Page 388 - The Grotesque Children's Book

“No one would read it. The only ones who would understand it would be able to make
sense of the symbols themselves. It’s obvious to me that whoever painted this is saying that
Joanna was visited by an alchemist.”

“That doesn’t mean we killed her. Maybe we just, you know, baked her a loaf of bread.
Had her over for dinner.”

“Had her over for dinner?”
“What are you saying? She wouldn’t have me? She wouldn’t want me?” Lorenzo
Pulveri looked up at the woman in the painting. “When I lived in Palermo, I had the ladies over
every night. I was the center of attention. Had them lined up around the block, waiting to dine
with me. Ah, me. I don’t know why I ever left Palermo. I should’ve stayed, Zaccario. Regrets,
you know? Lure of a fancy payment. And where did that lead? To another fancy payment, and
another one after that. It got addicting. I could probably stop if I wanted. I should. I should
stop killing people. I mean aside from the basic immorality of it...there are those
Commandments to answer to one day. Plus, you have to ask yourself if one day you’re going to
take on an overly dangerous job and something’s going to go wrong and you’ll end up dead.
That’d be ironic, wouldn’t it? The very person you’re supposed to kill ends up killing you. I
suppose that’s inevitable. Mathematical, even. Do enough of them, and it only increases your
chances of a bad outcome. It takes only one to go wrong. On the other hand, that’s why the
money is so good, right? Big risk, big reward. Maybe I’ll do just one more. Take the money, go
back south. Reconnect with the ladies, at least those who’d forgive me for leaving them without
so much as saying goodbye. Ah, Palermo. Yes, I miss it.”
Zaccario was watching him, wondering whether he was ever going to stop. “Are you
paying attention at all?” he asked.
“Sure,” said Lorenzo Pulveri. “Vapor, then salamander crawling up a wall. Go ahead.”
Zaccario sighed. “Let’s get this over with. The rising salamander, crawling up the wall,
represents the ascension portion of the process where....Oh, never mind. Let me just skip to the
part which is about you.”
“I’m suddenly getting interested again.”
Zaccario continued, “Follow the trail of the blue-red-green, and it leads you to this bay
over here, the final piece in Santi’s puzzle. See this woman, in pink, with the yellow robe.”

388