That can only be trouble.
		I climb up over the fireplace and up through a hole in the ceiling. Slide on my stomach over the door so I can see through a small hole down into the corridor. It's a woman. Alice? Can't be. It's just because I was remembering. I slide backwards and down through the hole. Pick up my knife and ask who's at the door. Message from the Duke apparently. Shit - not the Duke, he's a pain in the ass. I let her in, keeping my knife hidden. She enters. She's a Duke girl all right. Big D tattoo on her neck just below the ear. What's the message? She tells me he wants a story. Is there nobody else in this shitty town who can read? Can't refuse him, refuse and I'd be dead in the gutter within the hour. I pick up a book. Jungle Book. Kipling. That should keep him happy.