"Damnedest thing," he said, trying to keep his face composed. "My chair died. Then another one -- a little kid was riding in it. Then there was a lot of electrical sparks, and I walked out. Crazy." Tjan cocked his head. "I hope you're not hurt. We could have a doctor look at you; there are a couple around tonight." It had never occurred to Sammy that professional types might turn out for a ride like this, but of course it was obvious. There were probably off-duty cops, local politicians, lawyers, and the like. "I'm fine," he said. "Don't worry about me. Maybe you should send someone in for the people still in there, though?" "That's being taken care of. I'm just sorry you came all the way from Florida for this kind of disappointment. That's just brutal." Tjan's measuring stare was even more intense. "Uh, it's OK. I had meetings here this week. This was just a cool bonus." "Who do you work for, Mickey?" Shit. "Insurance company," he said. "That'd be Norwich Union, then, right? They've got a headquarters here." Sammy knew how this went. Norwich Union didn't have headquarters here. Or they did. He'd have to outguess Tjan with his answer. "Are you going to stay open tonight?" Tjan nodded, though it wasn't clear whether he was nodding because he was answering in the affirmative or because his suspicions had been confirmed. "Well then, I should be going." Tjan put out a hand. "Oh, please stay. I'm sure we'll be running soon; you should get a whole ride through." "No, really, I have to go." He shook off the hand and pelted down the escalator and out into the freezing night. His blood sang in his ears. They probably wouldn't get the ride running that night at all. They probably would send that whole carnival crowd home, disappointed. He'd won some kind of little victory over something. He'd felt more confident of his victory when he was concerned with the guy with the funny eyebrow -- with Perry. He'd seemed little more than a bum, a vag. But this Tjan reminded him of the climbers he'd met through his career at Walt Disney World: keenly observant and fast formulators of strategies. Someone who could add two and two before you'd know that there was such a thing as four. Sammy walked back to his hotel as quickly as he could, given the icy sidewalks underfoot, and by the time he got to the lobby of the old office tower his face hurt -- forehead, cheeks and nose. He'd booked his return flight for a day later, thinking he'd do more reccies of the new site before writing his report and heading home, but there was no way he was facing down that Tjan guy again. What had prompted him to sabotage the ride? It was something primal, something he hadn't been in any real control of. He'd been in some kind of fugue-state. But he'd packed the little knife in his suitcase and he'd slipped it into his pocket before leaving the room. So how instinctive could it possibly have been?