'Uh-huh. And look who's on the list.'
'Peter Tully, Marvin Rome, and Regis Kilbourne.'
'Adrian picked people society couldn't come to terms with. A child killer who got away with it. A Mafia don who got away with everything.
A right-to-lifer who'd incited homicide and remained untouchable. A racist firebrand who, like the rest of them, had found a way around the system.'
'And a defense attorney.'
'Adrian didn't really belong on the list, did he? That should have been grounds for suspecting him in and of itself. Leave him out, though, and you've got four people who could certainly be viewed as public enemies out of the law's reach. You could argue that the small-W will of the people might very well be what big-W Will was carrying out.'
'And the new list?'
'A labor leader, a judge, and a critic. They're right up there with Jack the Ripper and Attila the Hun, wouldn't you say?'
'Oh, I don't know,' he said. He knocked back the rest of his martini, caught the bartender's eye and pointed to his glass. 'I could probably think of a few people who might not break down crying if Send-'em-home Rome went to that great courtroom in the sky. The son of a bitch has made a career out of never giving a police officer the benefit of the doubt. He sets minimum bail or releases on own recognizance all the damn time, dismisses cases right and left.'
'He's a judge,' I said, 'and the people voted him into office, and they could vote him out if they really wanted to. And one of these days they probably will.'
'Not soon enough.'
'What about Peter Tully?'
'Well, he's an arrogant prick,' he said. 'What's Will have to say about him? 'You hold an entire city
hostage to your lust for power as you threaten to thrust a wrench into the machinery of urban transit.'
You know, maybe Will Number Two isn't such a great mimic after all. I can't see Number One coming up with a sentence like that.'
'Listen to his bill of goods against Regis Kilbourne. 'Your power over the Broadway stage is near absolute, and it has absolutely corrupted you. Drunk with it, you unfailingly choose form over content, style over substance, promoting the willfully obscure at the expense of the well-made drama with a story to tell.' There's more about how he'll criticize an actor for being physically unattractive, and how unfair it all is.'
He thought about it while the girl brought his drink. 'It's not just the exotic aspect,' he said once she was out of hearing range. 'It's also she happens to be gorgeous.'
'You and Regis Kilbourne,' I said, 'placing an undue premium on physical appeal.'
'We're both a couple of superficial bastards,' he agreed. 'Who the hell would want to kill a critic?'
'Anybody who ever wrote a play or appeared in one,' I said,
'which in this town would have to include half the waiters and a third of the bartenders. But they'd like to kill him the way you'd welcome a shot at Judge Send-'em-home Rome. You might relish the fantasy, and it might not break your heart if a piece of the cornice broke off a tall building and took him out when it landed. But you wouldn't actually want to kill him.'
'No, and I probably wouldn't jump for joy if somebody else did, either. It's not good for the system when people start taking out judges.'
'Or critics,' I said, 'or labor leaders, either. You know the difference between the two Wills? The first one objected to the invulnerability of his targets, the way they'd managed to subvert the system. But these three don't have that kind of invulnerability. Marvin Rome's not going to be riding the bench forever. The voters'll probably boot him next time he comes up for reelection.'
'Let's hope so.'
'And Peter Tully can shut down the city, but the governor can return the favor. Under the Taylor Law, he can lock up anybody who orders a work stoppage by public employees. Kilbourne's probably got a job for life at the Times, but he's likely to rotate off the theater desk sooner or later, like the man before him. These three are by no means invulnerable, and that's not what's got the new Will's motor running.
What he resents is the power of the men on his list.'
'Power, huh?'
'Tully can throw a switch and plunge the city into immobility.
Rome can unlock the cell doors and put criminals back on the street.'
'And Regis Kilbourne can tell an actress her nose is too big and her tits are too small and send her running in tears to the nearest plastic surgeon. If you call that power.'
'He can pretty much decide which shows stay open and which ones close.'
'He's got that much clout?'
'Just about. It's not him personally, it's the position he holds.
Whoever reviews plays for the Times has influence that comes with the territory. A bad notice from him won't guarantee a show's dead, and a rave won't necessarily keep one open if everybody else hates it. But that's usually what happens.'
'Which means he's the man.'
