the gun and the undecided loyalty

Two things ride hidden under the plaid lap-blanket: a weapon and an allegiance. "Marathe's sidearm sat in its holster under the seat of him, hidden by the plaid-colored blanket of his lap" — the disabled-addict costume concealing an armed assassin — and in his head the intelligence he's gathered is already being sorted into a double ledger, the cartridges assignable to Fortier and the veiled girl to Steeply "or oppositely," each fact a chip he can play to either master. The disguise hides the gun; nothing yet decides which side the gun serves.