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“It seems so.”
“That means the whole story about daddy in Long Beach is bullshit.”
“Probably.”
“Definitely. Someone had a kid, then lost it. Now they have another kid. Why?”
He shakes his head.
“I don’t know.”
“Whose kid is it?”
“They’re Sub Rosa. You never heard of them—they’re not an important family.”
“Maybe they want to be.”
He looks at me.
“You think someone would give up their child to advance their family position?”
“Some of these families would smother the baby Jesus in the manger if they thought it would get them good seats at the opera.”
“I don’t want to think about things like that.”
“I know. That’s why you have me. Don’t ask me to take this to Julie. She’s going to make a thing out of another lost kid. Bring in the cops right away. It might make whoever has him . . . her?”
“Her.”
“It might make whoever has her do something stupid. You’re going to have to handle this. Rattle some cages. You’re the goddamn augur. Scare some people.”
“What will you be doing?”
“I’m working on the black milk. If we know what it is, we might figure out what’s really going on. That reminds me.”
I take the drill from my pocket.
“Do you know what this is?”
Abbot looks it over.
“No. Sorry. Is that the thing you called a dildo you took from Charles’s car?”
“The same. I think it might belong to a Tick Tock Man. I’m going to look for him. You can help with that. See if anyone has any new, expensive familiars.”
“I’ll do that.”
I get up.
“Unless you have something else, I think we’re done for now.”
He stands.
“Nothing for the moment. Thank you for coming, and thank you for understanding the situation.”
I take out a Malediction.
“Things get funny with family.”
