by Peter Rabe
“I want Janice,” said Fell.
Hearing it Cripp lost the anger he'd been trying to hold back. The way Fell sounded Cripp couldn't be angry, impatient.
They swung into Sutterfield's drive and a car was parked there. Sutterfield's houseman was throwing a suitcase into the back. Fell ignored it and since the front door was open Fell walked right in.
Sutterfield saw them from his den. At first he tried to duck but saw Cripp waving at him, so he gave up and waited. He might as well. It didn't really faze him any more.
“Hi, Herb,” said Fell. “I got good news. Sit, Herb,” but before anything else could happen Cripp took over.
“Mr. Sutterfield, this is important. You must explain what has happened. Tom won't listen to me but he's got to understand. Tell him. Tell him now, before you leave.”
Sutterfield shrugged. He talked with a flat indifference.
“It's over, Fell. I might still be able to—”
“You crazy, Herb? We're just starting to roll.”
The lack of comprehension was like a sting to the old man and once more, suddenly, he started to shout.
“Throkton is coming down! You know what that means?”
“Sure, Herb. I called him. I took the load off your brain and called him myself.”
“You called him yourself! I couldn't go through with it so you, like an idiot, called him yourself. Well, the fat's in the fire! He's not coming down to play ball or anything like that, Fell. He's got other ideas!”
“I'll show that son of a bitch—”
“You'll show nothing. He doesn't care about me any more. I'm through. Ruined. I'm off to the capital for one more try to save myself, or to save what's left. I got a chance, Fell, because Throkton doesn't want me, he wants you! He won't touch me because he's in as deep as I am, but you're deeper! You made that call and you sent that letter. Blackmail! In writing! And I'm counting on you not to talk any more, Fell, because Throkton is covered, by me, and anything you say against me cuts off your own nose. You—”
“Mr. Sutterfield, hold it a minute.” Cripp talked fast, “Fell isn't responsible. I want you to stay and we make a deposition or something. We'll call Emilson—”
“What did you say?” Fell was roaring. “You trying to cramp my style?”
“You don't get it either,” and Sutterfield lowered his voice so it sounded like the start of a cough. “Throkton's coming down with a tax investigator, with a team to look into gambling, and here's more.” Sutterfield suddenly shouted again. “Not just state-level. They've got the F.B.I.!”
“Jesus.” said Cripp. He looked at Fell and saw he was biting his lip.
“You did that, Herb?” Sutterfield wasn't listening to Fell. He had left the room, not caring about Fell any more.
“Cripp, you listening to me? I've got to do a few things.”
“What is it, Tom? I'll do them.”
“I'll do them. I've got to find Janice—”
Chapter Twenty-four
The blinds were drawn in the beige conference room, even though there was no sun at that time.
Brown held a cigar but it wasn't lit, Shawn played with a cigarette pack which was crumpled and empty, Erwin was tapping a pencil against his chin.
They all wore business suits. So did Jouvet.
“You shouldn't wait any longer. What this Emilson said—”
“Never mind now what he said. We got eyes to see.”
“But remember he said it wouldn't get any better.”
“We waited too long. For a while there—you know how it looked, real clever—”
“What about Sutterfield now?”
“He's arrested.”
“So what now? Do we stop him?”
“Can't be done. The stink....”
“And besides, all he knows is about San Pietro. That's boiled over anyway.”
“Fell then.”
“I don't know. In a pinch, I've seen him do it before, he might even help by taking the heat.”
“He'll take nothing. You heard what Jouvet said.”
“So it's a hit?”
“No other way out. I see no other way out.”
They sat a while watching Brown light his cigar. Jouvet said, “Perhaps look at it this way. He's not responsible. He could even be helped if...”
“No more risks.”
“But a man like Fell, think of him.”
“We can't do that. That tack is no good.”
“So it's a hit.”
“Do we use Pander?”
Brown shook his head. He pressed a button by the side of the table and a girl stuck her head into the door.
“Send him in,” said Brown.
The man that came in was slight. He had a head like a thinker, except that his jaw ruined the impression. It was blue and curved up. Like some kind of fish.
“It's Mound,” said one of the men.
“Because we got to be sure,” said Brown.
Mound kept his hands in his pockets. It made him look cold.
“All right,” said Brown, and nodded at Mound. “Like we discussed.”
Mound nodded too and went to the door. Nobody talked while he was leaving.
But before Mound closed the door he stepped back, unaccountably, and held the door open. He nodded at the man who came in and then went out and closed the door. Still nobody talked while they watched Fell come all the way to the table.
“I'm glad you were in,” he said, and pulled up a chair. He looked from one to the other. “Did I interrupt?”
Brown put his cigar into an ash tray, doing it slowly.
“Why are you here, Tom?”
Fell looked bad. His face looked more lined, making his long-lashed eyes seem strangely out of place. He smiled and looked from one to the other.
“I had to see you sooner or later, that's why I dropped in. I'm in town looking for Janice.”
When nobody answered, Fell looked at his hands and mumbled, “I guess you wouldn't know.”
“You going back to San Pietro?” asked Shawn.
Fell seemed to wake up. He kneaded his hands for a moment and then he talked clearly, very sane.
“I want you to send a man to San Pietro, someone who knows his way around. I've got to leave.”
“Leave?”
“I've got to. I'm going to take some time off, Janice and me. I've just got to.”
“Where you going, Tom?”
“I'll be back in a month. Meanwhile we need someone to handle my job. I'm leaving Cripp there, who can help better than any. Whom can you send?”
They looked at each other, puzzled, and they thought about Mound who was now on his way to San Pietro.
“I don't know if you can do that, Tom. I understand....”
“I know,” said Fell. “I made a mess, a bad one.”
“So we hear.”
“I'm not sure how it happened, but the thing got away from me.”
They were puzzled, but not impressed. They hadn't thought Fell would admit, or know, this much. That's why they really sat up when he went on.
“We're losing money on the second track I started building, and I almost did worse with a real estate thing I was setting up. But the worst is the team. They're sending a team down, from the capital, to look into things.”
“I'll be damned!” said Brown.
“But I can make good. I'm going to make up the track loss out of my own pocket, the real estate deal is back to normal, and I've figured a way to head off that team.” Fell paused. “After that, you got to give me a replacement. Janice and I....”
“You can fix it?” said Shawn.
“Yes. There's a man by the name of Throkton....”
“We know all about that,” said Brown.
“Then you know I can tie him up. I couldn't before Sutterfield got arrested, but now his testimony....”
“I'll be damned!” said Brown.
They all looked at each other. They knew what Fell said was true.
“The w
ay Fell here works, the way he's worked in the past,” said Jouvet, “I think he can do it.”
They all tried to catch Brown's eye and when he saw it he frowned, then nodded.
“I got to be sure first,” he said.
“What do you mean?” said Fell, who didn't know what had gone before.
“He has to make a phone call,” said Shawn. “After that...”
“Not yet.” Brown picked up his cigar and pointed it at Fell. “Can you show what you said in black and white? The track expense, how much you can raise, the real estate shuffle, the Throkton frame you got in mind?” Brown coughed. “What I mean is, so that the man we send to hold down your place will know what goes on.”
“Sure,” said Fell. “When do you want it?”
“Soon. The sooner the better.”
“I can run down and be back tonight.”
“We'll be here,” said Brown, and they all watched Fell leave the room. Then they looked at each other.
“Perhaps we should have asked him to come in before,” said Jouvet. “I don't think Emilson knew what he was talking about.”
“How about Mound? You better call right away.”
“No,” said Brown. “I can't reach him before evening anyway.”
“Are you sure? I'd hate to see something go wrong.”
“We'll wait for Fell.”
“It's up to him.”
Fell was driving through L.A., checking all the old places. Once he drove within a few blocks of the place where Janice was, but he didn't know it.
Chapter Twenty-five
Cripp couldn't find Janice and he couldn't find Fell, and when he was at the end of his rope he went home. He sat down on his bed and dialed the Desert Farm, asking for Doctor Emilson. He was running with sweat by the time he got his connection.
“... of course, I remember you, Mister Jordan.”
“Now listen close, Doctor Emilson. What you said turned out—like you said it might. Tom Fell needs help, Doctor Emilson. He needs real help!”
“Yes,” said Emilson. He seemed to be thinking. Tm sorry that I was right.”
“What next, Doctor Emilson, what do I—”
“Have you spoken to Doctor Jouvet?”
“Who?”
“Doctor Jouvet, his physician. He saw me recently to discuss the case.”
“What was that name?”
“J-o-u-v-e-t.”
“No!”
“Is anything wrong, Mister Jordan?”
Cripp didn't answer. He went over it again and again, trying to see the angle, but then he gave it up, knowing the angle all along. They wouldn't send Jouvet just for a stunt. They would send him to get the expert's verdict on what had been going on, and if Emilson told Jouvet...
“What did you tell him? Fell was sick? Getting worse?”
“Substantially what I told you, Mister Jordan.”
“You told him that?”
“Mister Jordan, I fail to see....”
“Emilson, listen! We got to find Fell, and quick.”
“You mean you don't know where he is?”
“No, he went after Janice, his wife, he said. She—”
“She's gone?”
“Yes, both of them.”
Then Cripp heard Emilson curse. He had to wait a while and then he broke in.
“You've got to understand, Doctor Emilson, that Jouvet was a phony, sent down by the—by Fell's competitors, and all it can mean—”
“I think I understand. Now listen to me. You must make every effort to find. Mister Fell. And once you find him, don't let him out of your sight. Do you know where his wife is?”
“No. She left because—I don't know why but she left.”
“If she comes back, if you see her, impress upon her to stay at home, where Fell can find her.”
“Stay here? But I just told you I think they're after Fell here.”
“Jordan, it is very important that Fell find his wife, and if he comes back without having reached her it would help tremendously, Jordan, to find her at home, to find her as soon as he can. You understand that? And I'll be in San Pietro early tomorrow morning.”
“As soon as you can, Doctor Emilson.”
“I will. And don't worry too much. If he can find his wife, and as soon as I get there, we'll have things under control. Meanwhile, if you find him, do not let him out of your sight!”
Cripp hung up with an empty feeling. He would have liked to close his eyes, open them, and find it was morning. He got off the bed and went across the room, dragging his leg worse than ever. Under the shirts in the drawer he found his revolver. He checked it and stuck it into his pocket.
It never rained that time of year. The clouds blew in from the Sierras but they all steamed away before they got to San Pietro. It should be another month before rain came. But the heat felt sodden, there was a haze, and beyond the town clouds had piled up.
It confused Fell. He hadn't felt so confused in a long time, though it wasn't confused in the head, because he knew where he was. The dry lawn in the sun, all but dead, with small things starting to grow that had blown in from the prairie. Fell nodded to himself and then he smiled. The lawn was growing. If it wasn't one thing it was another, but something was growing. It would spread and get bigger, like the prairie, and then the thought took hold. Fell turned away from the house and decided to walk out to the prairie. There was nothing bigger than—He jumped back, thinking the car was going to run him over, when Cripp came to a fast stop.
“Tom,” he yelled, “Wait!”
Fell had no intention of leaving and smiled when he saw Cripp come up.
“Where in hell have you been Tom! I've been looking for you ever since....”
“L.A. I just got back.” Fell frowned. “There was some thing—”
“Did you find Janice? Did you look for her, Tom?”
The thought gave Fell a painful sensation, almost making him cry. Instead he laughed. When it was over he felt suddenly beat.
“I didn't find her,” he said. “Listen, Cripp, I got to find Janice.”
Cripp took Fell by one arm and steered him to the house. He told him they would find Janice, would wait for her here. In the hall of the house Fell stood by the table while Cripp talked to Rita. No, she said, Mrs. Fell hadn't been in and hadn't called. That's how Cripp didn't see it when Fell picked the envelope off the table and stuck it into his pocket, because Rita was looking at him, distracting him.
“Let's go sit down,” said Cripp, and held the door open to the room where he had drunk coffee with Janice. Fell nodded, came in, and sat down by the window.
They would wait, thought Cripp. They might talk about this and that but they would wait, the way Emilson said. But Fell didn't talk. He sat back, hands folded behind his head, and watched the thoughts that came by. They were of all sizes and colors, but in the middle was Janice. Fell stayed that way until Janice disappeared, and instead he saw the window opposite, and beyond that the yellow lawn. Fell took a breath and looked at Cripp.
“Anything new here?”
Cripp wasn't sure yet. He looked away and shrugged, not wanting to see Fell's eyes.
“Janice and I are leaving. I talked about it to Brown.”
“You what?”
“Brown. I just came back from L. A. I told you.”
Cripp chewed his lip, leaned forward.
“What did he say?”
“We talked about how to arrange it.” One side of Fell's face started to smile. “I think they had other plans. Before I walked in.”
“Tom, do you know what in hell you're talking about?”
“You know how it is in this racket. You're on good behavior, or out. And you and I know—together with everyone else—that I haven't been panning out so good lately.”
Cripp stared, then looked away. Sane as sane. How else could he talk like that?
Fell walked to the window and looked out.
“It'll take some recouping, but it can be done.”
Cripp got up, smiling, and stepped up behind Fell. He put his hand on Fell's shoulder and gave him a pat, a warm gesture which, had he thought about it ahead of time, would have embarrassed him. Fell gave him a quick look, then turned back to the window.
“Take a look at that lawn, will you?”
Cripp still had his hand on Fell's shoulder, but now he felt awkward about it.
“Remember my telling you about that lawn getting on by itself? Look at it.”
Cripp dropped his hand and looked out.
“Yeah. Some sight.”
“You think so, huh? Come on, Cripp, let's take a walk.”
“Wait a minute. Where?”
“Out to—” Fell had started for the door, then came back. “Why? You don't sound right.”
Cripp didn't know what to say, whether to say anything.
“First thing I asked you, Cripp, I asked you is anything new here. You didn't answer.”
“Because I don't know,” said Cripp.
He watched Fell come closer and when Fell reached over to pat Cripp's pocket neither of them talked for the moment. Then Fell gave a short laugh.
“You really aren't sure, are you?”
“That's right.”
“Last time I saw you carry that gun was—when was it, seven years ago?”
“All right, Tom, listen. I found out Jouvet—”
“I just saw him today. In L. A.”
“You didn't see him a few days ago. He went to see Emilson.”
“I haven't seen that one in over a month.”
Cripp didn't take the joke up.
“He went to see Emilson to check up on what's what with you. You know what that means?”
“I know. They're worried. Like I thought when I saw them.”
“You think you changed their minds, Tom?”
Cripp really wanted to know and he watched Fell very closely, but the face looked like always. Lines through the tanned skin, the lidded eyes, the temples grey.
“It's hard to tell, Cripp.”
Sane as the sanest. He could have said, sure, and that would have been crazy.
“Let's take a walk, Cripp.”
“Why? The best thing to do...”
“If Janice should come in the meantime, we'll leave a message with Rita. Janice should wait here.”
Sane.
“We'll just make a quick check. Come on.”
