Ralph made a laugh. “Guess I can close it, huh?” He closed it.
“You’ll take it, huh?” George was laughing.
“I guess I will,” laughed Jesso.
“So pick it up,” said Ralph, and they all laughed at each other.
When they stopped, it was almost as if on cue.
Jesso said, “Push it over here,” and his voice was different.
Ralph looked at George. He was refolding his arms, “You forgot to tell us your story, Jesso.”
“So I did.”
They waited.
“Push it over here.”
“Your story, Jesso.”
There was the silence again, except that they all heard the singing and clacking of the train. It hadn’t occurred to Jesso before, but this train made a constant clack on the tracks. American trains didn’t clack like that. They must join the rails differently.
“The story,” he said. “Do you know the story I told Kator? The wrong one?”
“No.”
“If I told you the same one, you’d never know.”
“Not until later. We’d find you and you’d end up dead.”
“I can see that.”
They heard the clacking again and the wind rushing by the window.
“The right story, then,” and he told them the one he had fed to Kator. “The upper left half and the lower right half of the two columns of figures give the production of the thing they make at Honeywell.”
And they did nothing. Ralph didn’t kick the suitcase over because he knew Jesso was lying. George kept his arms folded because to shoot Jesso would keep them from ever knowing. They couldn’t have figured any of this, except that Kator had told them.
“I was kidding, fellows.” Jesso looked at his shoe. He lifted his foot and rubbed the shoe against his pants leg. Then he looked at the shine he’d made. “You know how it is, fellows.” He laughed, looked at the shoe again. “If you’ll kick the suitcase over, like security, sort of-”
Ralph pushed it up to Jesso’s feet and George unfolded his arms.
“We understand, Jesso. I’ll even toss your gun over there.” He took it out, threw it on the seat.
“You understand,” said Jesso, and he looked apologetic. He held it on his face for fear he’d break up and laugh. He still looked that way when he told them, “The upper halves of both columns make up the figures you want. Honeywell.”
He bent down then, slowly, and picked up the suitcase. It wasn’t heavy. He still moved slowly when he straightened up and caught Ralph reaching over for the gun. When it came around, pointed, he couldn’t hold it any longer and burst out laughing. Then the gun went click and click and click. Jesso was still laughing when he threw the suitcase at Ralph, and even though it was light there was force behind it and Ralph stumbled back so that George had to catch him. The door was open and they heard Jesso laughing down the corridor.
But he didn’t keep it up. By the time he was racing through the next car there was only the fast clack of the wheels and his own breathing. You don’t know Kator much, George had said. He should know and he had been right. Kator had figured there’d be these two jovial fellows, countrymen, all ready with the pile of real live money. And that’s one thing Americans can’t resist, Kator must have figured. And then when he’d told them the right story they’d shoot. Kator had tried that one before and figured wrong, but he wasn’t going to be wrong about the part with the money.
There’s one thing about those German trains, they all have a catwalk along the side, so when George came clattering through the platform between the cars he didn’t see Jesso because Jesso hung outside the door. Then Ralph came by. They went the way Jesso had gone, down the long end of the train. Jesso got back in and walked to the stateroom where the dough was. He didn’t even run. The suitcase was there, and they had left his gun because without bullets there wasn’t much point to it. Jesso took the bullets out of his pocket and reloaded the cylinder. Before he picked up the suitcase he thought about leaving a note, something like “You know how it is. The right combination is tick-tack-toe diagonally across the list, honest,” but then he let it go because it came to him where they’d be headed first. He went out into the corridor.
He held the revolver in one hand and the valise in the other, and kicked the door to his stateroom open.
“Drop it,” Jesso said, and they did.
“Honest-” George said, but he saw Jesso didn’t look conversational.
“I got a proposition.” Ralph’s voice was squeaky.
“Shut up. You’ll wake up the girl.”
Renette hadn’t even opened an eye. She’d got to be a heavy sleeper. They all turned to look at her in the bed and she looked sexy as hell.
“Turn around.”
They did.
“To the other wall, you bastards.”
They turned.
“Now lean.”
They knew what he meant, and they leaned against the wall with their hands out. Jesso kicked the door shut, put the case down, and started to wake Renette. It took a while. She didn’t ask any questions because she was still half asleep, but then her clothes weren’t handy.
“George,” Jesso said.
George started to turn.
“Face front, you sonofabitch, or you’ve taken your last look.”
George looked front.
“Those clothes on the seat under you. Throw ‘em back here.”
George reached down and tossed the dress back. Renette held the dress and looked at Jesso.
“The other stuff first, damn it. What’s the matter with you!”
George threw the other stuff and Renette got dressed. Then she went to the bathroom and combed her hair. She did it as if she had all the time in the world, as if there were nothing on her mind but combing her hair. There wasn’t.
The three men waited. After a while Ralph started to moan because of his arms and George hissed something at him. But Ralph kept moaning.
When Renette came back, Jesso told her to keep out of line of his gun. She turned and went back to the mirror to put on some lipstick. Then she came back.
“Ralph.”
Ralph didn’t answer, but he stopped making his noise for a moment.
“You can turn around and sit. The lady’s presentable.”
Ralph did and sighed deeply. Then Jesso told George to do the same.
“Ever hop trains, you two?”
They shook their heads.
“You’ll learn.”
“God, Jesso, this thing’s going ninety.”
“Next curve you jump.”
They came to the next one and the train never slowed down.
“Open the window.”
They sat with the icy blast coming in and listened to the black roar outside. Then came the grade, with the clacking getting slower all the time.
“Next turn you jump. George, on your feet.”
George stood by the window and waited.
It had got cold in the compartment and Renette shivered. Jesso sent her to the bathroom, where her coat hung on a hook.
“Out, George.”
