💾 Archived View for cosmic.voyage › Cilix › 08_palace.txt captured on 2023-11-14 at 08:23:30.

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"You're gonna have to do what you do best and sell him back that
policy."

I sighed. It was one thing to kill a man for love, for a woman - an
android...whatever! - it was another to sell him an insurance
policy right before.

"Won't it look suspicious if he rewrites his insurance policy a few
days before he dies?" I said, after a long pause on the phone. My
voice was wavering more than I'd like to admit.

"Suspicious, sure. But, things like that happen all the time."

"I don't think they do, Honeysuckle."

"Sure they do. You just gotta trust me."

Her house was a palace. It was five stories tall, with the upper
portions overhanging the lower ones by quite a bit. There were
tall, thin columns buttressing the upper portions, making it seem
like a fortress; a gigantic, weightless fortress. As I walked along
the winding driveway, with the shadow of Jupiter making me
near-invisible, I started to have the sense that this was all a bad
idea. I caught the faint smell of marigolds in the air. It could
only have been an illusion, there are no flowers on Europa.

I felt like an idiot as I knocked on the gigantic wooden door,
which looked like it was designed by a fan of 1920's Hollywood
art-deco. All thick and laced with iron.

After an eternity, and several more knocks, a short, stocky man
opened it.  I told him I was there to see Mr. Walsh. He asked me
what it was regarding. I looked him over a bit. He seemed like a
tough guy; narrow, beady eyes, thick arms, a bit slow. I told him I
had better tell Mr. Walsh directly what it was regarding. He told
me he was Mr. Walsh.

I looked him over again. Then it clicked.

"It's I need to see the /real/ Mr. Walsh", I said. His eyes
narrowed even further.

"Very well", he drawled, and let me in.