Part Twenty-Six

As Marie and Miss Sarah exited Madam Diode's house they felt eyes on the back of their necks and when they turned left on the street Marie chanced a look. The big black cat, The Duke, were sitting in the upstairs window looking at them with his mismatched eyes, the mechanical one glinting in the last rays of sunshine, and Marie shivered slightly. She'd never been a cat-person.

"Was it just me or was she hiding something for us?" Miss Sarah asked as the two of them continued down the street.

"Of course she was hiding something. Lots of things even. But she wasn't lying, or she's damn good actress..." Marie kicked at a rock and sighed. "So basically we don't know much more than we did before this little detour..."

"That might be true, but we killed some time and I didn't have to restrain you to keep you from driving me mad while we waited."

"That's something at least." Marie flashed a grin at her assistant. "So what did you think of Madam Diode then, she seems to be an inventor more to you tastes..."

Miss Sarah has the decency to blush a little. "She is rather beautiful yes, and to be honest I do hope she does not turn out to be a liar."

"I knew it! Well... You'll have to call on her again after this whole business is over. Beware the cat though, I get the feeling that thing is fiercely protective of his mistress." Suddenly in a better mood Marie hailed a steam carriage passing by and directed the driver towards Brodie's with a smile.

Part Twenty-Five

"So you are saying you're not the one who sent this after me then?"

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't... I didn't know where it was until you showed me just now, that much is true."

"Not a fan of straight answers are ya?"

"Now where would the fun be in that?" Marie sighed in frustration and glared at Madame Diode.

"I don't like having to resort to threats of bodily harm but right now I am loosing my patience."

Madame Diode made a disproving sound. "So crude. Very well... No. It wasn't me who sent the whirlyfly after you although I did make it."

"Who did you sell it to?" Suddenly there was a crack in Madam Diode's composed exterior.

"I can't tell you. You might threaten to kill me but he will. No doubt about it." Now it was Marie's turn to sound frustrated. She took in Madam Diode's appearance, ample body barely contained in a black and grey utility corset decked out with pockets and tools, dark red skirt covered by an grey embroidered apron with even more pockets and black hair held up with what looked like skinny screwdrivers serving as hair-sticks, but she couldn't find any signs of deceit. Either Madame Diode was a very good liar or she was telling the truth about being more afraid of her unnamed customer than Marie herself.

"If you are lying to me I will find out, and if I do I won't be pleased."

Madame Diode waved her fair hand dismissively. "There's no need for more threats, I know you're a dangerous woman, just remember that this person you are after, he is even more so."

"We'll keep it in mind."

"Can I have my whirlyfly back?"

Marie thought for a second and then shrugged. "Sure. I'd appreciate if you didn't send it after me again though. If you did I would have to stomp it and that would be a pity."

She carefully walked over to the seated inventor. As she came closer she saw that Madame Diode's chair had wheels attached to it and a lever and some buttons she hadn't noticed before sat on the armrest. Marie's eyes went to where the inventor's legs where hidden by her shirts.

"My whirlyfly?"

"Yes, of course. Here you go..." Marie realized she'd been staring and quickly handed over the little metal bug.

"Thank you. Now, would you kindly get out of my house?"

Part Twenty-Four

Marie and Miss Sarah advanced carefully, staying well away from the walls. At the end of the hallways was a large room which looked like it covered most of the bottom floor of the house, a spiral staircase clung the the wall in the back corner and every spare surface was covered with odd looking machinery and mechanical parts. A door on the opposite wall from the stairs seemed to lead to a kitchen of sorts and in the middle of the room were a set of burgundy sofas and chairs surrounding a table with a steam powered samovar as a center piece.

Madam Diode was sat in one of the chairs and the other was occupied by a unusually large black cat with one green eye and one mechanical one. The brass setting covered a quarter of it's face and moving parts were visible under the faintly green glass casing. The cat looked straight at the two newcomers with a clear sense of distrust.

"The Duke does not care for strangers. I'd make this visit brief if I were you, ladies." Madam Diode's voice was was even more dark and sultry without the interference of the speaking tube and she looked at them steadily while she stirred her tea.

"I'll go straight to the point then. Someone sent this thing after me, it has your mark on it. Was it you or one of your customers?" Marie stuck her hand in her pocket and then raised her hand in what she hoped was a calming manner as the large cat, The Duke, hissed threateningly.

"Shh, she's just taking out what's mine... right." Madame Diode glared sharply at Marie.

"Of course, of course..." Marie opened her hand to reveal the little whirlyfly.

"Ahh, so that is where it disappeared to..."

Part Twenty-Three

"Madam Diode?" Marie asked, keeping her tone professional.

"And who wants to know?" A horribly enlarged single eye became visible in the domed window in the door.

"A friend of a friend..." It never hurt to be careful, names where powerful things.

"Names, honey, or you are not coming any closer." How the single eye managed to look condescending none of them knew but that it did.

"Listen, we found something of yours... we thought you might like it back but if you're not interested we'll just find someone else." Marie made to turn away and walk back down the path. All inventors where curious, it was a requirement for the job, and she counted on Madam Diode to keep to the mold.

"Something of mine? Really, and what would that be. Hold it up to the Eye please."

"No, I don't think so. You wanna know, you let us in."

A huff of irritation. "Fine, but you keep your hands where I can see them."

There were a few clanks and clonks and then the door swung open, revealing a hallway illuminated by wall-mounted bowls of fireflies and decorated with paintings of insects and spiders in various more or less gruesome settings. All in all it was not a very welcoming sight and Marie and Sarah looked at each-other before shrugging and stepping inside.

The door swung shut behind them and locked with a rather ominous rattle.

Part Twenty-Two

Madam Diode's house was far enough away that Marie and Sarah felt justified in hailing a steam carriage to get get there. The driver turned out to be an old acquaintance of Sarah's and while the two played catch up Marie stared at the houses and people passing by. As she watched store-keeps bringing in their wares for the evening and couples walking about arm in arm and enjoying the clear evening air she felt a faint twinge of longing for the life she'd never had. She didn't really know what it was like to be ordinary but the people on the street looked so happy being so. Although judging by the popularity of adventure books and the like she was pretty sure many of them fantasized of leading a similar life to her own. Funny how the pulp books rarely mention the waiting and the boredom and the worry, she thought and instantly felt a bit better.

"I guess everyone wants to be someone else sometimes..."

"What was that?" Miss Sarah turned absentmindedly to her boss.

"Oh nothing, just talking to myself." Marie smiled at her assistant.

"OK then. Well, we are almost there. Just another block or so."

"Great." Marie straightened in her seat, casually checking that all her concealed knives and assorted nifty gadgets where in place. It was not that she expected trouble but all inventors where by default crazy (even down-to-earth Argyle had his insane moments. Like that time with the tortoise and the feathers and the sprockets) and she was pretty sure Madam Diode was no exception. And it never hurt to be prepared for anything.

The house in which Madam Diode lived was one of many similar ones along an ordinary city street but no-one could mistake hers for anything but an inventor's abode. The short part up to the house from the street was lined with metal contraptions, some spinning, some oscillating and others just seemed unmoving until you stopped looking directly at them. The windows where fitted with bars from which weather vanes, gleaming extensions that looked like arms grabbing for the sky and various other instruments and contraptions hung like misshapen growths. Slender antennae shot out from the roof and a glass dome could be glimpsed up there as well. The house looked like it was sending out feelers before deciding for or against devouring the adjoining buildings.

Marie and Sarah walked up the path, trying not look like they where avoiding the machinery. The door was covered in corrugated metal and had a round window with slightly bulging glass covering it. As Marie reached out a hand to use the knocker, shaped like a slightly out of place fat cat, a shutter opened behind the window and a a speaking tube detached itself from the wall next to the door. The women could see themselves reflected in the glass as a dark, almost sultry, voice sounded from the tube.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit?"

Part Twenty-One

To Argyle's benefit he actually worked fast and kept from doing any harm to Marie when she went from pacing to hovering around him as he worked. It was close though and hadn't Miss Sarah stepped in and distracted her boss with a fresh cup of tea Marie might have become more closely familiar with Argyle's instruments than was really healthy.

"I really should have guessed. She doesn't have a smidgen of morals anyway."

"You figured it out? You know how made the little thing?"

"Indeed. I found the signature woven into the wings, really delicately too... if she wasn't such a despicable woman I would almost admire her."

"Who? Who is it?"

"Argyle held up the little metallic fly again. "This is made by Madame Diode, she specializes in miniature invention and has no qualms about using magic in her work either." The wrinkle of his nose said exactly what he thought about that.

"OK, so let's pay Madam Diode a visit and see if she can shed some light on this for us..."

"Well, I better stay here. She won't be too friendly if I am with you. I kind of got her kicked out from the Inventor's Guild." Argyle had the decency to blush as he mentioned this.

"Argyle, really? I am surprised!"

"She was being rude! And wrong!"

Marie chuckled. "I believe ya. We'll go on our own. You go on home and we'll let you know what happens. You can start on my coat! I feel down right naked like this."

"As you wish..." Argyle smiled at Marie and then turned to Miss Sarah and bowed. "Thank you for a lovely afternoon, Miss Sarah, I hope we can take tea together some other time as well. Maybe just the two of us?" The hopeful tone in his voice was heartbreaking.

"I always enjoy a nice cup of tea, dear, but I am afraid I don't have much time right now." As Argyle bent to kiss her hand he missed the quick look of pity that passed over her face.

"I am always at your service." And with that he was out the door and Marie and Sarah looked at each other.

"You are going to have to tell him sometime."

"I know... I just can't bear to break his heart, he's so sweet."

Marie sighed. "Let's get going, maybe we get some information to compare with what Sparky manages to dig up..."

"Right behind you, boss"

Part Twenty

The three of them talked the rest of the afternoon, re-telling and analyzing and finally starting to speculate who was behind Councilman Forrest's sudden betrayal. They knew they wouldn't be bale to actually come to a conclusion without Sparky's input but for that they would have to wait. About an hour after sunset Marie started to get impatient. She didn't mind downtime between jobs, in fact she cherished them, but the waiting game was her least favorite part of an active assignment. And that's what this was, even if the client in effect were herself at the moment.

As she paced the length of Miss Sarah's small apartment she played with the little brass mechanism, the whirlyfly, which had once again found it's way to her pocket. Suddenly she got an idea and turned to where Argyle was softly talking to Miss Sarah.

"Hey, Argyle, this is a scouting unit, right? Could you find out who made it? You guys put your signatures on everything, right?"

"Let' me see..." Argyle got up and walked over to his bag and pulled out a set of goggles with various interchangeable lenses. He put them on and took the little metal insect from Marie.

"Hmmm... yes... beautiful craftsmanship, first class parts. This was not a cheap thing to build... it's a bit knocked around, probably from riding around in you pocket all day." He looked up over the edge of a lens, making his eyes seem strangely shifted with the enlargement of half of them.

"Yeah, yeah I know - be more careful and all that..."

Argyle made a disapproving sound. "Anyways, there are only a few people in the Inventors Guild that can build something like this and I know all their signatures. Give me a minute or two." He went back to studying the thing and Marie sighed. More waiting... great.