by Hawkes, John
They posted one of the drivers to guard the stall until the laboratory boys could take the body and the straw. The driver stood at attention, a lonely man in an empty stable with his shoulders black with rain and his chin pulled into his collar. He smelled the burden on the other side of the wood. It was darker now and the rain heavier.
Between the two gently rocking cars—machines heavy with the sounds of their engines and streaming black—the Violet Lane detectives faced each other, stood close together and stared into each other’s eyes. The mortuary bells were ringing and the water was coming off the brims of the bowlers.
“It’s never nice to find these fellows in the rain.”
“Well, I expect we’d best get on with it.”
“We could trace him through the laundries.”
“And there are always the tobacco shops, of course.”
“Right. I’ve made out well before with the laundries.”
“Go to it then. I’ll try the shops. …”
And in gloom, with the bells stroking and the wipers establishing the uncomfortable rhythm of the hour, the two wet men withdrew to the cars and in slow procession quit the sooty stables in Highland Green, drove separately through vacant city streets to uncover the particulars of this crime.
BY JOHN HAWKES
The Beetle Leg
The Blood Oranges
The Cannibal
Death, Sleep & The Traveler
Humors of Blood & Skin
The Lime Twig
Lunar Landscapes
The Owl
The Passion Artist
Second Skin
Travesty
Virginie: Her Two Lives
Copyright © 1960, 1961 by John Hawkes
Copyright © 1961 by New Directions Publishing Corporation
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 60-14719
ISBN: 978-0-811-22256-3(e-book)
Portions of this book first appeared in Accent,
Winter 1960, and Audience, Spring 1960.
All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in a newspaper, magazine, radio, television, or website review, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher.
New Directions Books are published for James Laughlin by New Directions Publishing Corporation, 80 Eighth Avenue, New York 10011.
