Call his name softly, intensely, as if be were confused, wanting to make
Matlock come back yet afraid of identifying him. Matlock reached the door,
tamed right on the sidewalk, and started running as fast as he could. He
found a narrow alley and realized.that it was, at least, in the right
direction. He raced into it and stopped, pressing himself into a doorway. At
the base of the alley, on the freight-yard thoroughfare, he saw Houston
walking rapidly past the phlegmatic noonday laborers on their lunch breaks.
Houston looked panicked; Matlock knew he couldn’t return to his apartment.
It was a funny thing to do, he considered, as he sat In the booth of Bill’s
Bar & Grill. Returning to the place he couldn’t wait to get out of twenty
minutes ago. But it made vague sense to him.-as much as anything made sense
at the moment. He had to be by himself and think. He couldn1 take the
chance of wandering the streets where some part of the Greenberg-Houston
unseen army might spot him. Ironically, the bar seemed safest.
He’d made his apologies to a wary bartender, offering to pay for the broken
glass. He implied that the mnn he’d had words with before was a deadbeat-
into him for a lot of money with no ability to pay. This explanation, given
by the now-relaxed customer, was not only accepted by the bartender, it
elevated him to a status not often seen in Bill’s Bar & Grill.
He had to marshal his thoughts. There were checkpoints he’d mentally
outlined which were to be passed before he began his journey to Nimrod.
Now, there
3L8o Robert Ludlum
was another checkpoint. Houston had supplied it, although he’d never know.
Pat had to be totally safe. He couldiYt have that worry on his mind. All
other items on his list were subservient to tins. The clothes, the ready
cash, the unfamiliar automobile, all would have to wait. He might have to
alter his strategy now, Matlock thought Nunrod’s associates would be
watched, his apartment would be watched, every name and location on the
Justice list would be under surveillance.
But first, Pat. Hed have her guarded night and day, around the clock, every
minute. Guarded openly, with no pretense of secrecy. Guarded in such a way
as to be a signal to both the unseen armies, a warning that she was out of
the game. Money was no problem now, none at all. And there were men in
Hartford whose professions would fit his requirements. He knew that. The
huge insurance companies used them incessantly. He remembered an ex-faculty
member from the math department who’d left Carlyle for the lucrative field
of insurance actuaries. He worked for Aetna. He looked for a telephone
inside the dingy bar.
Eleven minutes later, Matlock returned to the booth. The business was
concluded with- Blackstone Security, Incorporated, Bond Street, Hartford.
There would be three men daily on eight-bour shifts, three hundred dollars
for each twenty-four-hour period the subject was covered by Blackstone,
Inc. There would, of course, be the additional charges for any expenses
incurred and a fee attached for the use of a “TelelectronO if it was
required. The Tel-electronic was a small device which signaled the bearer
with short beeps if the telephone number designated was called. Blackstone,
of course, suggested a different telephone number from a resident
phone–which, of course, they
THE MATLOCK PAPER 181
would have activated within twelve hours and for which, of course, there was
an additional charge.
Matlock agreed to everything, was grateful for everything, and said he’d be
in Hartford to sign the papers later in the afternoon. He wanted to meet
Mr. Blackstone-for another reason now. Blackstone, however, made it clear
that since the head of Aetna’s actuarial department had personally
contacted him regarding Mr. Matlock, the formalities were not pressIng.
He’d dispatch his team to the Carlyle Hospital within the hour. And by any
chance, was Mr. Matlock related to Jonathan Munro Matlock … ? The head of
Aetna’s actuarial department had mentioned …
Matlock was relieved. Blackstone could be useful. The ex-faculty member at
Aetna had assured him that there was none better than Blackstone.
Expensive, but the best. Blackstone’s personnel for the most part were
former officers of the Special Forces and Marine Intelligence team. It was
more than a business gimmick. They were smart, resourceful, and tough. They
were also licensed and respected by the state and local police.
The next item on his list was clothes. He had planned to go to his
apartrnent and pack a suit, several pairs of slacks, and a jacket or two.
Now that was out. At least for the time being. He would buy clothes -what
he needed-as he went along. The ready cash could prove more of a problem,
considering the amount he wanted. It was Saturdayw–he wasn~t going to
waste a Saturday night The banks were closed, the large money sources
unavailable.
Alex Anderson would have to solve the problem. He’d he to Alex Anderson,
tell him Jonathan Munro Matlock would look kindly-financially kindly-on
x82 Robert Ludlum
Anderson if the banker would made available a large sum of cash on a
Saturday afternoon. It would be confidential on both sides, of course. There
would be a gratuity rendered for a coveted favor on a Saturday afternoon.
Nothing which could be construed remotely indelicate. And, of course, again,
confidential.
Matlock rose from the ripped, stained, dirty leatherette seat and returned
to the telephone.
Anderson had only fleeting doubts about accommodating Jonathan Munro
Matlocles son, and they concerned not the act but the confidence of the
act. Once that concern was allayed, the fact that he was giving aid in the
best traditions of banking became clear. It was important for any bank to
accommodate the better client If a particular client wished to show
gratitude … well, that was up to the client
Alex Anderson would secure James Matlock five thousand dollars in cash on
a Saturday afternoon. He would deliver it to him at three outside the Plaza
Movie Theatre, which was showing a revival of A Knife in the Water-with
subtitles.
An automobile would be the least of his problems. There were two rent-a-car
offices in the town, a Budget-National and a Luxor-Ehte. The first for
students, the second for affluent parents. He would rent a Luxor Cadillac
or Lincoln and drive into Hartford to another Luxor lot and change cars.
From Hartford he’d go to a Luxor branch in New Haven and do the same. With
money, there would be the minimum of questions; with decent tips, there
might even be cooperation.
He’d moved to his point of departure.
“Hey, mister. Your name Matlock?” The hairy bartender leaned over the
table~ the soiled bar rag squeezed in.his right hand
TBE MATLOCK PAPER 183
‘Yes,” answered the startled Matlock with a short, violent intake of
breath.
“Guy just came up 1! me. Said for me to tell you you forgot something
outside. On the curb, he said. You should hurry, he said.”
Matlock stared at the man. The pain in his stomach was the fear again, the
panic. He reached into his pocket and pulled out several bills. Separating
a five, he held it up to the bartender. “Come to the door with me. just to
the window. Tell me if he’s outside.”
“Sure. . . . To the window.” The hairy bartender switched the soiled rag to
his left hand and took the bill. Matlock got out of the booth and walked
beside the man to the half-curtained, filthy glass looking out on the
street. “No, he’s not there. There’s no one there…. just a dead . . .”
“I see,” said Matlock, cutting the man off. He didn’t have to go outside,
it wasn’t necessary.
Lying on the edge of the curb, its body draping down into the gutter, was
Matlo&s cat.
Its head was severed, held to the rest of its body by a small piece of
flesh. The blood poured out, staining the sidewalk
is
The killing preyed on Matlocks mind as he approached the West Hartford town
line. Was it another warning or had they found the paper? If they had found
the paper, it didn1 vitiate the warning, only reinforced It He wondered
whether to have a member of the Blackstone team check his apartment, check
the litter box. He wasn1 even sure why he hesitated. Why not have a
Blackstone man find out? For three hundred dollars a day, plus charges, such
an errand was hardly too much to ask. He was going to ask far more of
Blackstone, Incorporated, but they didnI know it Yet he kept balking. If the
paper um secure, sending a man to check it might reveal its location.
He~d almost made up his mind to take the chance when he noticed the tan
sedan in his rear-view Mirror. It was there again. It had been there, off
and on, since Vd entered Highway 72 a half hour ago Whereas other cars