“Don’t see anything. He’s covered completely with the fuckin’ snow.”
“Brush it off.”
“What?”
“Brush the snow away. Brush all the snow off him.”
“With what, Captain? I got no gloves.”
“With your hands-what do you think? Use your hands. Scrape the snow and ice away.”
They heard Farber’s heavy breathing, the clang of shotgun on rock, some muffled curses.
“Chilton One from Chilton Two. What’s going on?”
“He’s brushing the snow away. Farber? Farber, how’s it coming?”
“Captain, he’s naked!”
Delaney took a deep breath and stared at Forrest and Sneed. But their eyes were on Devil’s Needle.
“Yes, he’s naked,” he spoke into the mike as patiently as he could. “You knew that; you saw the photos. Now clean him off.”
“Jesus, he’s cold. And hard. So fuckin’ hard. God, is he white.”
“You got him cleaned off?”
“I–I’m-”
“What the hell’s wrong?”
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
“So be sick, you shithead!” Delaney roared. “Haven’t you ever seen a dead man before?”
“Well…sure, Captain,” the shaky voice came hesitantly, “but I never touched one.”
“Well, touch him,” Delaney shouted. “He’s not going to bite you, for Chrissakes. Get his face cleaned off first.”
“Yeah…face…sure…Jesus Christ.”
“Now what?”
“His fuckin’ eyes are open. He’s looking right at me.”
“You stupid sonofabitch,” Delaney thundered into the mike. “Will you stop acting like an idiot slob and do your job like a man?”
“Chilton One from Chilton Two. Barnes here. What’s the problem?”
“Farber’s acting up,” Delaney growled. “He doesn’t enjoy touching the corpse.”
“Do you have to rough him?”
“No, I don’t,” Delaney said. “I could sing lullabies to him. Do you want that stiff down or don’t you?”
Silence.
“All right,” Barnes said finally. “Do it your way. When I get down, you and I will have a talk.”
“Any time, anywhere,” Delaney said loudly, and saw that Forrest and Sneed were staring at him. “Now get off my back and let me talk to this infant. Farber, are you there? Farber?”
“Here,” the voice came weakly.
“Have you got him brushed off?”
“Yes.”
“Put your fingers on his chest. Lightly. See if you can pick up a heartbeat or feel any breathing. Well…?”
After a moment: “No. Nothing, Captain.”
“Put your cheek close to his lips.”
“What?”
“Put. Your. Cheek. Close. To. His. Lips. Got that?”
“Well…sure…”
“See if you can feel any breath coming out.”
“Jesus…”
“Well?”
“Nothing. Captain, this guy is dead, he’s fuckin’
“All right. Get the horse collar on him, up around his chest, under his arms. Make sure the shackle connection is upward.”
They waited, all of them on the porch now straining their eyes to the top of Devil’s Needle. So were all the men in the compound, sentries, snipers, reporters. Still and TV cameras were trained on the rock. There was remarkably little noise, Delaney noted, and little movement. Everyone was caught in the moment, waiting…
“Farber?” Delaney called into his mike. “Farber, are you getting the collar on him?”
“I can’t,” the voice came wavering. “I just can’t.”
“What’s wrong now?”
“Well…he’s all spread out, Captain. His arms are out wide to his sides, and his legs are spread apart. Jesus, he’s got no cock at all.”
“Screw his cock!” Delaney shouted furiously. “Forget his cock. Forget his arms. Just get his feet together and slip the collar over them and up his body.”
“I can’t,” the voice came back, and they caught the note of panic. “I just can’t.”
Delaney took a deep breath. “Listen, you shit-gutted bastard, you volunteered for this job. ‘I’ll bring the fucker down,’ you said. All right, you’re up there. Now bring the fucker down. Get his ankles together.”
“Captain, he’s cold and stiff as a board.”
“Oh no,” Captain Edward X. Delaney said. “Cold and stiff as a board, is he? Isn’t it a shame this isn’t the middle of July and you could pick him up with a shovel and a blotter. You’re a cop, aren’t you? What the hell you think they pay you for? To clean up the world’s garbage-right? Now listen, you milk-livered sonofabitch, you get working on those legs and get them together.”
There was silence for a few moments. Delaney saw that Captain Bertram Sneed had turned away, walked to the other end of the porch. He was gripping the railing tightly, staring off in the opposite direction.
“Captain?” Farber’s voice came faintly.
“I’m here. How you coming with the legs?”
“Not so good, Captain. I can move the legs a little, but I think he’s stuck. His skin is stuck to the fuckin’ rock.”
“Sure it is,” Delaney said, his voice suddenly soft and encouraging now. “It’s frozen to the rock. Of course it would be. Just pull the legs together slowly, son. Don’t think about the skin. Work the legs back and forth.”
“Well…all right…Oh God.”
They waited. Delaney took advantage of the pause to pull off his coat. He looked around, then Chief Forrest took it from him. The Captain realized he was soaked with sweat; he could feel it running down his ribs.
“Captain?”
“I’m here, son.”
“Some of the skin on his legs and ass came off. Patches stuck to the fuckin’ rock.”
“Don’t worry about it. He didn’t feel a thing. Got his ankles together?”
“Yes. Pretty good. Close enough to get through the collar.”
“Fine. You’re doing just fine. Now move his whole body back and forth, side to side. Rock him so his body comes free from the stone.”
“Oh Jesus…” Farber gasped, and they knew he was weeping now. They didn’t look at each other.
“He’s all shrunk,” Farber moaned. “All shrunk and his belly is puffed up.”
“Don’t look at him,” Delaney said. “Just keep working. Keep moving him. Get him loose.”
“Yes. All right. He’s loose now. He didn’t lose much skin.”
“Good. You’re doing great. Now get that horse collar on him. Can you lift his legs?”
“Oh sure. Christ, he don’t weigh a thing. He’s a skeleton. His arms are still out straight to the sides.”
“That’s all right. No problem there. Where’s the collar?”
“Working it upward. Wait a minute…Okay. There. It’s in position. Under his arms.”
“He won’t slip through?”
“No chance. His fuckin’ arms go straight out.”
“Ready for the ’copter?”
“Jesus,
“Chilton Two from Chilton One.”
