Mephista

by Maurice Limat

  Teddy Verano had a hard time understanding him. As always, he was consumed by the imp of curiosity. It was his nature, even before being a detective, and no doubt, the former had pushed him into the latter.

  The man was arguing, obviously with a woman. The woman passed by the makeshift screen of the window, displaying a brief shadow puppet show that made Teddy flinch.

  It was Miss Mahlia.

  But Miss Mahlia was not her name; it meant nothing. It was an unremarkable, vaguely artistic, stage name. A name that hid her real name, like the black mask in the show was hiding a face that Teddy Verano would have paid dearly to see. Not only because what he had seen of the woman left him to imagine what beauty her face might have once possessed, but also because a dim memory was floating deep in the depths of his mind, and he could not manage to grasp it clearly.

  However, right under the window now, he could not just see them but he was starting to hear them better. They were indeed quarreling.

  “…forbid you, get it? You can’t waste your time watching this rubbish TV show!”

  “So I can’t even watch television now? That’s too much!”

  “There are better things to do.”

  “I work here, don’t I? I risk my life every night.”

  “And me? Don’t I risk mine?”

  “You’re the tamer, that’s your job.”

  “And yours is to…”

  There was silence and Teddy Verano knew exactly what it meant.

  A man is furious with a woman. They argue… and then, at a certain moment, exasperated, the man gives in to the brute and lets himself be won over by the woman’s seductive charm, becomes enchanted by the woman he desires. Therefore, Teddy Verano easily guessed what might be happening.

  “Oh, leave me alone, please.”

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  “You want me to rest, Cruci.”

  “You’re angry because I wouldn’t let you watch that show? Listen, Mahlia, it’s for your own good. What’s the point of stirring up old memories?”

  It sounded like Mahlia sighed. Teddy Verano supposed it more than he heard it. Now Crucifer became gentler, more insinuating.

  “Mahlia, for now, it’s not possible… and it’s better for you to not look back into the past. But soon, soon, when he’s found it…”

  Mahlia laughed briefly, insultingly and, at the same time, bitterly.

  “If he ever finds it!”

  “You don’t believe anymore?”

  “Since he first promised us…”

  “Mahlia, you don’t believe in… certain things. But you used to.”

  She suddenly became angry.

  “Yes. But you know what it cost me. That’s what got me… where I am today...”

  “Mahlia, Mahlia… Soon, Mirk will succeed. He’s working hard on it, you know that. And it’ll be for you and for me… for both of us. Back to a normal life. Oh, Mahlia, on that day… What revenge ewe shall have!”

  Mahlia jeered. Her voice was beautiful, but dark. Teddy Verano suddenly shuddered on hearing certain modulations.

  “On that day! Supposing that this demon gives us what he promised… Do you think that all women will be yours, tamer of my heart?”

  “All women…” Crucifer’s voice became more savage and more sensual than ever. “On that day… No, not all women. What do other women matter to me? Only you, Mahlia, only you! And it will be you who will inflame me, who will make me crazy, with your beauty…”

  “No, not that word!” she almost screamed.

  He gave in.

  “Don’t be so tense, please. We can but hope…” He paused, before saying quietly, “We have paid the price. These things are bought and they don’t come cheap. We’re risking a lot, but for such results… you and I, both of us… the best circus in the world, with the prettiest girls and the most magnificent men. Oh, Mahlia, do you think that what we’re trying to do isn’t worth it?”

  There was a short pause before Mahlia lets out a little cry.

  “Don’t touch me. Not the mask, Cruci! Please, not the mask!”

  Teddy Verano listened to all this and wondered what it meant. With his remarkable professional training, he did not try to analyze it right away, or make any connections. He filed it away, that was all. He filed it away, thanks to his naturally active memory that had been firmly disciplined by a few simple and effective tricks, like memorizing Henry VIII’s six wives or the 33 plays of Corneille.

  He filed it away, recorded it. Later, he would process it.

  He heard Crucifer scolding Mahlia again, a little angry, a little menacing, which made the detective shiver, despite the tones of voice he heard.

  “He’ll find it. It’ll be for you, Mahlia. And for me, too, so that I won’t be repulsive anymore. He’ll find it, otherwise…”

  “Cruci, Cruci, be careful! You said so yourself: Mirk is devilish.”

  “I know,” the lion-tamer barked. “If he didn’t traffic with who knows what powers, he couldn’t succeed…” He paused and lowered his voice, so that Teddy Verano could barely hear him. “If it’s true, if he’s not bluffing, if he can really give us what we lost… Oh, Mahlia, you’ll be beautiful again, and I won’t sicken you anymore.”

  “Cruci, I never said that. Besides... (the young woman’s voice sounded horribly desperate, which made Teddy Verano feel bad) ...am I any better than you? Aren’t we in the same boat? Like all the others? Poor Fever Blister, at her age… a shriveled up old woman at thirty. And if they call Arsène Lack-o-Luck, it’s only for his poor face. And the Ziganos, you think they’re beautiful? What a family of monsters! And the others?”

  “Patience, Mahlia.”

  “Yes... But Mirk must keep his word.”

  “If he doesn’t keep his promise, I’ll feed him to my lions.”

  She must have shrugged while saying:

  “Don’t be stupid, Cruci. Anyway, listen… I’m scared.”

  “Of that runt? You make me laugh.”

  “No, no, please, Cruci. Watch out. He’s stronger than you.”

  “You’re joking, Mahlia.”

  “But don’t you see what he’s capable of?” she exploded. “If what you say is true? In any case, we can’t know if he’ll go all the way, if he’ll finish what he promised. But what he’s already done… We can’t…”

  “He, too, signed with…”

  “Be quiet! Be quiet! You know we can’t talk about that.”

  It sounded to Teddy Verano like Mahlia was crying. Crucifer tried to soften his harsh voice that was used to giving orders to his huge wild animals.

  “Mahlia, magic or not, the result is what counts. What does it matter to us! Everyone here knows what was promised. They’re waiting. Believe me, if Mirk double-crosses them, they’ll get their revenge.” His voice rang out like a toll bell. “It’s awful to live with faces like ours. So, whatever it takes to get out of this… Whatever it takes. Even what Mirk is doing. Afterward, we won’t care.”

  It was snowing again. The trailers were silent and Teddy Verano, alone, pressed against Crucifer’s rolling home, forgot about the biting cold, wrapped up as he was in this conversation that he was in the perfect place to hear.

  He would have given anything to be able to “read between the lines.” But what did it matter! He would remember everything. Later, he would make the connections, gather up the various clues, and the puzzle, which he was already convinced was real, would come together, piece by piece, before his eyes.

  Suddenly, he saw something moving in the shadows. A weird shape hiding in the night that suddenly sprang out and a raspy voice shrieked:

  “What are you doing here?”

  Teddy Verano was more annoyed than surprised, because he wanted to hear more and this intrusion was messing up his plans. But he had anticipated this situation and prepared, for all practical purposes, an explanation to justify being here among the trailers.

  “Oh, sorry. I guess you’re with the Crucifer Circus?”

&nb
sp; He saw, through the murky veil of snow, a skinny little man, bent and twisted, whose eyes seemed to glow strangely.

  “Yes, I’m from the circus,” the scratchy voice said. “But you… you’d better explain yourself. You can’t come in here. Unless…”

  Teddy Verano could not react this time. The gnome pulled something out of his pocket and the detective got a full shot of light directly in his face.

  It went out right away and everything faded to black again.

  Despite his usually quick reactions Teddy Verano realized that he had just been seriously thwarted by the scarlet clown.

  CHAPTER VII

  It was him. There was no doubt about it. Without his thick, red and white make-up, he was absolutely hideous. In the dark, his face took on an eerie, dazzling aspect. And with his skinny, twisted body, he came out of the shadows like some unreal creature in the thick curtain of glistening snow surrounding the trailers.

  Teddy Verano recognized him. Without any problem. But he was upset at being surprised by the bright flashlight that let the other see him clearly, which was exactly what he always tried to avoid in these situations.

  “Why’d you come here?” the raspy voice asked.

  Teddy Verano opened his mouth to give his carefully prepared explanation. The other did not give him time. He piped up again right away, and it seemed to the detective that it was more for him than for Teddy Verano himself.

  “Why’d you come here? In your condition, it’d be totally useless. You don’t need to be among us.”

  It was a pretty enigmatic statement, but Teddy Verano did not get flustered.

  “Monsieur, pardon my indiscretion but…”

  Once again, the clown without make-up cut him off.

  “I saw you. You’re normal. I can even say that you’re not bad looking. More than one man would probably not mind having a face like yours. And I’m sure that more than one woman has said so, that they’re not very cruel to you.”

  Teddy Verano swallowed hard and tried to find something to say. Now he was starting to get puzzled and not really understand anything.

  “So,” the clown continued, “you’re not here for that reason. You’re not a monster, not even an ugly man, not hideous. Therefore, you can’t come among us. There’s no point.”

  This time, he made a direct reference to the repulsive circle of unfortunate carnies. But it seemed like a thorny subject to dwell on, and Teddy Verano, as much as he wanted to find out more, and know why the gnome talked openly about such things, thought it better to change the subject.

  “I’m very glad to find you here. There’s no one around. With this weather, I’m not surprised. In short, I’m being indiscreet. Sorry, but it’s my job. Basically, I do a little reporting on the side, and after seeing the Crucifer Circus put on such an interesting show this afternoon, I wanted to interview some of its performers around the caravans… well, the trailers, I guess... It’s more modern. I’d also like to take a picture or two.”

  “A picture! Pictures!” the little man suddenly looked scared. “Why are you talking about taking pictures?”

  “Why not? To illustrate the newspaper article; it’s totally normal.”

  “No, no, no more mention of that.”

  “OK, but you know that readers are hungry for them.”

  The gnome seemed to hop because he was swaying and bobbing in a weird way. He could not seem to stay put, probably due to his deformed hips that must have caused him constant pain, and that he tried to hide just like in the ring with all his different pranks.

  “I know newspaper readers. They’re like everyone else. They love people who are beautiful, Monsieur. Pretty girls. In all the papers, the movies, on TV, that’s all they see. Beautiful girls. And it’s understandable. But the others… No, Monsieur, nobody’s interested in the others.”

  “Allow me,” Teddy Verano said softly, finding this man weirder and weirder, both in his behavior and his speech. “Maybe you could provide me with just one picture. I don’t know, how about the most attractive member of the Crucifer Circus, Miss Mahlia, for example.”

  The gnome jumped like he had seen a lizard.

  “Miss Mahlia… You said, Miss Mahlia? You want a picture of Miss Mahlia?”

  “Sure. What’s so strange about that? She is an artist. All the artists in the world carry pictures with them taken by professional photographers. They have them for the press, for reporters… and for admirers. I have to admit,” Teddy Verano laughed, “that I’m not embarrassed to include myself among the latter when it comes to Miss Mahlia.”

  The longer he talked, the more he saw the scarlet clown cringe, as if what he said was torture to him.

  “You’re an admirer of Miss Mahlia? And you want to publish a photo of her?”

  He was staggered, as if someone had announced some scandalous absurdity.

  “No, Monsieur. No! Don’t talk about that. Get away from here, that’s my advice.”

  Teddy Verano had made up his mind to hold his ground, to play it cool despite the ludicrous and disturbing attitude of the other.

  “But since she appears with a mask, can’t I get a picture of her face?”

  This time, the clown almost somersaulted.

  “Not that! No, not that!” He was literally gasping. “Her face… the face of Miss Mahlia… But Miss Mahlia has no face!”

  “No face?”

  Now the gnome sobered up a little. He got a hold of himself and must have realized that he was going to regret what he had just said.

  “I mean… No, it’s impossible.”

  “But, there must be a reason.”

  “A reason? Yes… yes…”

  Clearly he was searching for one. Teddy let him “swim.” But the scarlet clown was already talking again.

  “A reason? Yes… jealousy.”

  “Ah-ha! And who was the jealous devil?”

  “Crucifer, Monsieur! He’s terrible. Nobody except for him can see Miss Mahlia face to face. It’s weird, I know, but what can you do? They’re both like that.”

  “And she accepts this situation?”

  “She does.”

  “Does she have a choice?”

  The gnome thought twice before answering.

  “Monsieur, you’re asking too many questions. Listen, you’d better just give up the whole idea. Leave us alone. We’re honest carnies and we’re not hurting anyone. We go from town to town and…”

  “That’s exactly why it would be interesting to write an article about the Crucifer Circus.”

  “No, Monsieur. We don’t need the publicity and…”

  Something creaked and a big rectangle of light suddenly cut through the night. A rectangle that carved out, like a huge shadow puppet show, a figure whose outline was all that could be seen, all black on the yellow screen of the trailer door.

  And a hoarse voice that Teddy Verano recognized right away rumbled:

  “Mirk! Is that you? Who are you talking to?”

  Very quickly, the clown pulled Teddy Verano behind another trailer.

  “Hush! It’s him. Can’t let him know we’re talking. He’ll be furious… and he’ll take it out on me.”

  “Mirk!” Crucifer’s booming voice called out.

  Teddy Verano made a quick connection with the conversation overheard between Crucifer and Miss Mahlia. Mirk, therefore, was just the scarlet clown. He realized that, during the show, the Ringmaster had, in fact, presented all his fellow performers, except for his partner.

  Mirk—it was obviously him—looked scared to death. He pushed Teddy Verano as far back as he could, left him and walked forward.

  “Mirk!” the gladiator shouted for the third time.

  In the light coming from the trailer door, Teddy Verano saw Mirk advance, pathetic, hard to watch, while the gigantic outline of the lion tamer, made even bigger by the optical effect, looked terrifying.

  “Is that you, you little runt? What are you doing? I heard you talking… who with?”

  “Don�
�t be angry, boss.”

  “Come here, moron!”

  From his hiding place, Teddy Verano could still see them; behind Crucifer, he made out an elegant, female form. It was obviously Miss Mahlia, but he saw her against the light and could not tell whether or not she was still wearing her mask.

  Crucifer was in shirtsleeves, despite the cold. He had taken off his dolman jacket but was still wearing his leather pants and boots. He let loose a flood of curses upon the scarlet clown, who stood there, looking like a frightened child in front of some torturer.

  Teddy Verano watched the woman’s shape, her very beautiful lines in some kind of tight-fitting bathrobe, reach out and put a hand on the lion-tamer’s shoulder.

  “Let him be, Cruci.”

  Teddy Verano remembered. that Miss Mahlia had been scared of Mirk. Why? This was baffling.

  Miss Mahlia kept trying to calm him down, but Crucifer kept threatening Mirk, saying that there was someone here, that all intruders should be chased away, and that if Mirk brought in strangers, he would introduce them to the end of his boot.

  “You’re making me get cold, you wreck. Why’d you come over if there’s nobody here? Do you have something to tell us? Have you found another one?”

  “No, boss. I haven’t have time to work. We just finished the show.”

  “Of course, he’s right,” Mahlia jumped in, clearly trying to patch things up.

  Teddy Verano thought that she was less afraid of Crucifer’s anger at the scarlet clown than the retaliation of the latter, undoubtedly believed to be mysterious and dreadful.

  However, Mirk stayed at the bottom of the small stairs leading up to the trailer like in an old caravan adapted to modern use.

  The lion-tamer jumped down and grabbed his collar.

  “You haven’t found anything, have you? Well, some advice. Find something… fast. Do whatever you want. All means are acceptable, you know. But I’m warning you not to waste time, or you’re in for a licking.”

  “Hey, Cruci, enough!” Mahlia intervened.

  She went down the three steps and, in the process, passed through the light coming from the lamp inside. Although she was out of her uniform, Teddy saw that she had kept the black mask on, and Mirk’s incomprehensible comments sped through his mind.