“Look, I came here on the assumption that this is a paying gig. I think maybe I made a mistake.”

“Sit down, sonny.” Gustav said irritably. “You can leave after I’ve finished having my say.” He smiled faintly. “It won’t cost you a thing.”

“Sure gramps.”

“What did you call me?” He barked.

“Hey if you can call me ‘sonny’, I can call you gramps.”

Gustav muttered something in German that I didn’t understand. My single semester of German in high school didn’t cover whatever he had said.

He squinted at me as if looking at me hurt his eyes and asked loudly, “Who here is interested in the money?”

I raised my hand again.

“So be it.” Gustav reached into his inner coat pocket and withdrew a small black book. His fingers danced through it until they found the correct page. One at a time, he carefully pulled out three one-hundred dollar bills. “Gentlemen, lady, please approach the stage. This is for your time. You will earn another one as a bonus if you sign on tonight. Not to mention the truly lucrative bounties”