Even the Wicked

by Lawrence Block

Page 39

 

  "I can imagine. "

  "Its an old Halloween trick, actually. "

  "As I recall," I said, "theres a surprise in the bag. "

  "Well, yeah. Dog crap, so when you stomp out the fire youre stepping in it. The kid skipped that part. "

  "Just as well. "

  "The pictures dont show what hes doing," he said, "because with the lens I was right in tight on his face. But I have to laugh when I look at them, because his expression brings it all back. "

  "I thought he looked sort of beleaguered. "

  "Well," he said, "thats why. "

  * * *

  Clevelands airport is south and west of the city. Lakewood is situated on the lake, appropriately enough, and a little ways to the west of Cleveland, so we could get there without running into city traffic. Jason drove and kept up his end of the conversation, and I found myself comparing him with TJ. Jason was probably a year or two older, and looked on the surface to have had an easier time of it, blessed as he was with a white face and a middie-class upbringing. Hed had a good deal more in the way of formal education, although you could argue that TJs street sense was as valuable, with a tuition every bit as pricey. By the time we got to Lakewood Id decided that the two of them werent as different as they seemed. They were both decent kids.

  Lakewood turned out to be an older suburb, with big trees and prewar houses. Here and there youd see a lot that the builders had originally passed up, with a little ranch house perched on it looking like the new kid on the block. We parked across the street from one of these and Jason killed the engine.

  "You cant see where the fire was," he said. "When I drove off he was going at it with a broom. I guess he did a pretty good job of cleaning up. "

  "He could have hired that same kid to scrub it for him. "

  "That would be something, wouldnt it? I dont know if hes home. With the garage door shut you cant tell if his cars there or not. "

  "I dont think Ill have to set any fires to find out," I said. "Ill just ring his doorbell. "

  "Do you want me to come with you?"

  I considered it. "No," I said. "I dont think so. "

  "Then Ill wait here. "

  "Id appreciate that," I said. "I dont know how long Ill be. It may be a while. "

  "No problem," he said. "Ive still got that jar. "

  * * *

  I only had to ring the bell once. The eight-note chimes were still echoing when I heard his footsteps approaching. Then he opened the door a crack and saw me, and then he opened it the rest of the way.

  The photos were a good likeness. He was a small and slender man, with some age showing in his pink face and some gray lightening his neatly combed hair. Close up, I could see his watery blue eyes behind his bifocal lenses.

  He was wearing dark gabardine slacks and a plaid sportshirt. There were several pens in the breast pocket of the shirt. His shoes were brown oxfords, recently polished.

  There was no fire raging on his stoop this time, just another middle-aged guy. But Havemeyer still sported his beleaguered expression, as if the world was just a little bit more than he could cope with. I knew the feeling.

  I said, "Mr. Havemeyer?"

  "Yes?"

  "May I come in? Id like to talk with you. "

  "Are you a policeman?"

  Its often a temptation to say yes to that question, or to leave it artfully unanswered. This time, though, I didnt feel the need.

  "No," I said. "My name is Scudder, Mr. Havemeyer. Im a private investigator from New York. "

  "From New York. "

  "Yes. "

  "How did you get here?"

  "How did I…"

  "Did you fly?"

  "Yes. "

  "Well," he said, and his shoulders drooped. "I guess youd better come in, hadnt you?"

  22

  Youd have thought it was a social call. He led me to the front parlor, recommended a chair, and announced that he could do with a cup of tea. Would I have one? I said I would, and not just to be sociable. It sounded like a good idea.

  I stayed there while he fussed in the kitchen, and it struck me that he might return brandishing a butcher knife, or holding the same gun hed used to kill Byron Leopold. If he did, I wouldnt stand a chance. I wasnt wearing body armor, and the closest thing I had to a weapon was the nail clipper on my key ring.

  Somehow, though, I knew I wasnt in any danger. There was a greater risk that hed seize the opportunity to turn the knife or gun on himself, and I figured he had the right. But he didnt strike me as suicidal, either.

  He came out carrying a silver-handled walnut tray bearing a china teapot flanked by a sugar bowl and a little milk pitcher. There were spoons and cups and saucers as well, and he set everything out on the coffee table. I drank my tea black, while he added milk and sugar to his. The tea was Lapsang souchong. I cant ordinarily tell one kind of tea from another, but I recognized its smoky bouquet before Id even taken a sip.

  "Theres nothing like a cup of tea," he said.

  Id brought a pocket tape recorder along, and I took it out and set it on the table. "Id like to record this," I said. "If its all right with you. "

  "I suppose its all right," he said. "Really, what difference does it make?"

  I switched on the recorder. "This is a conversation between Matthew Scudder and William Havemeyer," I stated, and mentioned the date and time. Then I sat back and gave him a chance to say something.

  "I guess you know everything," he said.

  "I know most of it. "

  "I knew youd come. Well, not you, not specifically. But someone. I dont know what made me think I could get away with it. " He raised his eyes to mine. "I must have been crazy," he said.

  "How did it happen?"

  "That boat," he said. "That awful, awful boat. "

  "The ferry. "

  "The Magnar Syversen. They had no business keeping the damnable boat in service, you know. It was manifestly unsafe. You wouldnt believe how many violations they uncovered. And do you know how many people were needlessly killed?"

  "Eighty-four. "

  "Thats right. "

  "And John Wilbur Settle was one of them. "

  "Yes. "

  "And you held a policy on his life," I said. "Youd bought it through a broker in Texas who specializes in viatical transactions. Youd already been a party to one such transaction, involving a man named Phillips. "

  "Harlan Phillips. "

  "You made money on Phillips," I said, "and invested it in Settle. "

  "These were good investments," he said.

  "So I understand. "

  "Good for all concerned. For the poor men who were horribly ill and had no money, and for those of us seeking a safe investment with a generous return. Im sorry, you told me your name but I dont remember it. "

  "Matthew Scudder. "

  "Yes, of course. Mr. Scudder, Im a widower. My wife had multiple sclerosis, she was ill for most of the years of our marriage and died almost seven years ago. "

  "That must have been hard. "

  "It was, I suppose. You get used to it, just as you get used to being alone. I worked for over twenty years for the same corporation. Five years ago they offered me early retirement. Youve been such a good and faithful employee for so many years that well pay you to quit. They didnt use those words, obviously, but thats what it amounted to. I accepted their offer. I didnt really have much of a choice in the matter. "

  "And that gave you money to invest. "

  "It gave me money that I had to invest if I was going to have sufficient income to see me through. Savings bank interest wouldnt be enough, and Ive never been comfortable with risk. You flew here, didnt you? Ive never flown anywhere in my life. Ive always been afraid to fly. Isnt that ridiculous? I shot a man dead in the street, I murdered him in cold blood without turning a hair, but Im afraid to get on an airplane. Did you ever hear anything so ridiculous in your life?"

  I tried not to glance at th
e tape recorder. I just hoped it was getting all this.

  I said, "When the boat sank…"

  "The Magnar Syversen. A floating death trap. Youd expect better than that from the Scandinavians, wouldnt you?"

  "Well, it was an accident. "

  "Yes, an accident. "

  "And that was relevant, wasnt it? The policy you held on the life of John Wilbur Settle was for fifty thousand dollars, and if hed stayed home and died of AIDS thats what you would have received in the course of time. "

  "Yes. "

  "But because his death was the result of an accident…"

  "I got twice that much. "

  "A hundred thousand dollars. "

  "Yes. "

  "Because the policy had a double-indemnity clause. "

  "Which I didnt even know about," he said. "I had no idea whatsoever. When the insurance company check arrived I thought theyd made a mistake. I actually called them up, because I was sure that if I didnt theyd come around wanting the money back with interest. And they told me about double indemnity, and how I was getting twice the face amount of the policy because of the way Mr. Settle died. "

  "Quite a windfall. "

  "I couldnt believe it. Id paid thirty-eight thousand dollars for the policy, so I was already getting a very good return on my investment, but this was just remarkable. I had very nearly tripled my investment. Id turned thirty-eight thousand dollars into a hundred thousand. "

  "Just like that. "

  "Yes. "

  "So you entered into another viatical transaction. "

  "Yes. I believed in it as an investment medium, you see. "

  "I can understand why. "

  "I put some of the proceeds in the bank and the rest in a viatical transaction. I bought a larger policy this time, seventy-five thousand dollars. "

  "Did you first make sure there was a double-indemnity clause?"

  "No! No, I swear I didnt. "

  "I see. "

  "I never asked. But when I received the policy-"

  "You read it. "

  "Yes. Just, you know, to see if there was such a clause. "

  "And as it happened there was. "

  "Yes. "

  I let the silence stretch, drank some more of my tea. The red light glowed on the side of my little tape recorder. The tape advanced, recording the silence.

  "Some commentators have been very critical of viatical transactions. Not as an investment, everyone agrees that theyre a good investment, but the idea of waiting for a person to die so that you can benefit financially. There was a cartoon I saw, a man walking in the desert and vultures circling overhead. But its not like that at all. "

  "How is it different?"

  "Because you just dont think about the person that much. If you think of him at all you wish him well. Id certainly rather have a man enjoy one more month of life than that my investment mature one month sooner. After all, I know hes not going to live forever, that much is a medical fact, and both my principal and the interest on it are guaranteed by the irreversible biological progress of his condition. With both Harlan Phillips and John Settle, why, I knew they were going to die, and within a fairly certain period of time. But I didnt dwell on it, and I didnt wish it sooner. "