'I'll see you at eight-thirty then,' she said. 'Have you been making any headway? Oh, you can tell me when you see me.'
'Right.'
'I've done so much thinking, Matthew. I wonder if you know what it's like. I've spent so much time not thinking, almost willing myself not to think, and it's as though something has been unleashed. I shouldn't say all this. I'll just frighten you.'
'Don't worry about it.'
'That's what's strange. I'm not worried. Wouldn't you say that was strange?'
ON my way back to the hotel I stopped atFuhrmann's building.
The manager didn't answer my ring. I guess she was busy with some of the problems she'd alluded to. I let myself in and climbed the stairs.
He wasn't in and evidently hadn't been in- I could see the note I'd left him under his door.
I wished I'd taken down his phone number. Assuming he had a phone- I hadn't seen one on my visit, but his desk had been cluttered. He could have had a phone under one of those piles of paper.
I went home again, showered, shaved,straightened up the room.
The maid had given it a cursory cleaning, and there wasn't much more I could do. It would always look like what it was, a small room in an unprepossessing hotel.Fuhrmann had chosen to transform his furnished room into an extension of himself. I had left mine as I found it. Initially I had found its stark simplicity somehow fitting. Now I had long since ceased to noticeit, and only the prospect of entertaining a guest within it made me aware of its appearance.
I checked the liquor supply. There looked to be enough for me, and I didn't know what she preferred to drink. The store across the street would deliver until eleven.
Put on my best suit.Dabbed on a little cologne. The boys had given it to me for a Christmas present. I wasn't even sure which Christmas and couldn't remember when I'd used it last.Dabbed some on and felt ridiculous, but in a way that was not unpleasant.
Stopped at Armstrong's.Fuhrmannhad been in and out an hour or so earlier. I left him a note.
CalledManch , and this time he answered the phone.
I said, 'Mr.Manch , my name is Matthew Scudder. I'm a friend of Portia Carr's.'
There was a pause, a long enough one to make his reply unconvincing. 'I'm afraid I don't know anyone by that name.'
'I'm sure you do. You don't want to try that stance, Mr.Manch . It's not going to work.'
'What do you want?'
'I want to see you.Sometime tomorrow.'
'What about?'
'I'll tell you when I see you.'
'I don't understand. What did you say your name was?'
I told him.
'Well, I don't understand, Mr. Scudder. I don't know what you want from me.'
'I'll be at your place tomorrow afternoon.'
'I don't- '
'Tomorrow afternoon,' I said.'Around three. It would be a very good idea for you to be there.'
He started to say something, but I didn't stay on the line long enough to hear it. It was a few minutes past eight. I went outside and walked down Ninth toward the restaurant.
Chapter 13
We sat in a booth. She wore a simple black sheath and no jewelry.
Her perfume was a floral scent with an undertone of spice. I ordered dry vermouth on the rocks for her and bourbon for myself. The conversation stayed light and airy through the first round of drinks. When we ordered a second round we also gave the waitress the dinner order- sweetbreads for her, a steak for me. The drinks came, and we touched glasses again, and our eyes met and led us into a silence that was just the slightest bit awkward.
She broke it. She extended her hand and I took it, and she lowered her eyes and said, 'I'm not terribly good at this. Out of practice, I guess.'
'So am I.'
'You've had a few years to get used to being a bachelor. I've had one little affair, and it wasn't really very much of anything. He was married.'
'You don't have to talk about it.'
'Oh, I know that. He was married, it was very casual and purely physical, and to be honest it wasn't even that wonderful physically. And it didn't last very long.' She hesitated. She may have been waiting for me to say something, but I remained silent. Then she said, 'You may want this to be, oh, casual, and that's all right,
