We watched the distant scene and saw them both walk slowly into the shade of the big oak. “Real nice,” Stanger whispered.
Broon’s conversational voice over the speaker had a startling clarity and fidelity. His tone was mild. “I give you credit, Tom. You suckered me good. Never occurred to me there was something in that bottle different from what you were sticking into your wife. What the hell was it?”
“Mostly nitric acid. I estimated it would eat through the lead stopper in about twenty-four hours.”
“What made you so sure I’d put it in my lock box when you told me to keep it safe?”
“I wasn’t sure. If you hadn’t, I was no worse off, was I?”
“You sure to God made me worse off. Turned everything in my box to a mess of dirty brown stinking mush. Papers and tapes and photos and one hell of a lot of good cash money. It even et a corner out of the box. That bank woman was real upset about the stink. Thing is, Pike, it ruined a lot of stuff that didn’t have a damn thing to do with you and me.”
“You forced me to do something, Dave.”
“How do you figure?”
“You got too expensive. I couldn’t afford you.”
“With folks standing in line to hand you their savings?”
“But with you taking so big a cut, I couldn’t show a return. Then the supply dries up. I had to cut down on your leverage.”
“It didn’t work. I’ve got a good memory. I got a lot of facts in that letter I wrote. They can be checked out. Pike, you just made it harder on yourself, because I got to collect all that money you burned up with that damned acid stunt, and we’re starting with that thirty thousand you better damn well have brought along.”
“Things are too tight. I didn’t bring it.”
“Then I’m going to pull the stopper, boy, and let you go right down the drain.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Now, just what gives you reason to think I won’t?”
“Because you’re only half bright, David. But you’re bright enough to understand the way things are now. And you’re going to keep right on working for me. But your rates have gone down.”
“The hell you say!”
“If you were bright, you wouldn’t have left so suddenly. I knew from the way you acted that I’d destroyed the actual proof. You’d have made me believe you still had the edge. Now, letter or no letter, all you’ve got is your naked word against mine. Who will be believed, you or me? Think it over. With the Sherman tapes and the signed statement, you could destroy me, possibly. Now you’re only a potential annoyance. I brought along thirty-five hundred dollars for you, to show good faith. You’re bright enough to know I’m going to be a pretty good source of income for you. Nothing like before, of course. You’ll accept it.”
“You sure of that? You sure I’ll settle for a little bit here and a little bit there?”
“As opposed to nothing at all, why not?”
“It won’t pay for the risk.”
“What risk?”
“Maybe I’m only half bright, like you say, but I’m bright enough to know you’re not going to last. They’re going to grab you, and when they do, you’ll put me in it right up to the eyeballs.”
“Grab me for what?”
“For killing folks. Maybe with Doc Sherman it was your only way out. But I think you liked doing it. You told me they’d grab Janice Holton for stabbing that nurse. But it went wrong somehow and you went ahead anyway, without any real good reason. Pretty soon you’re going to set up that suicide deal on your wife and enjoy that too. Then you’ll start thinking about somebody else. Maybe me. No, thanks. You’ve turned into a bug, Pike. I’ve seen them like you and seen what happens. Maybe it makes you feel so big you have to keep doing it.”
“My poor wife threw herself out a twelfth-story window last evening, David.”
“What! What the hell are you saying? There wasn’t a
thing in the paper about–“