"Why don't you just listen to me?" said Mallory in annoyed tones.
"It's two hundred for listening to you talk dirty," she said.
"Do you want to earn this money, or do you want to tell me all the things you won't do for it?"
"You talk, I'll listen," said Madame Nadine.
"Like I said, this is my cat," said Mallory. "I'm moving to a smaller place. I want to find someone who can shrink her down to two or three feet in height. Let me know who can do it and the hundred is yours."
"Just for that?" she asked suspiciously.
"Just for that."
"No sexual perversions, no threesomes with animals, no wild orgies with totally disgusting sex toys?"
"Nope."
"Damn!" said Madame Nadine unhappily. Then: "Okay, the man you want to see is Marvin the Mystic."
"Where do I find him?"
"I seem to remember that the deal was a hundred bucks for his name," she said. "Nobody said anything about telling you where you could find him."
Mallory reached into his pocket and pulled out a ten dollar bill.
Madame Nadine frowned. "Five hundred."
"I already know his name," said Mallory. "I'll just ask one of the others where to find him. Come on, Felina."
"Wait!" said Madame Nadine.
Mallory stopped and turned to her.
"You say ten, I say five hundred," she said. "Let's split the difference. Four hundred seventy-five and I'll tell you."
"Let's split the difference," replied Mallory. "Eleven dollars and I won't ask someone else."
"All right," she said, holding out her hand. Mallory gave her a ten and a one. "If you'll go around the corner you'll come to the Visitors' Locker Room. Marvin has appropriated the coach's office, which is just off to the right."
"Thanks," said Mallory. He studied her face. "You only got eleven dollars. Why do you look so happy?"
"You'll find out," promised Madame Nadine. A maintenance man walked by, carrying a shovel and a pail. "Hey, Mac," she said, all interest in Mallory gone now that the deal was completed, "guess your fourteen favorite Andrews Sisters for a dollar?"
"There were only three," said Mallory.
"Depends which Andrews family you're talking about, doesn't it?" Madame Nadine shot back, never taking her eyes off her new mark.
"Let's go," said Mallory to Felina, heading off toward the locker room and hoping he wouldn't pass anyone rehearsing a trained bird act along the way.
They reached their destination, and Mallory looked around for the coach's office. It took only a moment to locate the door, but a goblin, an elf, a troll and a leprechaun were lounging in front of it.
Mallory took a step toward the door, and suddenly all four of them turned to face him, shoulder to shoulder.
"Take a hike, buddy," said the goblin.
"I want to see your boss," said Mallory.
"Our boss left orders," said the troll. "Nobody disturbs him."
"Right," chimed in the leprechaun. "So just take off before we lose our tempers. I haven't killed anyone since breakfast, and I'm getting restless."
"Right," said the goblin. "You take one more step in this direction and we'll dispatch you with such skill and dexterity that they'll award us both ears and the tail."
"Right," added the elf. "There won't be enough of you left to bury!"
"Uh . . ." said the troll nervously. "I don't want to be presumptuous or anything, but what's the hideous creature behind you?"
"That's Felina," said Mallory. "Say hello to the boys, Felina."
Felina offered them a toothy grin and extended a hand. An instant later shining two-inch claws jutted forth from each finger.
"Now," said Mallory, "you were saying something about not disturbing Marvin the Mystic?"
"Well," said the troll, backing up a step, "when you get right down to it, I don't see how a friendly little visit could actually disturb him."
"What's the matter with you?" demanded the elf.
"Trolls are afraid of cat people," said the troll. "Everyone knows that."
"Well, elves aren't afraid of cat people," said the elf, making no attempt to hide his contempt for his companion.
Felina took a step toward the elf.
"Now let's not have any misunderstandings here!" said the elf. "Call her off!"
"I thought elves weren't afraid of cat people," said Mallory.
"We aren't!" said the elf nervously. "But we're desperately afraid of dying!"
"Wimps!" snarled the leprechaun. "It's just a cat person!"
"Then you plan to stand your ground?" asked Mallory.
"Let's set the rules of engagement first," said the leprechaun. "Best two out of three falls. No biting. No scratching. No rolling pins. No weapons larger than .45 caliber. No kidney punches." He paused. "I'm sure I'm forgetting something." He