THE PILLAR'S LIMOUSINE, SOMEWHERE IN OXFORD
"T his is how the world operates," the Pillar says. We're sitting in the back of his limousine. "Why do you think killers like me and the Cheshire don't get caught? People like Margaret Kent are occupied with making money and getting more powerful every day. There is famine, wars, people dying, and poverty all around us. But you know what? The heck with all that. Let's just make more money, and kill anyone who gets in the way. Or better, let's drive them insane."
"So Margaret Kent knows about Wonderland, and hires its monsters to do her dirty work?"
"Genius, isn't it?" the Pillar says, the pipe tucked in the corner of his mouth. "You get to hire someone like the Cheshire, who in the public eye is just a silly cat in a book, and then get away with it. If someone tries to expose you, he will be laughed at, because, let's face it, Wonderland can't be real."
"Why is the Cheshire Cat doing it? You said it wasn't like him to go on a killing spree."
"Even a cat has to make a living," the Pillar says. "The money is good, and he has some kind of grudge against humanity. Maybe someone stepped on his tail or something. Who knows?"
"So, Margaret Kent paid him to kill the girls?"
"It's unlikely. Who'd pay to kill young girls? Besides, he wouldn't be playing games and puzzles with us if he were being paid. Margaret's jobs are swift. She wants off with her enemies' heads."
"So how are we going to make Mrs. Kent tell us anything about the Cheshire?" I say. "Is it even possible we could meet such an important woman in the first place?"
The Pillar turns to me with that shimmering look in his eyes again. "It depends."
"On?"
"Tell me, Alice." He rubs something off his trousers. "On a scale from one to insanity, how insane are you?"
I get the feeling that the Pillar and I are about to do some crazy things.