Contents
Part III New Babel — Chapter Ten
Overview
The Red Hand confronts Senlin for the key and is shot with the concealed key-gun before escaping when Adam and porters intervene. Senlin discovers Ogier hid a second, cryptic painting and a note calling it a key to the Tower. He deduces an inside collaborator aided the assassin, severs the escape line, and forges a pact with Iren: self-defense for literacy.
Summary
The Red Hand pins Senlin and forces him to retrieve a hidden key. Senlin exposes his own painting first, which the assassin discards, then fires the concealed key-gun, wounding the Red Hand. As the assassin throttles him, Adam arrives with armed porters, prompting the Red Hand to hurl Senlin aside and flee through the shattered window.
Alone, Senlin discovers that the back of his painting hides another: a girl with a paper boat. Ogier’s hastily written note calls it a key to the Tower, happiness, and death, urging Senlin to keep it hidden for “her” sake. Senlin conceals the find and refuses Adam’s plea to bargain, deciding instead to leverage the Commissioner’s uncertainty. He has Adam teach him to reload.
At dawn, Senlin searches the docks for the assassin’s route and finds a silk descent line fixed beneath the pier, leading toward the Baths. He cuts the cord and concludes someone within New Babel abetted the Red Hand’s escape, confirming a local conspirator tied to the Commissioner.
Later, Iren storms in for her usual payment. Senlin challenges her illiteracy, proposing a trade: daily self-defense training paired with reading lessons. Betting Goll will approve to protect his investment, he presents a letter and secures Iren’s agreement, strengthening his position against future threats.
Who Appears
- Thomas SenlinPort Master targeted by the Red Hand; wounds him with the key-gun, discovers Ogier’s hidden painting, investigates escape route, and recruits Iren.
- The Red HandCommissioner’s executioner; confronts Senlin for the key, is shot, flees through the window using a silk line to the Baths.
- Adam BoreasSenlin’s deputy; interrupts the attack with porters, fails to catch the assassin, teaches Senlin to reload.
- IrenEnforcer who collects Goll’s take; agrees to train Senlin in self-defense in exchange for reading lessons.
- OgierPainter, posthumous presence; left a hidden painting and note calling it a dangerous key, guiding Senlin’s secrecy.