was already asleep, snoring gently with his face to the wall.
CHAPTER VII
April
27th.
B EEF was already up and dressed when I awoke. He was sitting on the edge of his bunk examining a long yellow sheet which he held in his hands, and when I spoke to him he brought it over to me.
âThis is one of the circus bills,â he explained.
âHave you found a clue or something on it?â I asked drowsily.
âClue?â said Beef. âNo, I got an idea, thatâs all. You know what we ought to do today? We ought to make a thorough round of everybody in the show; go along to everybody and see what theyâre like, and that. Might come in handy afterwards.â
âSo that bill is a sort of checking list, is it?â I asked.
âThatâs right. Take a look at it.â And Beef handed me the bill. This is what I read:
JACOBIâS CIRCUS.
Twice
4-30
Daily.
8-0
Seats at 1/-, 1/3, 2/4, and 3/6.
Children
half-price
at matinees.
THE CONCINIS.
THE GREATEST LADY TRICK RIDERS IN THE WORLD.
Incredible equestrian featsâgrace and color on a galloping horse.
CORINNE JACOBI
& her
ARAB HORSES.
Equine elegance and good manners under the eye of the graceful Corinne.
The DARIENNE BROTHERS AND SUZANNE.
GREATEST AERIAL ACT OF ALL TIME.
Thrills!    Â
Thrills!!     THRILLS!!!
HERR KURT
AND HIS MAN-EATING LIONS.
The bravest man on earth.
PETROV DAROGA.
ECSTASY ON THE TIGHT WIRE.
EUSTACE
THE UNBELIEVABLE SEAL
Shown by our own Corinne Jacobi.
ARCHIE, SAM, and TINY
the funniest clowns in existence.
You scream,
YOU ROAR,
YOU YELL!!
JACOBIâS FAMOUS ELEPHANTS
SHOWN BY PETROV DAROGA
Watch Hoodlums stand on his head!
MANY OTHER LAUGHS, THRILLS, AND DISPLAYS.
âSimple, isnât it?â said Beef as soon as I had finished reading it. âWe just go round to each of those in turn, and there you are.â
âI suppose you know what you are doing,â I said, âbut personally I canât see the use of it. You canât very well collect evidence at this stage, can you?â
âEvidence? Of course not,â said Beef scornfully, âthatâs allyou seem to think about. My idea is to get to know some of the people. Make myself at home like. You never know what might come of it.â
âTrue,â I said. And in a few minutes we had started on our tour.
Beef made first for the proprietorâs wagon. Jackson was alone and let us in immediately Beef knocked.
âWell,â he said, âI suppose youâve got your murder now, Sergeant. Although you can hardly call it a murder when the girl was little more than scratched, can you?â
âAs a matter of fact,â said Beef slowly, âI donât somehow think this is the murder Iâve been looking for. In the first place, it was too clumsy, wasnât premeditated, as they say. More what they call in France a crime of passion, if you ask me. And then, of course, as you say, it wasnât a murder at all. Now, Iâve spoken to both of the young ladies, and although I wonât bother you by going into the full story, it seems to me that itâs something to do with them being twins, if you see what I mean?â
âIâm afraid I donât,â replied Jackson.
âWell, itâs rather difficult to explain,â said the Sergeant slowly. âLook at it like this. Here you have two girls, as like as two peas. Now, in an ordinary family living in a town say, that might cause a bit of fun sometimes, but nobody wouldnât take it serious. But here things are a bit different. Those two girls werenât leading more than one life between the two of them. Everything one could do the other might get the credit for, everybody one knew, the other knew as well. There was nothing private between them at all. Well, I think thatâs what was the cause of this little business. Nothing very serious, mind you, but just enough to make one of them
Tamora Pierce
Brett Battles
Lee Moan
Denise Grover Swank
Laurie Halse Anderson
Allison Butler
Glenn Beck
Sheri S. Tepper
Loretta Ellsworth
Ted Chiang