place they look is back in the pouch.'
'But they never got to the pouch… or the envelope. I think they thought Johnny hid the thing in my box to throw people off if by chance they snagged the pouch. Right?'
'Yeah. That's it. But you say somebody was looking for the pouch too- tearing up that old wall. I think that either there are two rival groups after this thing, or else the original outfit is searching everywhere they can, covering all the bases.'
'Whatever it is, Brian, it's small.'
''Yep. Sounds like negatives to me. Either microfilm, microfiche, or plain old thirty-five-mil. negs. They're all small and potent.'
We ambled over to the tiny lab and I produced the cardboard box and the piece for them to examine. We watched them work on it for half an hour, slicing away at it with scalpels, shining bright lights through the cardboard, dipping shreds of the cardboard in solutions and dyes. Nix. Plain cardboard box. Containerus cardinarius.
We went back to Brian's office where I called the Boss. She told me Joe was looking for me. I called him at his office and found him in. He was glad to hear about my find in Lowell.'Got some interesting stuff from the lab. One: the cigarette butts' snubbed ends contain residues of human flesh, burnt blood, epidermal tissue, and fat.'
'They did it up there. They tortured Andy up in that room where nobody could hear him scream. The bastards.'
'Right. And what they did was, they tied him to that big old desk. Remember the scrape marks? They dragged the desk over to the wall so they could stand on it to reach the gash in the wall. They went up there tippy- toe and dropped the pouch and the envelope inside. Then they dragged it back and tied Andy to it. Get this: fibers from the suit coat he was wearing were found on the floor. Likewise, the old oil and dirt on the floor match the smudges on his coat. No doubt about it then.'
'Anything on the pouch or envelope?'
'Nothing. Pure blank.'
'Then they'll keep looking.'
'Think so?'
'Know so. Whatever the hell it is, they want it bad.'
'You're right. Don't you see too how the evidence proves that the pouch and the packet didn't yield what they wanted? Because, see, if they moved the desk back from the wall to torture Andy, it was done after they discarded the pouch.'
'Yeah… they tortured him hoping he could tell them where the thing was when it wasn't where it was supposed to be. After all, it was impossible to ask Johnny; he was dead.'
'I told you so… I told you so,' sang Brian as he swiveled in his chair, exhaling smoke. 'Torture is performed for three reasons: revenge, information, or verification. They wanted information from Andy and the poor guy didn't have it.'
'Who's that?' asked Joe.
'Brian, in the background.'
'Put him on a sec.'
After they talked. Brian and I chatted a little. I was hoping he'd get a call from a cruiser saying they'd snagged the blue Olds, but none came in. This bunch was tough and slippery. I didn't like it: I asked Brian how the bad guys didn't know that the object wasn't in the hands of the police, now that we'd recovered the pouch.
'They don't. They only know that Robinson had the item when he left the library, and that sometime between then and when he arrived home to meet his death it disappeared. Andy I must have told them that before he died. Therefore they're desperately concentrating their efforts to uncover every possibility within that time gap. And one of the leading figures in that gap, Doc, is you.'
'So this poor slob who casually chucked my little packet into the mailbox later regretted it.'
'Yeah, I'd say. He's probably got his boss all over him like a fire blanket. Steer clear, Doc. Use your mental faculties, limited though they might be.'
I thanked him for the compliment and left. I went home and told Mary about the auto chase. Needless to say she was not pleased. She called me a meathead and a jerk. I was beginning to feel just like my old self again.
Tom Costello sputtered and lisped with ecstasy over the phone when I told him that his mouthpiece was ready for installation.
'Jameseeth! It'th about time. Now I can get thtarted thelling again. Tomorrow?'
'Seven-thirty sharp.'
I glanced at a brochure Mary had left on my study desk explaining a new high-efficiency boiler and blower for our furnace which was guaranteed to cut our heating bill by thirty percent. If true, considering New England's climate and fuel prices, that meant we could make an extra trip to Europe each year. I studied the pamphlet carefully and called Mary in.
'Didn't Patriot Oil install something like this two years ago?'
'Uh-huh. But this guy said improvements had been made since then. He said his company would reimburse us for our present unit, so the net cost would be only nine hundred for the whole thing.'
'Oh bullshit,' I said, and tossed the packet into the circular file. 'If it's not this, it's driveway coatings or roof sealant. Then there are the lawn doctors, tuck pointers, gutter rats, and chimney sweeps. Honey, if you listened to all of 'em we'd be broke in a year.' '
'Then just forget it; he said call him only if we're interested. Janice called and asked us over for supper at seven.'
'During the week? Ha! A meal at DeGroot's calls for a two-day recovery.'
'No. They want to see us before they fly to the coast. Janice said it would be a pretty dry evening.'
'I'll bet. The last time we went we should've worn Aqua-lungs.'
But true to their word, the night held only moderate supping and sipping, and pleasant cards and conversation afterward. It was fun. Janice had on a pair of tight tennis shorts too. Her ass is, like Fujiyama, the Bay of Naples, a Grant's gazelle, Sequoia Sempervirens, a sable antelope, or other wonders of nature, awesome to behold. I could watch it for hours. On a scale of one to ten it rates a fourteen. Easy.
When I was dummy (my natural state, claims Mary) I followed Janice into the kitchen to help make more coffee. She was walking right in front of me.
'Janice, you have the nicest-'
'Ohhhh you!' she cooed, throwing a little more twitch into it. 'You and your thing about my butt. Hmmph! Fat old thing; I just can't understand you, Doc. Here you're married to the most gorgeous piece on earth and… well-'
'I know she is. But it's funny, you know, sometimes you're attracted to somebody else just because they're somebody else. Know what I mean?'
'Yeah, I- now where is that thing?' she said to herself, bending over to get in the cabinet. She was leaning over right in front I of me, so I could see the outline of her panties underneath the shorts. Planned. She filled the decanter and poured the water into the machine.
'I do know what you mean, Doc,' she said, brushing my hair aside. 'Gee I think you're just gorgeous- '
'Oh of course.'
'No, I really do, and you know it. You know what's going to happen someday don't you? We're going to find ourselves alone somewhere… sometime. Maybe after a party where we've had a few drinks and our guards will be down… and we'll hop into the sack.'
'Oh no we won't.'
'Yes we will.'
'Oh no we won't.'
I hoped we would.
'Listen, I think the best thing to do about this thing you have for… for my ass, is to get it out of your system a little.'
'Janice, that's the dumbest- '
'I think if I give you a nice big feel, you'll feel better.'
