This theory was soon dismissed，as every night Torpolain would invite a member of the audience on stage, look for himself. All who saw it would agree that it was made from solid wood.
Even if it’d been hollow, there was no space inside for anyone to hide. Yet not only could the pierrot walk and talk,it could also as Topolain told the astonished audience every night,see into the heart of every man and woman there and know their darkest secrets.
For the grand finale Torpolain would perform the tricky that was best known for---the magic bullet.
He would ask a member of the audience to come up on stage and fire a pistol at him. To much rolling drums,he would catch the bullet in his hands,proclaiming he’d drunk from the cup of everlasting life.After seeing what he could do with the automaton, the audience did not doubt him.
Maybe such a great magician as this, good indeed trick the Green Ripper*.
Every evening after the final curtain had fallen and the applause died away, Yann would remove the small table on which had been placed the pistol and bullet.
Tonight the stage felt bitterly cold. Yann peered out into the dark auditorium. He could this all near heard someone whisper in the shadows.
“Hello?”He called.
“You all right?”ask D?? the caretaker,walking onto the stage.
It was a giant of man with a vacant moon-like face.
“I thought I heard someone in the stalls”,said Yann.
D??? by the proscenium arch and glared menacingly into the gloom:”There is no one there, more likely is a rat.Don’t worry ,I’ll get the blighter.”
He disappeared into the wing,humming as he went.Yann felt strange and uneasy.The sooner he was gone the better.
There!The whispering is louder this time.
“Who is there?”Shouted Yann,then he heard a woman’s soft voice,whispering softly in Romany,the language he and Tetu spoke privately together.He nearly jumped out of his skin,for it felt like that she was standing right next to him.She was say:”The devil’s own is on your trail.Run,like a wind.”
Topolain’s dressing room is what Miss OXX grandly called a dressing room for superior actors.It was as shabby as all the other dressing room,but it was little larger and had been designed privileged having a fireplace.The log basket was all but empty,and the fire nearly defeated by the cold.
Topolain was sitting looking his painted face into the mirror. He was the style man with a DXX feature.
“How did you know that the shoemaker had a snuff box in his pocket,Yann?”
Yann shrugged,“But I can hear his thoughts loud and clear.”he said.
Tetu,who’s carefully packing away the wooden pierrot,listened and smiled,knowing that Yann’s ability is still unpredicted.Sometimes,without being aware of it,he could read people’s mind.Sometimes he could even see into the future.
There was a rap at the door.topolain jump up in surprise,spilling his wine onto the C??clock of the dressing table, so it turned dark red. A huge man stood opposingly in the doorway,smart black tailor coat emphasing his bulk.Yet it was his face,not his garment that caught Yann’s attention.It was covered in scars,like the map of the city you’ll never wish to visit.His left eye was the color of the rancid milk,the people dead and black could be seen beneath the curdle surface.He was a terrifying ???.(-------4m16s)
The man handed Topolain a card.The magician took it,careful to wipe the sweat from his hand before he did so.As he read the name Count Kxxx，he felt a quiver of excitement,he knew that the count was one of the wealthiest men in Paris.
“This is a honor indeed.”said Topolain.
“?????”He held out a leather purse before him as one may hold the boXX to a dog.”My master,XXXXX??”(口音浓，听不出来)
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*.Green Ripper( The Green Ripper is the eighteenth of 21 Travis McGee novels written by John D. McDonald. It won the National Book Award for the category of mystery in 1980, and was the first and only book in that category to receive the award. The plot is centered on revenge against a secretive, terrorist cult that is responsible for killing McGee's lover Gretel. The title is a word play on the name of the Grim Reaper.)
