The only thing I can think of you wanting to do with it is pyrolize it into gasoline, so we'll have a floating Galveston out here.
"You have very good sources of information, Jay. I do too. You were a fool to turn Dougie down, you know.
She was sitting between me and the setting sun. I moved to get the sun out of my eyes so that I could see her better, and she laughed and hitched her chair closer to me. "You're always a surprise to me, Jason, she said. "Those nineteen letters coming in all these years, and nobody knew but you.
I had finally puzzled it out. "You've got a spy in May's house, I said.
"My dear Jason! Of course I'm always interested in what's happening with my sister.
"She's not your sister.
"I think of her as my sister. She hitched her chair a bit closer, and our knees touched. "Would you like to know how I think of you?
Now, the advancing years had not made me any more handsome. I was older than Betsy's father. I could not think of any reason why she would be after my body, but her eyes were half closed, and her lips were half smiling, and her voice was husky.
I got up to replenish her drink, and when I was seated again, we were no longer touching. "Why was I stupid, Betsy?
"Accidents happen, she whispered over the rim of her glass. "You've got a few good years left if you're careful, Jay. I moved restlessly, rejecting the implication. "May has more than that, she went on, "unless there was an accident. Why, do you know, Jason, under the terms of the Commodore's will, if May died your trusteeship would terminate? And then you'd have nothing to say about what happened to her stock.
"It would just go to Jimmy Rex.
"And if something happened to Jimmy Rex?
I was getting angry-it was not because she was putting new thoughts in my head, for what angered me was that these same thoughts had occurred to me long since. Fortunately for my peace of mind I had reasoned out an answer to that. "May's money, I said, "is a lot, but it's nothing compared to what Jimmy Rex is going to inherit from his grandmother. The Appermoys have billions, and Jimmy's the only heir.
And Betsy laughed out loud. "To think, she marveled, "that you were the one who got us interested in the dead fish!
I nodded as though I understood. I doubt that I fooled her. I did not understand at all, and to make time to help puzzle it out I poured myself a brandy after all. I dawdled, savoring the Courvoisier. Either she was being deliberately mystifying, or I was more tired and hung over and, yes, already slightly drunk all over again than I thought. Perhaps I had not made myself clear? The logic was very simple. Nothing would happen to Jimmy Rex-at least nothing that Dougie might arrange-as long as his grandmother was alive, because Dougie would not endanger his chances of somehow getting his hands on the Appermov fortune. What dead fish had to do with all this I did not know, and Betsy was not helping me think. She leaned forward, with her eyes as close to sparkling as she knew how to make them, and licked the lobe of my ear. "You're an exciting man, Jason, she whispered.
"For God's sake, Betsy! I protested, not quite sure whether it was the sense of what she was saying that I objected to, or her warm, moist tongue in my ear. I was getting to be an elderly man, but I wasn't dead. I didn't like Betsy at all. She was not beautiful. But she was young, and she was healthy, and she was wearing at least a hundred dollars' worth of French perfume in the folds of the clinging gossamer gown. I tried to redirect the conversation. "Will you please tell me what you're trying to say?
She smiled mistily and leaned back-it was not a way of putting space between us, it was only so that she could throw her breasts out. I did not fail to notice them. "Jason, she murmured, "I think better when I'm lying down. In bed. With a nice warm body next to me.
There was no possible doubt in my mind that it was Betsy's intention to add me to her already outstanding
"You have very good sources of information, Jay. I do too. You were a fool to turn Dougie down, you know.
She was sitting between me and the setting sun. I moved to get the sun out of my eyes so that I could see her better, and she laughed and hitched her chair closer to me. "You're always a surprise to me, Jason, she said. "Those nineteen letters coming in all these years, and nobody knew but you.
I had finally puzzled it out. "You've got a spy in May's house, I said.
"My dear Jason! Of course I'm always interested in what's happening with my sister.
"She's not your sister.
"I think of her as my sister. She hitched her chair a bit closer, and our knees touched. "Would you like to know how I think of you?
Now, the advancing years had not made me any more handsome. I was older than Betsy's father. I could not think of any reason why she would be after my body, but her eyes were half closed, and her lips were half smiling, and her voice was husky.
I got up to replenish her drink, and when I was seated again, we were no longer touching. "Why was I stupid, Betsy?
"Accidents happen, she whispered over the rim of her glass. "You've got a few good years left if you're careful, Jay. I moved restlessly, rejecting the implication. "May has more than that, she went on, "unless there was an accident. Why, do you know, Jason, under the terms of the Commodore's will, if May died your trusteeship would terminate? And then you'd have nothing to say about what happened to her stock.
"It would just go to Jimmy Rex.
"And if something happened to Jimmy Rex?
I was getting angry-it was not because she was putting new thoughts in my head, for what angered me was that these same thoughts had occurred to me long since. Fortunately for my peace of mind I had reasoned out an answer to that. "May's money, I said, "is a lot, but it's nothing compared to what Jimmy Rex is going to inherit from his grandmother. The Appermoys have billions, and Jimmy's the only heir.
And Betsy laughed out loud. "To think, she marveled, "that you were the one who got us interested in the dead fish!
I nodded as though I understood. I doubt that I fooled her. I did not understand at all, and to make time to help puzzle it out I poured myself a brandy after all. I dawdled, savoring the Courvoisier. Either she was being deliberately mystifying, or I was more tired and hung over and, yes, already slightly drunk all over again than I thought. Perhaps I had not made myself clear? The logic was very simple. Nothing would happen to Jimmy Rex-at least nothing that Dougie might arrange-as long as his grandmother was alive, because Dougie would not endanger his chances of somehow getting his hands on the Appermov fortune. What dead fish had to do with all this I did not know, and Betsy was not helping me think. She leaned forward, with her eyes as close to sparkling as she knew how to make them, and licked the lobe of my ear. "You're an exciting man, Jason, she whispered.
"For God's sake, Betsy! I protested, not quite sure whether it was the sense of what she was saying that I objected to, or her warm, moist tongue in my ear. I was getting to be an elderly man, but I wasn't dead. I didn't like Betsy at all. She was not beautiful. But she was young, and she was healthy, and she was wearing at least a hundred dollars' worth of French perfume in the folds of the clinging gossamer gown. I tried to redirect the conversation. "Will you please tell me what you're trying to say?
She smiled mistily and leaned back-it was not a way of putting space between us, it was only so that she could throw her breasts out. I did not fail to notice them. "Jason, she murmured, "I think better when I'm lying down. In bed. With a nice warm body next to me.
There was no possible doubt in my mind that it was Betsy's intention to add me to her already outstanding
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