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"Yes."

I stroked Sultana. He purred in my lap, looked into my face, and gave me that unblinking stare cats give. "Where did you get him?"

"Found him abandoned on the docks in Memphis. I'd wired your uncle on a business matter and asked him what I could bring home for you. He wired back. 'A cat,' he said. That you were upset because you'd lost Puss-in-Boots."

"Annie took her back. Why did you want to bring me something?"

"To make up for things."

"What things?"

"Whatever it was that caused the look on your face the day I left here."

I stroked the cat's ears. "They'll give you undying loyalty for scratching their ears," I said. "Such a little thing to do to get loyalty."

"Yes," he said. "And humans require so much."

"You want me to say I want my ears scratched, Robert? You think that's what I want from you?"

"No, but I'd like to know what it would take, Emily, for you to trust me. I thought what I did that morning in the hall would do it. When I didn't tell your uncle you were eavesdropping."

"Is that why you didn't tell him?"

"Yes. I want you to trust me, Emily. What must I do?" He looked at me square. "Since the day I met you, you've been angry, defiant, bitter toward me, as if I'm to blame for everything in your life. I can't help it about Johnny. Or Annie. You have to stop blaming me. All I want is to be friends with you. I like you, Emily. I liked you the minute I met you."

"As a girl?"

"Well, you are a girl, aren't you? Yes."

I ducked my head. I could feel things bursting inside me. "I'm not blaming you for Johnny or Annie," I said.

"Well, then, what are you blaming me for? Would you do me the honor of telling me?"

I gave a great heaving sigh. "You mustn't tell my uncle any of this. Promise?"

"Trust me."

"I heard the conversation before you left for Memphis. You were to bring back two riverboat victims. Have you brought them back?"

"Yes."

"Are they dead or alive, Robert?"

He was not stupid. The understanding was there in his eyes. I could not catch him off guard. "They're alive, Emily. Burn cases. I dosed them with laudanum to ease their pain and brought them back. They're in Douglas Hospital. Why would I be bringing back dead people?"

"For specimens. What we talked about the night you showed me inside the shed."

More understanding in those eyes. "You suspect us of stealing bodies. That's why you were listening on the stairs."

"I can't help it, Robert. There's the Spoon and the Mole, for one thing. They were trying to rob my mother's grave the very night she was buried! Uncle Valentine chased them."

"He told me about that." He sighed. "He found out they were running a little grave-robbing business on the side. He's called them to account for it and made them promise to stop. They never stole bodies for him."

"Then what were they doing here that morning you left?"

"They work for your uncle. They do numerous odd jobs. They get around, as dwarves do. They scout around the city and tell your uncle of cases he might be interested in. They found him Marietta. And Addie. And their contacts got the news to us about the riverboat accident."

"Why did you have to lie and say you were a relative of the burn victims? Why not say you worked for a doctor?"

"Relatives get there first. Officials release victims only to relatives. I know it was a little dishonest, but we're concerned with helping the victims. Your uncle is doing research on burns. He's made progress."

"You have an answer for everything," I said. "It's so provoking."

"I'm sorry, Emily, if the answers I give you don't fit in with what you want to think of us. You're of an age where you have a lively imagination. We're not doing anything dramatic or exciting here. Our work consists of long, tedious hours, a lot of failures, and a few slow gains. I'm sorry to disappoint you."

"I'm a lot older than fourteen. Don't treat me like a child."

"I'm sorry," he said.

"And what about Marietta? Why did she have to go? Oh yes, I forgot. She's sharp and smart. She has a level head. And she's