Free Mariah Mundi and the Ghost Diamonds by G.P. Taylor Page A

came out behind
    the fish tanks.’ Mariah stared at Titus, unsure if he would be believed. Titus rubbed the stubble on his chin and pouted like a fish.
    ‘Thought that had been sealed up long ago,’ he said thoughtfully as he smiled at Mariah. ‘Otto Luger had that done when he took over the Prince Regent. Was going to be a way for the guests to come from the hotel, but Otto had other ideas.’ Titus stopped and looked at Mariah. ‘What happened to your face? That looks like it wasn’t the octopus that did that.’
    ‘It was a man in Paradise, a man in a mask, he’d killed a girl.’
    ‘So it’s true. Thought it was just gossip.’
    Mariah told him all that had happened. The exploding Ambassador, the fire and Inspector Walpole. Titus listened without interrupting. He nodded and grunted as he and Mariah shared the cheese and meat and swigged the coffee from the pot until there was none left.
    ‘It’s as if they were murdered one by one and Walpole thinks it’s Charity or me that did it. He said I was at every murder last night and that makes me a suspect,’ Mariah said as Titus listened.
    ‘Trouble is, Mariah, the Prince Regent should never have been built. Some say it’s cursed. I told them but they never listened. There’s a salt cave and a hot spring – that’s where they get the heat from for that generator. Keeps me awake half the night with its rumblings. Luger was breeding fish. I don’t know how or why but some of the things were so strange he got rid of them straightaway and the others, the ones that weren’t bad, he gave to me.’
    ‘ Piscis Humanis ?’ Mariah asked.
    ‘People fish … Them as well. Far too clever and they look at you as if they know what’s in your head. When Luger brought them here I thought he was having a laugh. Looked as if they were people covered in scales.’
    ‘Luger brought them?’ Mariah asked.
    ‘In that lagoon of his were all sorts of things that shouldn’t be. I sneaked in there one night and saw more than I should – that’s why he blocked up the door. He didn’t want Titus Salt knowing what he was up to.’
    ‘What sort of things?’ Mariah asked.
    ‘It was as if he were doing experiments. Some of them fish looked like cats and dogs with gills and fins – cross breeding, new creatures. Most of them died or went mad. The Piscis Humanis , as he called them, they lived and grew and grew. Now look at them – glow in the dark and look at you as if they know better.’
    Before Mariah could reply, Grub growled. The dog then sat by the fire and slept. Mariah talked and talked as Titus listened. His face appeared to grow softer, less furrowed and more at peace. They laughed together as Titus joked about the octopus and how Barcus Dobbs had thrown the money back at Titus when Grub had taken hold of him. He told Mariah of his life at sea and how he had always wanted to own such a place as the Pleasure Palace.
    ‘I knew it would be mine one day,’ he said as he ate more cheese. ‘I have these visions . I can see things that haven’t happened – always had them – the seventh son of a seventh son, that’s me. Sometimes they just come to me as I’m working. It’s as if I see the possibility of the future and I can choose if I’ll walk that way or not.’
    ‘Fortune telling?’ Mariah asked impatiently. He had seen so many charlatans on the promenade who said they could see the future. Charity called them rogues and scoundrels, not to be trusted. Mariah had agreed.
    ‘More than that lad. It’s as if there is a perfect plan for your life. A plan to prosper you in all things. Sometimes I get to see what’s coming. Sometimes I see it and then make a mess of it
    and it never happens. I knew I would have this place. I knew that Luger was a bad thing. I knew I would meet you.’
    ‘What do these visions look like?’ Mariah asked.
    ‘Sometimes it is just a picture or a glimpse of a person. If you’re blessed you see it as if you’re watching actors on a