The Best American Noir of the Century

disobeyed the sign again.

A new shape had joined the scene, rectangular and dark. Marvin’s van, creaking as it cooled. He waited, listened, and when he sensed no other presence he approached it. A converted bread truck, painted navy blue, with sliding doors into the driver’s cabin and hinged doors at the back. The right fender was dented, the rear bumper wired in place. A knobby-tired motorcycle was strapped to a rack on the top. The door on the driver’s side was open, so he climbed in.

The high seat was rotted through, its stuffing erupting like white weeds through the dirty vinyl. The floorboards were littered with food wrappers and beer cans and cigarette butts. He activated his pencil flash and pawed through the refuse, pausing at the only pristine object in the van — a business card, white with black engraving, taped to a corner of the dash: “J. Arnold Rasker, Attorney at Law. Practice in all Courts. Initial Consultation Free. Phone day or night.”

He looked through the cab for another minute, found nothing resembling Marvin’s notebook and nothing else of interest. After listening for Marvin’s return and hearing nothing he went through the narrow doorway behind the driver’s seat into the cargo area in the rear, the yellow ball that dangled from his flash bouncing playfully before him.

The entire area had been carpeted, ceiling included, in a matted pink plush that was stained in unlikely places and coming unglued in others. A roundish window had been cut into one wall by hand, then covered with plastic sheeting kept in place with tape. Two upholstered chairs were bolted to the floor on one side of the van, and an Army cot stretched out along the other. Two orange crates similar to those in the cabin, though empty, lay between the chairs. Above the cot a picture of John Lennon was tacked to the carpeted wall with a rusty nail. A small propane bottle was strapped into one corner, an Igloo cooler in another. Next to the Lennon poster a lever-action rifle rested in two leather slings. The smells were of gasoline and marijuana and unwashed flesh. Again he found no notebook.

He switched off his light and backed out of the van and walked to the cabin, pausing on the porch. Music pulsed from the interior, heavy metal, obliterating all noises including his own. He walked to the window and peered inside.

Iris, carrying and feeding a baby, paced the room, eyes closed, mumbling, seemingly deranged. Alone momentarily, she was soon joined by a wide and woolly man, wearing cowboy boots and Levi’s, a plaid shirt, full beard, hair to his shoulders. A light film of grease coated flesh and clothes alike, as though he had just been dipped. Marvin strode through the room without speaking, his black eyes angry, his shoulders tipping to the frenetic music as he sucked the final puffs of a joint held in an oddly dainty clip.

Both Marvin and Iris were lost in their tasks. When their paths crossed they backed away as though they feared each other. He watched them for five long minutes. When they disappeared behind the curtain in the back he hurried to the door and went inside the cabin.

The music paused, then began again, the new piece indistinguishable from the old. The heavy fog of dope washed into his lungs and lightened his head and braked his brain. Murmurs from behind the curtain erupted into a swift male curse. A pan clattered on the stove; wood scraped against wood. He drew his gun and moved to the edge of the room and sidled toward the curtain and peered around its edge.

Marvin sat in a chair at a small table, gripping a bottle of beer. Iris was at the stove, her back to Marvin, opening a can of soup. Marvin guzzled half the bottle, banged it on the table, and swore again. “How could you be so fucking stupid?”

“Don’t, Marvin. Please?”

“Just tell me who you gave it to. That’s all I want to know. It was your buddy Gretel, wasn’t it? Had to be, she’s the only one around here as loony as you.”

“It wasn’t anyone you know. Really. It was just a guy.”

“What guy?”

“Just a guy. I went out to a rest area way up by Oregon, and I talked to him and he said he was going to Frisco so I gave it to him and told him where to take it. You know it didn’t belong here, Marvin. You know how puny it was.”

Marvin stood up, knocking his chair to the floor. “You stupid bitch.” His hand raised high, Marvin advanced on Iris with beer dribbling from his chin. “I’ll break your jaw, woman. I swear I will.”

“Don’t hit me, Marvin. Please don’t hit me again.”

“Who was it? I want a name.”

“I don’t know, I told you. Just some guy going to Frisco. His name was Mark, I think.”

“And he took the kid?”

Iris nodded. “He was real nice.”

“You bring him here? Huh? Did you bring the son of a bitch to the cabin? Did you tell him about the others?”

“No, Marvin. No. I swear. You know I’d never do that.”

“Lying bitch.”

Marvin grabbed Iris by the hair and dragged her away from the stove and slapped her across the face. She screamed and cowered. Marvin raised his hand to strike again.

Sucking a breath, he raised his gun and stepped from behind the curtain. “Hold it,” he told Marvin. “Don’t move.”

Marvin froze, twisted his head, took in the gun, and released his grip on Iris and backed away from her, his black eyes glistening. A slow smile exposed dark and crooked teeth. “Well, now,” Marvin drawled. “Just who might you be besides a fucking trespasser? Don’t tell me; let me guess. You’re the nice man Iris gave a baby to. The one she swore she didn’t bring out here. Right?”

“She didn’t bring me. I followed her.”

Both men glanced at Iris. Her hand was at her mouth and she was nibbling a knuckle. “I thought you went to Frisco” was all she said.

“Not yet.”

“What do you want?” Her question assumed a fearsome answer.

Marvin laughed. “You stupid bitch. He wants the rest of them. Then he wants to throw us in jail. He wants to be a hero, Iris. And to be a hero he has to put you and me behind bars for the rest of our fucking lives.” Marvin took a step forward.

“Don’t be dumb.” He raised the gun to Marvin’s eyes.

Marvin stopped, frowned, then grinned again. “You look like you used that piece before.”

“Once or twice.”

“What’s your gig?”

“Detective. Private.”

Marvin’s lips parted around his crusted teeth. “You must be kidding. Iris flags down some bastard on the freeway and he turns out to be a private cop?”

“That’s about it.”

Marvin shook his head. “Judas H. Priest. And here you are. A professional hero, just like I said.”

He captured Marvin’s eyes. “I want the book.”

“What book?” Marvin burlesqued ignorance.

“The book with the list of babies and where you got them and where you took them.”

Marvin looked at Iris, stuck her with his stare. “You’re dead meat, you know that? You bring the bastard here and tell him all about it and expect him to just take off and not try to stop us? You’re too fucking dumb to breathe, Iris. I got to put you out of your misery.”

“I’m sorry, Marvin.”

“He’s going to take them back, Iris. Get it? He’s going to take those sweet babies away from you and give them back to the assholes that don’t want them. And then he’s going to the cops and they’re going to say you kidnapped those babies, Iris, and that you were bad to them and should go to jail because of what you did. Don’t you see that, you brain-fried bitch? Don’t you see what he’s going to do?”

“I…” Iris stopped, overwhelmed by Marvin’s incantation. “Are you?” she asked, finally looking away from