Astra Butters the Biscuit

"Er," ad-libbed Astra, "can't we wait until you've shown me the fish of your brother Raoul?"

"The fish of your brother Raoul?" spat the suit. "That means the elephant has laid eggs in the cuckoo's nest!" He pulled a gun out of his pocket, though Astra knew he couldn't use it on a crowded beach. "If you don't follow me," he whispers, "Fred will die." Astra almost jumped. Not only was she surprised he said something that made sense, but she knew that name. Of course, it was pretty common, but...

The cold metal of the gun pressed against her back. She picked up the purse lying beside her and walked across the beach, careful not to disturb any of the tourists, back to the parking lot. She had the feeling that this sort of thing happened fairly commonly around here.

The suit's car was a black Mercedes-Benz that was parked in front of a waving palm tree. Astra turned around and faced him, and he kept his gun level "All right," said said the suit. "It's time to come clean. Does the duck devour the Christmas tree at midnight?"

Astra raised her eyebrows. Before the man could say anything further, she swept the leg and sent him falling on the hot pavement, then kicked him in the face before she could get up. She felt like making some sort of witty one-liner but was too confused.

She picked up the man's gun and examined the contents of her purse. There was a wallet, with a considerable amount of several different kinds of money in it. There was a lipstick and a razor. There was a picture of a handsome, very familiar young man. There was a passport which gave her name as Astra Regina diAqualaria. And there was an unopened envelope addressed only with "Mockingbird."

1. Astra opens the envelope.
2. Astra doesn't open the envelope and inspects the suit's pockets instead.

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