Read The Switch for Free Online Page B

tied him to a chair and wrote it all over his body. Used his own needles. Oh yes. I turned that man into a walking dictionary—and not the sort of words you’d want your mother to hear. He went nuts in the end, I understand. He’s in an institute now. An institute for the insane. The other inmates never talk to him. But sometimes they . . . read him.” The man broke off and laughed quietly to himself.
    There was a commotion as the caravan door opened and Eric and Doll Snarby appeared, hurrying across the fairgrounds toward them. Eric was half dressed, his shirt out of his trousers and the sty under his eye throbbing in time with his breath. Doll was also a mess, her lipstick smeared and one earring missing. Tad had never seen them like this. They were, he realized, terrified.
    “Finn!” Doll exploded. “What a pleasure to see you! What a joy!”
    “We wasn’t expecting you till later,” Eric added. “Or naturally we would ’ave bin ’ere to welcome you.”
    “Please, my dear Snarbys!” The man called Finn positively beamed at them. “No need to get your underwear in a twist. I’ve had all the welcome I need, thank you.” He nodded at Tad, and in that moment it was as if a conjuror had waved a silk scarf over the man’s face. Suddenly the smile was gone and in its place was a leer of such force and ugliness that Tad shivered. “The boy’s not ’imself,” he snapped. “What have you done to ’im?”
    “We looked after him!” Doll wheezed. “You know how precious he is to us, Finn. He was ill . . .”
    “. . . ’E made ’imself ill!” Eric interjected.
    “What are children coming to?” Doll Snarby trilled. “You beat them senseless and it doesn’t do any good at all! I don’t know . . .”
    “He got at the glue?” Each word was a bullet, fired at the Snarbys.
    “It wasn’t our fault, Finn!” Eric had gone chalk white.
    “Oh Gawd! Please, Finn . . . !” Doll tried to slide herself behind her husband, but he pushed her away.
    Finn thought for a moment. Then he relaxed and his face rippled back to what it had been before. “I’m taking him with me this evening,” he explained in a gentler voice. “A little business engagement. A business enterprise. I need my partner.”
    His partner? Tad heard the word and swallowed.
    “Is he ready?” Finn asked.
    “Of course he’s ready, Finn,” Doll croaked. “We wouldn’t let you down!”
    “That’s settled, then,” Finn said. “I’ll be back for him at nine o’clock.”
    He picked up his stick and used it to unhook one of the gorillas. The gorilla slid down the length of the stick and into his hand. Finn smiled. “My lucky day!” he exclaimed. “It looks like I won!”
    Holding the gorilla, he turned and limped away.

NIGHTINGALE SQUARE
    There was a full moon that night. As Finn and Tad crossed the empty square, their shadows raced ahead of them as if searching for somewhere to hide. It was a few minutes after midnight. Tad had heard the church bells toll the hour. They had seemed far away, almost in another world. Here, everything was pale and gray, the buildings like paper cutouts against the black night sky.
    Nightingale Square was in Mayfair, one of the trendiest areas of London. Tad had been here before and now recognized the square. Sir Hubert Spencer had friends here and had once brought Tad here for tea. Tad scanned the handsome Georgian houses with growing discomfort. He already had a nasty idea just what sort of “business” Finn had in mind. But what would he do if the chosen house was the very one where he had once been a guest?
    Finn leaned against a metal railing in the middle of the square and raised his stick. “That’s the one,” he whispered. “Number twenty-nine. That’s my lucky number, Bobby-boy. It’s the number of times what I been arrested.”
    Tad glanced at the house. It was tall and narrow with classical white pillars and wide marble steps leading up to the front door. It was on the corner of the