'He said: 'One night I'm going to wait for that big bastard then I'll
show him a few things.' ' Archy gave them the exact words. No one
protested.
'Then what happened?'
'Well then he sort of picked on young Dirk. And 'here's Courtney's
brat,' he said. 'Yellow as his old man, I reckon!
'What did Dirk do?' Sean asked.
'Well, Mr. Courtney, he just laughed-like the gentleman, sort of, nice
and friendly. 'Forget it, he said-you've had too much to drink.' ' A
sudden thought occurred to Sean. 'What was Dirk doing in here,
anyway?'
'Well, its like this, Mr. Courtney-a few weeks ago he lent me a couple
of pounds. I asked him to call round here tonight so I could give it
back to him-that's all it was.
'He wasn't drinking then?' Sean asked suspiciously.
'Good Lord, no!' Archy was so obviously shocked at the suggestion that
Sean nodded.
'All right, what happened then? ' he pursued,
'Well, Norman went on ribbing him. Called him a coward and all that-I
can't remember the exact words. But at last young Dirk lost his
temper. He walked across and hit him off the stool.
'Well, I guess Norman deserved that-what do you drink, boys?'
Archy looked at them again.
'That's right-fair made my blood boil to hear him picking on Dirk like
that. ' The mechanic backed him up and the others murmured
agreement.
'Well, then,' Archy took up the tale again,
'Norman's lying on the floor and pulls out his knife.' There was a
rustle of astonishment from along the bar. One man opened his mouth
and lifted his hand in protest, but suddenly embarrassed, he carried
the gesture through and massaged his neck.
'Knife. What knife-where's it now?' Sean leaned forward eagerly.
Standing beside him Dirk began to smile softly. When he smiled his
face was beautiful.
'Here's the knife.' Henry, the barman, reached under the counter and
brought out a large bone-handled clasp knife. Everybody in the room
stared at it blankly.
'How did it get there?' Sean asked, and now for the first time he was
aware of the sickly guilt-ugly faces in front of him.
He knew then for certain it was a lie.
'I took it off Norman afterwards. We thought it best you should be the
first one to know the truth-you being his father, and all. ' Archy
wriggled his shoulders ingratiatingly and smiled around at his
witnesses.
Slowly Sean turned to the man nearest to him, the bank clerk.
'Is this the knife with which Norman Van Eek threatened my son?
'Yes, Mr. Courtney. ' The man's voice squeaked unnaturally.
Sean looked at the man beyond him and repeated the question exactly.
'Yes, that's the one, sir.
'That's it.'
