Lunceford told me that he's abandoning the dream. He's very young and feeling very heavily the burdens of family responsibilities, and his father-in-law wants to take him into his general contracting business but it involves travel so he’ll have to give up the theater, and he says that is what he is going to do. Way I see it, that doesn't have to mean the end of dreams. What is wrong with wanting to be the best damned builder in the country, or the best plumber or carpenter or shopkeeper? Dreams can be anywhere the lifeline takes us; maybe we shouldn't try to narrow it down so much.
Justice Johansen came in from Minnesota a couple of days ago to take his boy home. Tried to give me some more money but he’ll he probably needs it more than I do and I did nothing to earn it. Told me that he'd never had an inkling that Alfie wanted to study drama. He'd hoped that his son would want to go to law school and was very surprised when Alfie opted for chemical engineering—said he wouldn't have objected to him studying theater arts, so it's a strange world. I didn't tell the judge anything about Alfie's ignoble pursuits. He thinks his kid was killed in the line of undercover duty with the FBI, so he’ll have to learn otherwise from someone other than me.
Actually brought a smile to the judge's face when I told him that Alfie seemed to have an interest in law and that he would have made a good lawyer. Of course, I didn't qualify "good" and I think maybe Johansen's smile was tinged with irony.
I haven't seen Judith since last Saturday. The theater is dark and apparently will stay that way until a new producer can lighten it again. But every time I pass that corner, for the rest of my life, I will think of Man of La Mancha and the quest for excellence in human affairs.
That's not such a bad thing to think about, not even for a Copp for Hire.
Lunceford told me that Judith left town even before her father's funeral.
Said he thinks she went to New Zealand.
Maybe I’ll wander down that way too, some day soon, if my Visa can stand it. I dream sometimes, too, you know. And I’ll never stop dreaming of Judy, impossible though it may be.
Impossible, you see, because I believe with all my heart and mind that Judith White pulled the trigger on her father.
About the Author
Don Pendleton is the author of The Executioner series featuring Mack Bolan, which has sold more than 60 million copies to date. Copp For Hire, Mr. Pendleton’s debut hardcover novel, was published to critical acclaim by Donald I. Fine, Inc. Joe Copp returned in 1988 with the popular encore novel, Copp On Fire; in 1989 with Copp in Deep; in 1990 with Copp in the Dark; Copp on Ice, 1991, and Copp in Shock, 1992. Don Pendleton and his wife, Linda, make their home in West Covina, California.
First Edition, Donald I. Fine, Inc., 1990
Kindle Edition, February, 2010
Copp In The Dark, A Joe Copp Thriller (Joe Copp Private Eye Series) Page 18
