[he for sure was not....conveniently does not give the details of the kid's extreme injuries.

Richie's jaw tenses at the mention. Yeah, inevitably, there would be the fucking clown.]

He's a real piece of work, yeah. Loves nothing more than fucking with you.

[But oh.

The way his stomach keeps finding new lows to drop to. Richie's awash in dread, horrified sorrow.]

You don't mean... [but he does. Of course he does, he can feel it rolling off him in waves.] Oh god. Fidelio, I'm sorry. Jesus god, I'm sorry...