Episode 12
We had travelled back to Diamentia so that Myrtle could visit her mother Queen Eltrym and I had foolishly allowed Otis to borrow the conch so he could play a shell game using giant clams. The operator of the shell game, a carny with a grouper head and kraken arms, had Otis place the conch shell under one of the 3 giant clam shells and then the operator moved the giant clam shells back and forth in a dizzying, vertiginous, blur of arms.
Otis picked the clam shell directly in front of him and the operator picked it up and there was nothing underneath. Then, Otis chose the giant clam shell on the right. Again, nothing underneath. I started to get nervous, and Otis said, come on, that’s cheating it can’t be under that one…and the operator picked the final giant clam shell up laughing as there was nothing there. The Incredible Underwater Orchestra and the conch shell were gone…and the grouper head with the kraken arms was laughing…
We searched all over but not even Queen Eltrym could sense where the conch could be and an interstellar search was initiated.