I can't really tell if it's worth finishing posting this or not - but it's been sitting on my hard drive for so long, I guess I might as well take it to the end, whether anyone reads it or not.

Chapter X

"Sergei Kovran." Alissa repeated. "Of course I know who he is. And Brandon Carstairs. Why?"

"We think we may be narrowing down the field." Frank explained. "Do they work here?"

"Carstairs is a member of our Board of Directors. President, in fact. Kovran is a member of the Russian Diplomatic Corps, traveling with the necklace."

Joe looked hopefully at Frank. "Make sense?"

"No," said Frank unhappily, kneading his temples. It seemed to him that his brain just wasn't working the way it used to. "I feel like I've got a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces missing. I need to think."

Callie swung her legs, looking thoughtful. "So, if Kovran's been traveling with the necklace all along, why wait until he got here to steal it? And why drag Gabby and Jerry into it?"

"Fall guys, maybe," mused Frank. "Or, if he's political, he may want to stir things up between the U.S. and Russia."

Joe made a face. "Nice."

"What else do you know about him, Alissa? Anything?"

Alissa sighed. "No, not really. He's pretty nondescript. He's been around since Galina and the necklace arrived. He fawns over Galina. Sends flowers and things, and she keeps rejecting him. Other than that..."

"Okay. Let's look at that. Know what the animosity is all about?"

"Not really. I heard some gossip that he was part of the Communist Regime and her family suffered under the Soviet Regime. That she holds a grudge about it. But it's just backstage gossip. I guess a lot of the dust hasn't settled in Russia yet."

"How about Carstairs?"

Alissa laughed. "I'm sorry, but I think that one's a real stretch. Carstairs is a member of one of the founding families of San Francisco and filthy rich to boot. I can't imagine why he'd take such a chance. And he's so dedicated to the Opera. I'll never believe he'd do anything to besmirch it."

Frank took a turn about the room. "All right. So we don't have the whole thing. But if Cobra and Kovran are one in the same - he'll be here tonight?"

"Oh, I'm certain. That's why he's in town."

"Then I guess the best we can do is take our places and keep an eye on Gabby, Jerry and Kovran."

"Speaking of places," Alissa glanced at her watch. "I need you on stage, Callie, for a final run with the flying equipment. You guys can watch, if you stay out of sight."

"Great." Frank started toward the door.

Joe hesitated. "How long will it take?"

"Hard to say. Why?"

"Well, I was planning to torture Callie a little longer before I told you, but Kareechniva invited me to tea at three. I wheedled invitations for Frank and Callie, too."

Callie let out a shriek, and threw her arms around Joe. "I'll never forget this! Never, never, never!"

Alissa shook her head. "You lead a charmed life, Joe Hardy. I work here, and I've never had tea with Kareechniva. Think you could wheedle me an introduction?"

Joe grinned, looking pleased with himself. "I'll see what I can do."

But he dropped back a little to let Alissa and Callie proceed him, grabbing Frank's arm to detain him as well. "I need to tell you something. The Gray Man knows we're in the building." He recounted his adventures in an undertone to Frank, who couldn't suppress a smile at the story of the ladies' dressing room. But his face grew strained as Joe finished.

"Does he know about me?"

Joe shrugged. "Who can say?"

Frank shook his head. "I don't know, Joe. Maybe we're taking an awful chance. Maybe we should just tell him what we know and let him handle it."

Joe stared at him. "Just how hard was that hit you took on your head?"

Frank grinned in spite of himself. "Okay, okay. There's just so much at stake, and it keeps getting more complicated."

"And there's nobody in a better position than us. It would take us forever to get the Gray Man up to speed, even if we were sure where to find him. And we don't know what he'd do to Gabby or even Alissa - there's more than us involved, Frank."

"You're right." Frank ran a hand through his hair. "I just still feel like we're flying blind, and we're running out of time. Speaking of flying, let's go watch Callie. Who knows, maybe Kareechniva will be able to shed some light on things."

Joe and Frank found a darkened niche in the back of the theatre to watch the action on stage. Seeing the number of stagehands milling about, Joe had to wonder about the wisdom of watching this process at all, but he saw that Frank's eyes were glued to Callie and there was little hope of budging him until she had finished.

Callie and Suzy both disappeared into the wings. A short time later, Suzy reappeared: first her feet, then legs, then upper body appearing gradually from under the scrim stage right.

"Okay, Suzy." called a voice offstage. "Swing around a little to get your confidence up."

Suzy obediently rocked back and forth - cautiously at first, then more wildly.

She laughed loudly. "This is fun!"

Joe leaned over to murmur in Frank's ear, "That chick is nuts!"

"Bringing you back up." said the voice off. Suzy disappeared under the scrim. "Now you, Callie."

Callie's feet began to appear under the scrim stage left, followed by the rest of her. Joe thought that, even from this distance, she held herself stiffly, as though she was tense.

"Okay, Callie. Try some swings, now, just to get the feel of it."

For a moment Callie just hung there, then she started a little, tentative sway.

"Try a little stronger swing, Callie. It'll be harder right now, but it will make it easier later on, with the lights up and so much going on."

Obediently, Callie swung a little harder, then managed a vigorous, rhythmic swing.

"Good, Callie. Bringing you back up."

Callie's harness began to lift smoothly under the scrim, then gave a funny jerk and dropped a few inches, twisting far above the stage. Joe felt his heart give a funny jerk along with the harness, and gave a sideways look at Frank, whose stony gaze was fixed on the stage.

"Hang on just a second, Callie, something's jammed. I'll have you up in just a second."

"Okay." Callie's voice gave a tell-tale quaver.

"I'll bet this kind of stuff happens all the time." Joe offered in an undertone to Frank, but Frank gave no sign of having heard him. He seemed transfixed by the twisting harness.

"Okay, Callie, bringing you up."

This time Callie began to rise slowly, with an effort. Suddenly, the harness gave another jerk. One of the straps gave way with a rending sound, and Callie, with a piercing scream, slid free, dangling by the one arm still entangled in the harness, the stage reeling a deadly distance below.

TBC