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The detective and the new arrival were still in the Duesenberg, but as the Caretakers approached, Aristophanes climbed out, tipped his hat at John, and moved over to join Warnie, who kept glancing at the detective’s skin tone as if it were a trick of the light.
    A smaller, wizened man stepped from the other side of the car and placed his hand on the hood, taking in the heat radiating from the engine. “It’s warm,” he said admiringly, “almost like a living thing. I should not be surprised if one day someone chose to become one with a machine such as this.”
    “We brung, uh, bringed . . . ah, we got the shipbuilder,” Uncas said, gesturing at Argus, who nodded his head in acknowledgment. His expression was grave, but a bemused smile played at the corners of his mouth.
    John sized up the shipbuilder. “I must beg your pardon, but you don’t appear to be several thousand years old.”
    “You have it,” Argus replied, “but considering you sent a purple humanoid unicorn, a talking badger, and a Spaniard who can’t drive to fetch me, I’m surprised you place such an emphasis on one’s appearance.”
    “He’s smarter than the average mariner,” Warnie commented to Aristophanes.
    The detective nodded. “You have no idea.”
    “How far can we trust him?” Hawthorne asked. “After all, we have only the detective’s word he is who he says he is.”
    “Why would I lie to you now?” Aristophanes sputtered. “I live at Tamerlane House!”
    “You did betray us to Dee,” said Hawthorne. “You were a double agent.”
    “Triple agent,” said Warnie. “He betrayed Dee and joined you lot after all.”
    “Thanks,” said Aristophanes.
    “Don’t mention it,” said Warnie.
    “But,” Hawthorne argued, “we still lost the Ruby Armor.”
    “We would have lost it anyway,” Dickens interjected, “so that really isn’t Steve’s fault.”
    “Who is Steve?” Argus asked Uncas.
    “Th’ detective,” the badger replied. “It’s his preference.”
    “If I had known,” Argus said slowly from the relaxed position where he was leaning against the Duesenberg, “that you people would be this entertaining, I would have agreed to come far more easily.”
    “It’s him,” said a voice from the back of the group. “I only met him a couple of months ago, remember? And I know his face. This is Argus.”
    The Caretakers parted to allow Bert to move to the front, where he peered more closely at the shipbuilder. “Do you remember me, Argus?”
    “I remember,” Argus replied, “that when we last met, you and your companions saved my life. But also that you were much more accepting of who I was and what I claimed to be able to do. After all, you are the ones who sought me out, and not the other way around.”
    “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Jack said, taking the role of host and rushing around the others to shake the shipbuilder’s hand. “We’ve had some security issues around here lately and need to be careful.”
    “I understand,” Argus replied. “Thankfully, however, tolerance and patience can be bought.”
    Warnie cleared his throat and looked pointedly at Jack and John, then tipped his head at Argus.
    John sighed and frowned at the other Caretakers. “I suppose since we’ve already made one deal with the de—”
    “Hey, now,” said Aristophanes.
    “The detective, I was going to say,” John continued, scowling, “then I suppose we must take this fellow at his word that he is whom he says he is.”
    “Not at all,” Argus replied before any of the Caretakers could comment further. He smiled down at Uncas. “Child of the Earth,” he said gently, “do you have a scrap of paper I might borrow?”
    “Soitenly!” Uncas exclaimed. He popped open his Little Whatsit, deftly removed a small blank sheet from the pages at the back, and handed it to the shipbuilder.
    Argus made no comment but simply began folding the paper over and over, his fingers moving too swiftly to follow, until he had