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meant he felt immensely put upon, hitched up his pants, and started running
down the drive.
What the hell?
I went inside. As I passed the deadStantnors I told them what I thought of
them and their ways and especially the last of their line. Morley caught up
when I was halfway through. "Are you all right, Garrett?"
"No. I'm feeling about as bleak as I can and still be breathing. But I'll be
all right. Just frustration over all the mindless wickedness in the world.
I'll come back."
"Oh. Pure essence of Garrett. Wishing he was triplets so he could straighten
up three times as many messes."
I smiled feebly. "Something like that."
"You can't take it all on your own shoulders."
You can't, no. But it's a hard lesson to learn. And knowing that doesn't keep
it from getting to you.
A tremendous metallic crash came from the main hall, punctuated by a
high-pitched scream like a rabbit's death cry. We charged through the doorway,
bouncing off one another.
Kaidlay six feet from where Chain had died, smashed by a suit of armor. He
wasn't dead. Not yet. He made me think of a smashed bug. His limbs still
moved.
They stopped before we got the armor off him. The light went out of his eyes
as I knelt beside him.
"And then there was one," Morley whispered.
"And I know which one, now." I hated myself. I should have known sooner. It
was there to be had. Doctor Doom had been right. I'd looked at it from the
wrong angle all along. But we all miss what we don't want to see. I'd just
concentrated way too much on motive, blinded by the one motive I could see.
Sometimes the motive doesn't make sense to anybody who isn't crazy.
"Yeah." Morley had it, too. Pretty obvious right now. But he didn't mention
it. He said, "Can't do anything for him. Can't do anything about it this
minute. You go get yourself cleaned up."
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"Where's the point? I've got to dig another grave."
"That can wait. You need to get clean. I'll keep an eye on things."
Maybe he was right. Maybe he knew me too damned well. A bath probably
wouldn't help, but it would be symbolic. I went to the kitchen. Cook and
Peters had lunch almost ready. They hadn't heard the crash, amazingly. I
didn't tell them what had happened. I just swiped all the hot water and headed
for my suite. They didn't ask questions. I guess I looked too grim.
I didn't feel any better when I came back down, clean and changed. Some
things won't wash off. "Anything?" I asked Morley.
He shook his head. "Except Doom wants to see you."
I went to the room where I'd left the Doctor. He had heard but still was
startled when he looked at me. "You look bad."
I told him. He said, "I suspected it. I've done everything I can here, till
we bring her up to face her husband."
I told him about my parting with Eleanor. He was a kind soul under that ugly
exterior. "I know how you feel. I've been there a few times. Your business,
mine, they have their painful sides. You'll get another chance to say
good-bye."
"Let's do it."
"Not yet. You're not ready. You need to calm down. Your state is too
emotional right now."
I started to argue.
"I don't tell you your business. You don't tell me mine. I'm not thinking
about you. We can't operate properly if there's too much extraneous emotion.
There'll be plenty involving the key characters."
He was right. I need to learn to separate myself more from my work. "All
right. I'll get myself under control."
Morley stuck his head in. "Lunch. You'd better take time to have some,
Garrett."
Great. Everybody was looking out for Garrett's mental welfare. I wanted to
scream and holler and carry on. I said, "I'll be right there."
I guess I looked a little less ferocious now. Black Pete watched me gobble
whatever it was I wasn't seeing or tasting. He asked, "Did something happen?"
"Yeah. Something did. A suit of armor jumped off the fourth floor and
squashedKaid . Dead."
"Huh?" He frowned. He looked at Cook. She looked at him. It took them maybe
five seconds each. Then Cook started crying quietly.
I told them, "Soon as we're done here, we're going up to see the old man.
We'll wrap it up."
Peters said, "It's almost not worth the trouble anymore. And I'm almost sorry
I ever came looking for you."
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"I'm sure sorry you did." I finished stuffing my face, never having tasted a
bite. Nobody else was in as big a hurry. Morley watched me like he was afraid
I was going to blow. I told him, "I've got it under control. Iceberg Garrett.
Cucumber Garrett." I'd turned off everything inside. But I didn't look it
outside yet. Like the heat going out of a corpse, it would take awhile for the
fury and frustration to radiate away.
They ate slower and slower, like kids knowing they were going to get taken to
the woodshed after supper. I told Morley, "I'm going up to the room. Be back
in a minute." I'd forgotten something, one of Snake's paintings.
When I returned, everybody was done eating. Doctor Doom was there with his
tools, Snake's masterpiece under his arm. He was ready to go. He checked
everybody over, seemed satisfied with my emotional control. He asked me, "You
want to get the girl?"
"Sure. Morley, you carry this."
We trooped across the hall, pastKaid , averting our eyes. We climbed stairs.
I broke away at the third floor and went to Jennifer's room. The door was
locked but I had my skeleton key this time. I went through the big room into
the sitting room where I'd found her during the night. She was there again, in
the same chair, facing the same window. She was asleep. Her face was as
untroubled as a baby's.
"Wake up, Jennifer." I shook her shoulder. She jumped.
"What?" She calmed down quickly. "What?" again.
"We're going up to see your father. Come on."
"I don't want to go. You're going to . . . It'll kill him. I don't want to be
there. I couldn't handle it."
"I think you can. And you have to be there. Things won't work out unless you
are." I took hold of her hand, led her. She hung back, making me pull her, but
she didn't fight me.
The rest were inStantnor's sitting room, waiting. As soon as Jennifer and I [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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