they—think so too?”
“I guess so.”
“I’m sorry I said anything, Jane.”
“It’s all right.”
“Well—if I can do anything.”
“I’ll let you know.”
He went and we sat down again and she lay in my arms with her eyes closed. “That hadn’t even once occurred to me. Ed, do you think he did do it? Kill himself, I mean?”
What I said to that I don’t know. I held her close, but things were spinning until Keyes rang up. I went in to talk to him and he began apologizing for what he had said. “O.K., Keyes, but what’s it all about?”
“It wasn’t Delavan that got it.”
“... What ?”
“It was Sperry.”
“Hold on while I drop dead, will you?”
“Amazing, isn’t it, Ed?”
“Well, Keyes, we all make mistakes.”
“Now, Ed, I’m really going to surprise you.”
“What, again?”
“I don’t feel I’ve made a mistake.”
“O.K., but I’ve seen Delavan.”
“Do you fool with mathematics, Ed?”
“Not if I can help it.”
“I do a little. And sometimes, when you’ve made a gigantic calculation, and you know you’ve got hold of something that means a lot, you come out with infinity equaling zero, or something like that. Well, so you’re crazy, aren’t you? Not as a rule you’re not. You go back and you check your transformations and you find you came in with a minus px instead of plus, and you make your changes, and all of a sudden there it is, just the way you knew it should be. Ed, I only wish I had something to do with it, beyond the group policy we wrote for the taxi company which I’ll have to look into. There’s something funny here, and I may say Mrs. Sperry agrees with me.”
“Oh, you’ve seen her?”
“Well, Ed, naturally.”
“Well hey, hey, this changes things. She’s a marriageable widow now.”
“Ed, don’t be silly!”
“I’m not being silly.”
“You’re being pretty silly.”
“Except, of course, there’s the midnight Romeo.”
“That’s been cleared up. He was a drunken valet of Sperry’s. When he came to her with a message, she saw the condition he was in and locked the door to report him to Sperry, who had taken the suite down the hall until the hotel could open up the single in between so they could have the big five-room suite that they wanted. While she was at the phone the valet slipped out on the ledge that runs around the building and popped in one of the corridor windows and out to a gambling place before she could stop him. And I’d like no more references to it.”
“O.K., pal.”
“And, Ed?”
“Yes?”
“Will you remember what I said. That we both drink—”
“Will you kindly go jump in the river?”
It was sweet, all right, to stay late, and hold her in my arms, and feel her tremble a little, because she was a nice girl and if the guy had once been her husband that’s how a nice girl ought to feel about it. And yet, driving home, it all came back to me how Keyes had sat there and checked it off about the Moving Finger. We hadn’t had an advance copy, but we’d got a whiff of some queer-smelling ink.
7
T RACK OF ARRIVALS, AND next morning I drove out to the Cinnabar Ranch to tackle three shots from New Jersey that had flown out for some shooting in their private plane. Sometimes, after their first introduction to a Western trail horse, they’re not so hard to sell, and I was doing all right. Two of them had no time for me, but the one that was manager of a Newark sheet and tube plant walked over to the stables with me and he didn’t say much, but I had that feeling you get, that he was my onion if I peeled him right. I mean, just keep on talking and first thing you know he’ll cut in with whatever it is that’s on his mind, generally some question about cost. You get out your rate book, and if you’re any good you should book him for his medical right there, and next day have his check. So I did and he did, and then I lost him. How, don’t ask me. I had him and I didn’t have him, and
“I guess so.”
“I’m sorry I said anything, Jane.”
“It’s all right.”
“Well—if I can do anything.”
“I’ll let you know.”
He went and we sat down again and she lay in my arms with her eyes closed. “That hadn’t even once occurred to me. Ed, do you think he did do it? Kill himself, I mean?”
What I said to that I don’t know. I held her close, but things were spinning until Keyes rang up. I went in to talk to him and he began apologizing for what he had said. “O.K., Keyes, but what’s it all about?”
“It wasn’t Delavan that got it.”
“... What ?”
“It was Sperry.”
“Hold on while I drop dead, will you?”
“Amazing, isn’t it, Ed?”
“Well, Keyes, we all make mistakes.”
“Now, Ed, I’m really going to surprise you.”
“What, again?”
“I don’t feel I’ve made a mistake.”
“O.K., but I’ve seen Delavan.”
“Do you fool with mathematics, Ed?”
“Not if I can help it.”
“I do a little. And sometimes, when you’ve made a gigantic calculation, and you know you’ve got hold of something that means a lot, you come out with infinity equaling zero, or something like that. Well, so you’re crazy, aren’t you? Not as a rule you’re not. You go back and you check your transformations and you find you came in with a minus px instead of plus, and you make your changes, and all of a sudden there it is, just the way you knew it should be. Ed, I only wish I had something to do with it, beyond the group policy we wrote for the taxi company which I’ll have to look into. There’s something funny here, and I may say Mrs. Sperry agrees with me.”
“Oh, you’ve seen her?”
“Well, Ed, naturally.”
“Well hey, hey, this changes things. She’s a marriageable widow now.”
“Ed, don’t be silly!”
“I’m not being silly.”
“You’re being pretty silly.”
“Except, of course, there’s the midnight Romeo.”
“That’s been cleared up. He was a drunken valet of Sperry’s. When he came to her with a message, she saw the condition he was in and locked the door to report him to Sperry, who had taken the suite down the hall until the hotel could open up the single in between so they could have the big five-room suite that they wanted. While she was at the phone the valet slipped out on the ledge that runs around the building and popped in one of the corridor windows and out to a gambling place before she could stop him. And I’d like no more references to it.”
“O.K., pal.”
“And, Ed?”
“Yes?”
“Will you remember what I said. That we both drink—”
“Will you kindly go jump in the river?”
It was sweet, all right, to stay late, and hold her in my arms, and feel her tremble a little, because she was a nice girl and if the guy had once been her husband that’s how a nice girl ought to feel about it. And yet, driving home, it all came back to me how Keyes had sat there and checked it off about the Moving Finger. We hadn’t had an advance copy, but we’d got a whiff of some queer-smelling ink.
7
T RACK OF ARRIVALS, AND next morning I drove out to the Cinnabar Ranch to tackle three shots from New Jersey that had flown out for some shooting in their private plane. Sometimes, after their first introduction to a Western trail horse, they’re not so hard to sell, and I was doing all right. Two of them had no time for me, but the one that was manager of a Newark sheet and tube plant walked over to the stables with me and he didn’t say much, but I had that feeling you get, that he was my onion if I peeled him right. I mean, just keep on talking and first thing you know he’ll cut in with whatever it is that’s on his mind, generally some question about cost. You get out your rate book, and if you’re any good you should book him for his medical right there, and next day have his check. So I did and he did, and then I lost him. How, don’t ask me. I had him and I didn’t have him, and
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