The heat is somewhat also on Jack Price the international criminal although not very much on actual me right now because Agent Hannah is drowning under legal challenges to her irresponsible and defamatory treatment of the artist Banjo Telemark. Banjo does not take kindly to being pushed around by the running dog lackeys of capitalism and unfreedom and he has unleashed upon her the firm of Jaeger Globus & Driskoll of Geneva. Why them well because obviously we murdered the only lawyer we knew in this town and plus also Banjo Telemark needs lawyers not in any way associated with this whole thing so far. In any case I have in my life been exposed to some vindictive motherfuckers but I had not until I spoke to Ms. Jacinta Globus encountered anyone so necrotizingly joyous at the idea of fucking up a federal agency. It seems to me that Ms. Globus takes an unholy pleasure in such work and what is weird about that is that she is herself as far as anyone can tell—and when I say anyone I mean me and Charlie and Mr. Friday’s nephew in Hafnarfjörður who does odd information security jobs for him between fishing trips—she is totally without criminal history or activity of her own. It is just a thing with her but fuck me she is good at it and she has the knowing of every nook and cranny of habeus gofuckyourself.

For the next few days while all that is sorted out Agent Hannah can look at my corpus delicti but she can’t touch any of this yes I do know that is not what that means.

Corpus delicti.

Cannot—in fact—touch this.

Tra la la tra.

Cannot touch—any—of my corpus delicti—with her federal agent lovebutton—or any other damn thing she brings to the yard—YES I have changed songs sue me O RIGHT YOU CANNOT because I have a Jacinta in my pocket and she is not pleased to see you.

And Doc’s plan for the Kircheisen Festung…it is good. She has the necessary elephant tranquilizer and she has a vector for it. She has the physical body of Elena Riccardi the programmer, last seen passing out in FischFisch from a high dose of whatever, and soon she will have answers.

All security systems have dirty secrets. It just depends how dirty you are prepared to get yourself to uncover them. We went to FischFisch and I got clitorally assaulted so we are already quite dirty and I think my suffering should entirely count for something.

And it does because Elena Riccardi is waking up.

Charlie says: “Good morning sleepyhead YAWN.”

Elena Riccardi says: “VASS?”

“Oooo Tiger steady it’s a little bit early for shouting although I do like it when you yell—”

“VASS—WHAT WHAT O SHIIIIT—”