"Yes, on occasion. If there is enough money in it."

"He's mercenary." Hmm. "Not for fun, or anything?" Oscar makes a face.

"Not as far as I know, but it would not surprise me."

Organized crime connections might be a euphemism? It also might not be; Inaaya is not exactly confident that Oscar would have heard of it if Parker were a completely ordinary mob boss. Most organized crime is just organized crime. Most impossible murders turn out to have been entirely possible.

But, also, The King in Yellow is verifiably super cursed, and if anyone knows it then Sano does, and Inaaya does not know the codes.

"I heard kind of a grim story about that recently."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, uh," Oscar says. He tell Sano the story about the tramp. "I don't know what to make of it," he adds, as a lame/general disclaimer. Here he is, sitting in Sano's office, talking about mummies.

"What an appalling story," Sano says. "Do you think any of it might be true?"

Oscar sits in awkward silence and then says. "Hard to tell. Carter seems like an imaginative type, to say the least. But sincere for sure."

Sano probably thinks he's become some kind of crackpot in the last few months. Jesus.

If Oscar weren't here she would lay out her evidence for and against, ending with the truth, which is that she doesn't know if she thinks it's true or not. But he is, so. "No, but combined with what you said I'd certainly prefer not to meet him."

He hopes she never does.

"Is there anything else?"

.....she should also consider that she might be wrong about whether Sano knows about the truth of magic. It's not very likely; she can't think of a reason he would have stopped the play, in that world. But it's possible.

Well. If he does know, she's made an effort to bring up the play and Roby's book. The ball is in his court now.

"Nothing important," she says. "I-- hope to speak to you again soon."

"Miss Sinope," Mr. Sano says. "I was intending to invite you to my office in the next few days."

???

"Would you like to stay behind? I have a new book you may find interesting."

Thank hell. "I would love to, thank you."

You know who else is interested in books?

"I'll wait around outside, then. I have some things to catch up on. Thanks for your time, Mister Sano-- and humoring a strange rumor. Oh, and the tea was wonderful."

"Are you familiar with books of natural history, Miss Sinope?"

"It hasn't been my area of focus but I'm not unfamiliar."

"I thought this book has particularly beautiful illustrations," he says.

She examines the book; she doesn't know much about botany but he's right that the illustrations are beautiful.

Sano is happy to point out interesting facts about flowers for as long as she's interested.

And she can be interested for as long as there are facts, but--

--well, she's got other things on her mind as well, and it isn't exactly hard to tell she's nervous about something if you're paying attention. Joan would be able to tell in an instant, from how she fidgets and bites the inside of her cheek.

(How do you say 'so, I heard from a friend that you prevented the production of a cursed play' in a way that's casual and normal.)

"Is something bothering you, Miss Sinope?"