CHAPTER 36
Janosi had turned out to be very willing to talk after a little more prodding from Adelma, confessing everything, including the location of the laboratory, below the Black Orchid.
Longinus, Adelma, and Pip were on their way to the Black Orchid when Pip spotted Alice. Longinus was walking well ahead of Adelma and upwind — the only way he could avoid smelling her.
“Alice coming!” Pip shouted.
“A message from Rory?” Longinus asked.
There was a silence while the two urchins conversed.
“Rory’s in trouble,” Pip said at last. “That Mizria woman got her and took her into the Black Orchid.”
Longinus felt himself go cold.
“There’s a cage,” Pip continued, “and it –”
“Talk while we move,” Longinus said, breaking into a run. He burst out into a wider street but it was still deserted
