“I’ll keep that in mind for next time he phones. May I quote you? And have you heard about ‘The Young Man from Kaprust’?”
“I don’t believe I know that one.”
“As we’re paying him a visit, maybe you should. It’s not one of Mr. Miff weeds. It’s traditional:
‘There was a young man from Kaprust—
Obsessed by abominable lust,
He ravished a hen,
A turkey, and then
A little green lizard, which bust.’”
Timuroff laughed. “Perhaps the young man we’re calling on has written poems about his own disappointments, which he’ll recite for us. And what did Rop Millweed say after he had presumably softened you up with pornographic verse?”
“He hinted that his public was just panting to find out what went on between our expert, Mr. Timuroff, and Madame Cantelou, and whether Doctor Grimwood’s little ladi
