They arrived at the Cloud Factory about twenty minutes later. A big bright sign read "Le Cloud Factory." The "Le" was evidently supposed to add a touch of class to the joint.  

Sarah paid Max's cover charge, but was waved in herself. Apparently ladies were given free admission. The bouncer had made a none-too-subtle remark about Sarah's qualifications to become a dancer, but he had shut up quickly when she shot him a look of pure death. Bobby locked up the rickshaws and he and Timmy paid their own way in. 

The club itself was small and somewhat dingy. There were three platforms spread out across the room, each one sporting female creatures in various states of undress writhing around lewdly to the loud arrhythmical music that was being pumped into the room. There were candy-striped poles on each of the platforms as well as some shoddy strobe lights that seemed to work or not at their own whim. The platforms were surrounded by slobbish, largely drunken creatures mostly of the male persuasion, although there were a few females scattered here and there in the audience. A few card tables were set up in the corners of the room and an obnoxious DJ would occasionally interrupt the music and announce a new dancer. 

Timmy was immediately distracted by a cocker spaniel dancing on platform one and trotted off to shove strands of floss into her G-string, which, curiously enough, also appeared to be made of dental floss. 

Max ordered a cigar and a maglar from a cocktail waitress and took a seat at one of the tables in the corner. Bobby took a seat next to him and gazed slack-jawed at platform number three where a female grizzly bear was hanging upside down from the pole. Sarah sat down on the other side of Max sporting a scowl. 

"Too bad Zeke's not here," Max sighed as he took a puff off his cigar. "He would have liked this place." 

"Of course he would have," Sarah muttered. "Men are scum." 

"Would you calm down?" Max asked. "What's the big deal? The female form is a beautiful thing. Besides, it's okay for chicks to look at other chicks. It doesn't make you a dyke or anything." 

"Gee Max, you have such a poetic way of putting things," Sarah said. "Look, under normal circumstances I don't really have a problem with strip clubs. I wouldn't choose to spend my time in one, but I don't really care one way or another that they exist. I just don't see how this is getting us any closer to finding my uncle." 

"Relax," Max said. "Order yourself a drink. Skip said he's been hanging out around here, so he might turn up. We can always ask around in a little bit. In the meantime I'm sizing the place up. That's the first thing any good detective should do when entering a new locale." 

"Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for Bubbles!" the DJ announced as a petite unicorn exited from the center platform to much hooting and hollering from the crowd. "And now, our next girl is a music store clerk by day and a naughty dancer by night, let's give a warm welcome to Tanya!" 

"Wubba hubba hubba," Max blurted in approval as a gorgeous blonde elf-like woman came slinking out onto the stage. 

"It's more like you're sizing up the dancers," Sarah folded her arms across her stomach. She stared at the ground for a moment and then began scanning the crowd. Suddenly she spotted a familiar-looking dog-like creature with singed hair slipping some floss to the girl on stage. "Hey, isn't that Cuthbert?" 

"Who?" Max asked absentmindedly, not wanting to tear his eyes away from the vision of perfection that danced on the stage in front of him. She hoisted her way up to the top of the pole and then reached behind her with her feet, undoing her top with her toes. "Yowza!" Max bit his knuckle. 

"You know our friend Cuthbert," Sarah said. "Remember, we rescued him from the hotel this morning?" 

"Right, right, cupid. Very fascinating stuff," Max said, unable to keep from drooling. 

"Are you listening to anything I'm saying?"  

"Yes. I agree with you. Whatever you say is correct," Max replied mechanically.  

"Damn it," she grumbled and grabbed hold of his wrist and began squeezing as hard as she could. 

"Ow! You crazy bitch! What are you doing?" He snapped out of his trance and stared at her angrily. 

"I swear why do you guys get so loopy at the sight of a bare breast? Haven't you ever seen a naked girl before?" 

"Yeah, but most of them don't look anything like that," Max returned his gaze dreamily to the center platform. "Whoo, baby!" 

"Hey, don't space out on me again," Sarah smacked him lightly on the head. 

"What's so important that you have to keep distracting me?" Max sighed. "Can't it wait until after this song at least?" 

"Would you please just look over there?"  

"Believe me, I'm looking! She's very nice!" 

"No, not on the stage," Sarah grabbed Max's head and tilted it downwards. "There, next to the stage. Remember Cuthbert from earlier this morning?" 

"Oh yeah," Max said thoughtfully. "Yes, of course I remember him. What, you think I'm so forgetful that I can't remember events that occurred a few hours ago? One of the marks of a great detective is a superior memory! Now as soon as this beautiful lady is finished dancing, we'll go talk to your friend Rutherford. I mean it would just be rude to get up in the middle of such a fine performance and blab right through it. How would you feel if some inconsiderate clod carried on a conversation inattentively while you were standing up there displaying your wares?" 

"Let's have another round of applause for Tanya!" the DJ announced loudly. "Don't forget she and all of our girls are available for lap dances! Next up let's hear it for Tiffani!" A rather plump duck came waddling out seductively. 

"I'm probably going to need to get a lap dance from that last one," Max announced. "She looks like she's definitely holding back crucial information to our case." 

"Did you already forget we were going to talk to Cuthbert?" Sarah chided him. 

"No, of course I didn't forget. But let's keep our priorities straight here. If we want to find your uncle we need to talk to credible witnesses. That Cuthbert guy's character is questionable at best. We already know he spends his time picking up hookers and ogling strippers. Whereas this Tanya is a young innocent girl just trying to make an honest living in a cruel, unforgiving world." 

"Despite your slanted view on the personalities of two people you don't know, let's not forget that Cuthbert is the one that my uncle gave his hotel room to. He's at least met my uncle before and knows what he looks like. He should be able to tell us if he's seen him around here." 

"All right, we'll do it your way!" Max acquiesced. "This duck girl's not really doing it for me anyway. Although that salamander over on platform three's not too shabby." 

"Would you stick to the case for a minute?" Sarah pleaded as she stood up and walked over towards Cuthbert. 

"Yeah, yeah," Max said as he stood up. "But don't ever accuse me of lacking professionalism. I keep my nose to the grindstone even when surrounded by such obvious distractions. You coming, big guy?"  

Bobby didn't answer but remained seated at the table, glassy eyed, and mouth slightly ajar. 

Max shrugged his shoulders and followed after Sarah. 

"Hey Cuthbert, remember me?" she asked as she approached him. 

"No," he said as he squinted at her, apparently blinded by the strobe light. "How much do you charge for a lap dance?" His speech was slurred and he was obviously drunk.  

"It's me, Sarah. Remember? We were at the jail yesterday and then we peeled you off the wall of the hotel room this morning?" 

"Oh yeah," he blinked his eyes thoughtfully. "I recognize you now. Hell, I didn't know you worked here. How much do you charge for a lap dance?" 

A fat bald man on the other side of Cuthbert leaned over. "Hey aren't you going to introduce me to your lady friend? I want a lap dance, too!" 

"Oh sure," Cuthbert mumbled. "This is my friend Sweaty Jim. Will you give him a lap dance after me?" 

"Ask her if she'll let me touch the goods if I give her a big tip," Sweaty Jim said eagerly. 

"Now listen here," Max stepped up into Cuthbert's face. "Let's stop dicking around, so to speak. We need to ask you a couple questions." 

"Whoa, what are you, her pimp?" Cuthbert's words came out in a drunken jumble. "We're not looking for any trouble man. We're just a couple of guys out looking for a good time." 

"It's nothing like that. I just need to get some information for a case. Do you remember the guy who gave you his hotel room last night?" 

"Uh, yeah. Skinny older dude. Named Dr. Octane or something like that. Yeah, I remember." 

"Have you by any chance seen him hanging around in here?" Sarah asked. 

"No," he replied bluntly. "But the truth is, I don't really spend much time looking at the guys in here." 

"Are you sure?" Max prodded. "Think man! This is important!" 

"Uh, I don't know. Hey, Sweaty Jim, have you seen any weird looking skinny old dudes around here?" 

"Not here," Sweaty Jim replied. "But I saw a few over at the Beaver Dam earlier tonight. You sure you got the right strip club?" 

"We were told he's been hanging out at the Cloud Factory," Max said. 

"Yeah, that's this place all right," Cuthbert nodded lazily. "Guess your information was wrong." 

"You know," Sweaty Jim rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "By Cloud Factory they could have meant the actual place they make clouds." 

"Oh yeah," Cuthbert hiccupped. "Yeah, you're probably right. You guys are in the wrong place, man!"  

"What do you mean the place where they make clouds?" Sarah asked. 

"You know, there's this big factory just north of town where they churn out those puffy white things you see in the sky," Cuthbert explained. "You didn't think clouds just made themselves, did you?" 

"I've never heard of that place. How do you get there?" Max asked. 

"I don't know, man. I've never been there myself. I just know it's outside of the city. Up north in the mountains somewhere." 

"Hmm, I see," Max said. "That's a long ways away from here. I propose we go back to the hotel, get a good night's sleep, and tackle that journey in the morning." 

"No offense, dude, but I don't really want to go back to your hotel room with you," Cuthbert said. 

"I wasn't talking to you, you idiot!" Max snapped. "Let's get out of here, Sarah. I've had enough boobs for one night, and I don't mean the ones on the stage." 

"Oh hey, ma'am," Sweaty Jim stood up and grabbed Sarah's arm. "Before you leave I've got something really important to ask you." 

"Yes?" Sarah asked. 

"How much do you charge for backdoor action?" 

Sarah socked him in the nose and stormed off.