Detta är mer eller mindre "förklarat" i kapitel 19, där Shadow talar till Whisky Jack (citat från författarens föredragna text, betonar min):
“It’s not going to be a war.”
“Then what is it?”
Whiskey Jack crushed the beer can between his hands, pressing it until it was flat. “Look,” he said, and pointed to the waterfall. The sun was high enough that it caught the waterfall spray: a rainbow nimbus hung in the air. Shadow thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
“It’s going to be a bloodbath,” said Whiskey Jack, flatly.
Shadow saw it then. He saw it all, stark in its simplicity. He shook his head, then he began to chuckle, and he shook his head some more, and the chuckle became a full-throated laugh.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine,” said Shadow. “I just saw the hidden Indians. Not all of them. But I saw them anyhow.”
“Probably Ho Chunk, then. Those guys never could hide worth a damn.” He looked up at the sun. “Time to go back,” he said. He stood up.
“It’s a two-man con,” said Shadow. “It’s not a war at all, is it?”
Whiskey Jack patted Shadow’s arm. “You’re not so dumb,” he said.
Och sedan när Shadow talar till Loki:
“I figured it out,” said Shadow. “Kind of. I’m not sure when I figured it out. Maybe when I was hanging on the tree. Maybe before. It was from something Wednesday said to me, at Christmas.”
Loki just stared at him, saying nothing.
“It’s just a two-man con,” said Shadow. “Like the bishop and the diamond necklace and the cop. Like the guy with the fiddle, and the guy who wants to buy the fiddle, and the poor sap in between them who pays for the fiddle. Two men, who appear to be on opposite sides, playing the same game.”
Loki whispered, “You are ridiculous.”
“Why? I liked what you did at the motel. That was smart. You needed to be there, to make sure that everything went according to plan. I saw you. I even realized who you were. And I still never twigged that you were their Mister World. Or maybe I did, somewhere down deep. I knew I knew your voice, anyway.”
Also the subject of this question.
Onsdag berättade aldrig Shadow den här planen, men han berättade för honom om fiddle con och smycken con. Poängen med dem är att två män som spelar på motsatta sidor faktiskt arbetar tillsammans för att vara en tredje part.
Skuggan känner till några saker: det är onsdag, det finns Loki (som förmodligen arbetar för de nya gudarna), och det kommer att bli en blodbad mellan de gamla gudarna och de nya gudarna. Han kommer ihåg smyckeskonflikten, och han kommer ihåg att onsdagen behöver en partner för det:
“Hey. Wednesday. Both of the scams you were telling me about—the violin scam and the bishop one, the bishop and the cop—” He hesitated, trying to form his thought, to bring it into focus.
“What of them?”
Then he had it. “They’re both two-man scams. One guy on each side. Did you used to have a partner?” Shadow’s breath came in clouds. He promised himself that when he got to Lakeside he would spend some of his Christmas bonus on the warmest, thickest winter coat that money could buy.
“Yes,” said Wednesday. “Yes. I had a partner. A junior partner. But, alas, those days are gone.”
Chapter 9
Onsdagen hade en juniorpartner. Någon som tycktes arbeta mot honom, men arbetade faktiskt med honom. En mycket passande kandidat skulle vara Loki, som redan arbetar för de nya gudarna. Därifrån höll skuggan ihåg att Lokis röst lät mycket som Mr. Worlds röst, och därifrån drog han resten.
Onsdag är en krigsgud - han matar på blodoffer. Loki är bra för kaos - han matar sig på kaos. Ett "krig", en blodbad mellan gudarna skulle ge näring åt båda.
Om du är intresserad, verkar det inte vara en "förkortad" version av amerikanska gudar . Går genom Vad återställdes i de amerikanska gudarna " tio årsjubileum "-upplagan? , var inget väsentligt lagrat i boken i 10-årsjubileumsutgåvan, åtminstone inte tillräckligt för att ändra en sådan stor punkt.