Lemons Never Lie

Grofield opened the door. Speaking over the sound of the storm, he said pleasantly, 'I'm dressed warmer than you are. I can stand it a lot colder, and a lot wetter.'

'Jesus Christ!'

'That isn't your name. Tell me your name and I'll shut the door.'

'Morton!'

'First name.'

'Perry!'

Grofield shut the door. 'That's very good, Perry,' he said. He went over to the chair where he'd dropped the pillowcase. Lifting that up now, he emptied the clothing out onto the chair – both shoes bounced away onto the floor – and went through the pants pockets till he found the wallet. He opened it, got out the driver's license, and read aloud, 'Perry Morton.' He turned and smiled, saying, 'Very good. Truth is your best bet.'

Morton was glowering at the wallet. 'If you had that, why go through all that shit with the door?'

'To let you know your best move, Perry, it's to answer my questions, and to tell me the truth every time. Do you know what would have happened if I'd looked in here and it turned out your name wasn't Perry Morton?'

'You'd of opened the door,' Morton grumbled.

'More than that. I would have pushed you outside for a minute or two, and left you there.'

'Like hell. You won't let me go until you're done with me, whatever you want.'

'I didn't say let you go. Perry, do you know how many other moving cars I passed on my way here from the house where I got you? None. There isn't one car out there, not one pedestrian out there. I didn't see one lit window except for a couple that were obviously night lights. It's almost three-thirty in the morning, Perry. People in a small town area like this go to bed at ten o'clock. And it's a Thursday night, a weeknight, besides. And there's a storm going on. Where do you think you'd go if I pushed you out there, Perry, all tied up and in your underwear? Who do you think would help you?'

Morton looked sullen, but with a trace of slyness hiding behind it. 'I guess you're right,' he said.

Grofield said, 'I know what you're thinking, Perry. You're thinking you'll lie to me until I do push you out there, and then you'll hop to one of the other occupied rooms, or maybe to the motel office, and you'll get help that way. But do you know what that means? That means whoever you wake up is going to call the cops. And what are you going to tell the cops?'

'Why not tell them you kidnapped me?'

'From where? What are you doing around here? Perry, I can convince the police you're lying, I never saw you before in my life. Believe me, I can. I can make them wonder who you are and where you came from and what's going on. I can arrange it so they hold on to both of us right on through till tomorrow afternoon. You don't want the local cops asking you questions tomorrow afternoon, do you?'

'I don't know what you're talking about.'

'Oh, well,' Grofield said. 'I hoped you wouldn't be such a slow learner.' He walked over toward the door.

'Wait a second, wait a second! I didn't tell you any lies!'

Grofield stopped with his hand on the knob, and looked back. 'What's going to happen tomorrow, Perry? What are you and the others supposed to do tomorrow?'

'They won't do it. When they wake up in the morning and I'm gone, they'll know something's screwed up.'

'No, they won't, Perry. They'll simply think you turned yellow and ran away in the middle of the night. They're all hungry, Perry, they'll go ahead and do what they came here to do. Which is what, Perry?'

'You know everything,' Morton said sullenly. 'What do you ask questions for?'

'I'm lonely,' Grofield said. 'Also impatient.' He opened the door.

'The brewery!' Morton yelled.

Grofield shut the door. 'What about the brewery?'

'Jesus. We're going to knock it over. At two in the afternoon.'

'For what? The beer?'

'The payroll. They've got a cash payroll.'

'How many of you, Perry?'

'S-s-six.'

'You cold? Listen, if you're good, and answer all questions promptly, I'll let you take a hot bath when we're done.'

'I'm gonna get pneumonia,' Morton said.

'Maybe not,' Grofield said, carelessly. 'What's the name of the guy who set it up, Perry?'