Quoted By:
"I don't know what part of 'that's it' you didn't get, Lottie."
"Whatever." You place your hands on your hips. "So what's up with Casey? You know about him, clearly, I hath cleverly pried that from your—"
"Why do you <span class="mu-i">care?</span> The whole— the sticking your nose in— I get that. Maddie got you on a leash. Whatever. But I haven't even seen or heard from this guy in months and months, and I— I mean— last I checked, <span class="mu-i">he</span> didn't kidnap Maddie? Are you just doing this to fucking bother me?"
"I might stop bothering you if you tell me about Casey," you say. "It can't do any <span class="mu-i">harm,</span> can it?"
"With you? Who the fuck knows!" Ellery is unattractively flailing his stick-arms around. "But it's not like it can make <span class="mu-i">my</span> life any worse, so— I don't know. He's a guy. He's <span class="mu-i">very</span> charming, but not in an— an oily sort of way, sort of a big, backslappy— real leader, I guess. Easy to get sucked into his, sort of, whirlpool. Vortex. Whatever you call it."
"Okay," you say. "But is he <span class="mu-i">evil?</span>"
"Wh—" At least this stops the flailing. "What? What does that even mean?"
"Is he evil? I feel like he could be. I didn't necessarily see any confirming evidence, but he seemed like a potential, you know, mastermind of a dark plot, whose foul webs you art thourt entwined within..."
"<span class="mu-i">Thourt?</span>"
"It's a word," you say confidently. "But you wouldn't know, since you can't read. Don't dodge the question. I also think he looks like he could be evil, maybe— you know how some people just look evil? Like Horse Face?"
Ellery has his fingers jabbed through his hair. "<span class="mu-i">Who</span> is Horse Face? I assume that's a person, and not a—"
God, what's his real— what did Lucky say? "Garvin, or whatever. Him."
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