Gull's Escape
This scene got the axe partly because it was dragging down an already packed third act.
I'd also established back in Renfield Blues that the series was going to be Travis's 1st person POV, with the exception of the epilogue.
A smaller scene depicting Cyrus and Dr. Gull's first showdown was also cut for the same reasons. Their "Doctor, Doctor" exchange was used instead for their subsequent meeting in the underworld, where it's just as funny.
While it didn't make it into the finished book, it's still canon as far as I'm concerned.
* * *
Dr. Gull stepped out onto the loading dock, the vial holding his daughter's soul hanging from a cord around his neck. He'd even managed to grab his bag with 'Danny Larus's' clothes from the dressing room. The theater was an absolute mess of activity from the opening night that turned into a real life tragedy with celebrity witnesses. Everybody was in the house or in the lobby trading gossip and stories of the last few hours. In all the hustle and bustle, nobody was paying attention to one more man in a mask. Or, for that matter, the stage door.
As he passed beyond the circle of light from the loading docks, Dr. Gull lit a cigarette and took a relaxed drag.
“Hey, man. Can you help me out?”
The bum had peeled himself away from the brick wall and was staggering gently in Dr. Gull's direction. Whatever he had been contemplating before had been interrupted by the presence of a possibly sympathetic mark. The grin revealed his few remaining teeth shining under the streetlight.
Dr. Gull smiled, cigarette tucked in the corner of his mouth. He looked down, rummaging for a bill in his pocket. “A five I have, for what good it may do.”
“Bless you, Doc.”
Dr. Gull was halfway out of his pocket when he realized that he hadn't introduced himself to that particular bum with that particular title. He slowly looked up from his pocket to see a .45 aimed at his chest.
The bum grinned wider. “Oh, keep the five, with a side of no sudden movements.”
Dr. Gull, with thumb and forefinger, gently slid the bill back into his pocket.
The bum fished a pendant out from under his filthy shirt, and rubbed it between thumb and middle finger. The bum's features shifted with an uncomfortably organic sound.
Dr. Gull nodded solemnly. “Marshall.”
Marshal Sims nodded. “Doctor.”
Dr. Gull looked both impressed and annoyed. “I did not know the Iron Council knew how to make Gorlois pendants.”
The Marshal shrugged. “Enough of us keep in touch with the Stone Council that all sorts of fun old world stuff crosses the pond these days. Hope I didn't interrupt your escape too badly.”
Dr. Gull opened his arms. “I am banished. By the young lady Chandler. Let me go and I am on my way.”
Sims tilted his head. “So she went with banishment?”
The Doctor nodded. “My daughter's murder is avenged, and her soul no longer torments this theater. I have what I came for. Banishment is easy enough to accept.”
Sims snickered. “Good on Miss Chandler.”
“Shall we go at it then?”
Sims smirked. “Who do you think made sure banishment was one of her options?” He holstered his pistol and drew a business card out of another pocket. Gripped between two fingers, he offered the doctor the innocuous-looking card. The Doctor accepted the card curiously, tilting his head.
Sims met his gaze. “Not sure if you've heard on your end. But someone on the Iron Council really wants you dead for one reason or another.”
The Doctor shrugged. “Sounds like a day that ends in y for me.”
Sims snickered. “I hear that. I hear that. Funny thing is, it don't feel personal at all. More like a means to an end. Dunno what it is for certain. But between you, me, and the wall, it looks like someone's been mighty interested in starting up the zombie wars yet again.”
The Doctor grinned, slipping the card into a pocket. “Isn't someone always?”
Sims nodded. “Seems to me it would behoove us responsible adults to have a back channel or two open. Just in case.”
Dr. Gull grinned. “That it would, I think. We wouldn't want the children getting restless on us, no?”
Sims shook his head. “Safe travels, Doctor.”
The Doctor smiled. “Take care of yourself, Marshal.”
