364 Robert LucUum
concerned, you know what I mean? Now, well see you at the field, O.K.? In an
hour, O-K-?”
This was the moment There might not come another.
Nol Wait a minute…. rm not going on that campusl The Washington people,
theyve got the whole place watchedl The)ere all aroundl They’ll put me
awayl”
No, they won’t.
‘How the hell do you knowP”
~Mere!s nobody. So help me, it’s O.X Calm down, please
“Ilaes easy for You, not Mel No, III tell YOU where.. ~*
He spoke rapidly, disjointedly, as if thinking desperately while talking.
First he mentioned Herron!s house, and before the voice could either agree
or disagree, he rejected it himself. He then Pinpointed the freight yards,
and immediately found irrational reasons why he could not go there.
Now, doet get so excited: said the voice. “Ies a simple transaction … 0
Mt restaurantl Outside of town. The Cheshire Cati Behind the restaurant,
there’s a garden- . – ”
The voice was confused hying to keep up with hinli and Matlock knew he was
carrying off the ploy. He made last references to the diaries and the
incriminating affidavit and slanimed the telephone receiver jUtD its
cradle.
He stood in the booth, exhausted. Perspiration was dripping down his face,
yet the early morning air was cool.
.rhat was handled very nicely.- said the black man in command. “your
adversary chose a place within
Tim mATLocK PApm 365
the college, I gather. An intelligent move on his parL Very nicely done,
sir.”
Matlock looked at the uniformed Negro, grateful for his praise and not a
little astonished at his own resourcefulness. “I don’t know if I could do
it again.”
“Of course you could,” answered the black, leading Matlock toward the car.
“Extreme stress activates a memory bank, not unlike a computer. Probing,
rejecting, accepting–aIl instantaneously. Until panic, of course. There
are interesting studies being made regarding the varying thresholds.”
Really?” said Matlock as they reached the car door. The Negro motioned him
inside. The car lurched forward and they sped off down the highway flanked
by the two other automobiles.
We’ll take a diagonal route to the restaurant using the roads set back in
the farm country,” said the black behind the wheel. ‘Ve1l approach it from
the southwest and let you off about a hundred yards from a path used by
employees to reach the rear of the building. We’ll point it out to you.
Walk directly to the section of the gardens where there’s a large white
arbor and a circle of flagstones surrounding a goldfish pond. Do you know
it?”
“Yes, I do. I’m wondering how you do, though.”
The driver smiled. “I’m not clairvoyant. While you were in the tqlephone
booth, I was in touch with our men by radio. Everything’s ready now. Were
prepared. Remember, the white arbor and the goldfish pond. . . . And here.
Here’s the notebook and the envelope.” The driver reached down to a flap
pocket on the side of his door and pulled out the oilcloth package. The
envelope was attached to it by a thick elastic band.
366 Robert Ludlum
“Well be there in less than ten minutes,” said the man in conunand,
shifting his weight to get comfortable. Matlock looked at him. Strapped to
his legsewn into the tight-fitting khaki, actually~–was a leather
scabbard. He hadn’t noticed it before and knew why. The bone-handled knife
it contained had only recently been inserted. The scabbard housed a blade
at least ten inches long.
Dunois’s elite corps was now, indeed, prepared.
as
He stood at the side of the tall white arbor. The sun had risen over the
eastern curve, the woods behind him still heavy with mist, dully reflecting
the light of the early morning. In front of him the newly filled trees
formed corridors for the old brick paths that converged into this restful
flagstone haven. There were a number of marble benches placed around the
circle, all glistening with morning moisture. From the center of the large
patio, the bubbling sounds of the man-made goldfish pond continued
incessantly with no break in the sound pattern. Birds could be heard
activating their myriad signals, greeting the sun, starting the day’s
foraging.
Matlocles memory wandered back to Herron!s Nest, to the forbidding green
wall which isolated the old man from the outside world. There were
similarities, he thought. Perhaps it was fitting that it should all end in
such a place.
He lit a cigarette, extinguishing it after two intakes of smoke. He
clutched the notebook, holding it in front of his chest as though it were
some impenetrable shield, his head snapping in the direction of every
sound, a portion of his life suspended with each movement.
He wondered where Dunoi!?s men were. Where had
368 Robert Ludlum
the elite guard hidden itself? Were they watching him, laughing quietly
among themselves at his nervous gestures-his so obvious fear? Or were they
spread out, guerrilla fashion? Crouched next to the earth or in the low
limbs of the trees, ready to spring, prepared to IdU?
And who would they kill? In what numbers and how armed would be Nimro&s
forces? Would Nimrod come? Would Nimrod bring the girl he loved safely back
to him? And if Nimrod did, if he fina]]y saw Pat again, would the two of
them be caught in the massacre which surely had to follow?
Who was Nimrod?
His breathing stopped. The muscles in his arms and legs contorted
spastically, stiffened with fear. He closed his eyes tightly~to listen or
to pray, hed never really know, except that his beliefs excluded the exis-
tence of God. And so he listened with his eyes shut tight until he was
sure.
First one, then two automobiles had turned off the highway and had entered
the side road leading to the entrance of the Cheshire Cat Both vehicles
were traveling at enormous speeds, their tires screeching as they rounded
the front circle leading into the restaurant parking area.
And then everything was stiU again. Even the birds were silent; no sound
came from anywhere.
Matlock stepped back under the arbor, pressing himself against its lattice
frame. He strained to hearanything.
Silence. Yet not silencel Yet, again, a sound so blended with stillness as
to be dismissed as a rustling leaf is dismissed.
It was a scraping. A hesitant, halting scraping from one of the paths in
front of him, one of the paths hid-
TM MATLOCK PAPER 369
den amongst the trees, one of the old brick lanes leading to the flagstone
retreat
. At first it was barely audible. Dismissible. Then it became slightly
clearer, less hesitant, less unsure.
Then he heard the quiet tortured moan. It pierced into his braixL
“Jamie … Jamie? Please, Jamie …. 7
The single plea, his name, broke off into a sob. He felt a rage he had
never felt before in his life. He threw down the oilcloth packet, Ins eyes
blinded by tears and fury. He lunged out of the protective frame of the
white arbor and yelled, roared so that his voice startled the birds, who
screeched out of the trees, out of their silent sanctuary.
“Patl Patl Where are you? Pat, my Cod, where? Wherer
The sobbing-half relief, half pain-became louder.
“Here…. Here, jamiel CanI see.”
He traced the sound and raced up the middle brick path. Halfway to the
building, against the t-unk of a tree, sunk to the ground, he saw her. She
was on her knees, her bandaged head against the earth. She had fallen.
Rivulets of blood were on the back of her neck-, the sutures in her head
had broken.
He rushed to her and gently lifted up her head.
Under the bandages on her forehead were layers of three-inch adhesive tape,
pushed brutally against the lids of her eyes, stretched tight to her
temples-as secure and unmovable as a steel plate covering her face. To try
and remove them would be a torture devised in bell.
He held her close and kept repeating her name over and over again.
“Everything will be all right now…. Everything will be all right…
37o Robert Ludlum
He lifted her gently off the ground, pressing her face against his own. He
kept repeating those words of comfort which came to him in the midst of his
rage.
Suddenly, without warning, without any warning at all, the blinded girl
screamed, stretching her bruised body, her lacerated head.
“Let them have it, for Go&s sakel Whatever it is, give it to themr
He stumbled down the brick path back to the flagstone circle.
“I will, I will, my darling.
Vlease, jamiel Don1 let them touch me again! Ever againt-
“No, my darling. Not ever, not ever.
He slowly lowered the girl onto t~e’ ground, onto the soft earth beyond the
flagstones.
‘Take the tape ofil Please take the tape offi”
01 can’t now, darling. It would hurt too much. In a
little … “