25
He had not been able to sleep, nor had he expected tD. He had sent the girl
away with money, for be bad nothing else he could give her, neither hope nor
courage. What he advocated was rejected, for it involved the risk of danger
and pain to untold children committed to the well-being of each other. He
could not demand; there was no trust, no threat equal to the burdens they
carried. Ultimately, it was the childrees own struggle. They wanted no help.
He remembered the Bagdhivi admonition: Look ye to the children; look and
behold. They grow tall and strong and hunt the tiger with greater cunning
and stronger sinews than you. They shall save the flocks better than you.
Ye are old and infirm Look to the children. Beware of the children.
Were the children hunting the tiger better? And even if they were, whose
flocks would they saveP And who was the tiger?
Was it the “goddamn counh-)rP
Had it come to that?
The questions burned into his mind. How many Jearmies were there? How
extensive was NimroXs recruiting?
He had to find out.
The girl adrnitted that Carmount was only one port
THE MATLOM PAPEM 259
of call; there were others, but she didnI know where. Friends of hers had
been sent to New Haven, others to Boston, some north to the outskirts of
Hanover.
Yale. Harvard. Dartmouth.
The most frightening aspect was Nimro&s threat of a thousand futures. What
had she said?
“They hardly ever make contact…. They say they will…. You live with the
possibility.*
If such was the case, Bagdhivi was wrong. The chfldren had far less
cunning, possessed weaker sinews; there was no reason to beware. Only to
pity.
Unless the children were subdivided, led by other, stronger children.
Matlock made up his mind to go down to New Haven. Maybe there were answers
there. He had scores of friends at Yale University. It would be a side
trip, an unconsidered excursion, but intrinsic to the journey itself. Part
of the Nimrod odyssey.
Short, high-pitched sounds interrupted Matlock’s concentration. He froze,
his eyes swollen in shock, his body tense on top of the bed. It took him
several seconds to focus his attention on the source of the frightening
sound. It was the Tel-electronic, still in his jacket pocket. But where had
he put his jacket? it wasn’t near his bed.
He turned on the bedside lamp and looked around, the unrelenting, unceasing
sounds causing his pulse to hammer, his forehead to perspire. Then he saw
his coat. He bad put it on top of the chair in front of the French window,
halfway across the room. He looked at his watch: 4-35 A.m. He ran to the
jacke% pulled out the terrible instrument, and shut it off.
The panic of the hunted returned. He picked up the telephone on the bedside
table. It was a direct line, no switchboard.
260 Robert Ludlum
The dial tone was like any other dial tone outside the major utility areas.
A little fuzzy, but steady. And If there was a tap, he wouldn’t be able to
recognize it anyway. He dialed M-6868 and waited for the call to be
completed.
“Charger Three-zero reporting,” said the mechanized voice. “Sorry to
disturb you. There is no change with the subject, everything is
satisfactory. However, your friend from Wheeling, West Virginia, is very
insistent He telephoned at four fifteen and said it was imperative you call
him at once. Were concerned. Out”
Matlock hung up the telephone and forced his mind to go blank until he
found a cigarette and ]it it He needed the precious moments to stop the
hammering pulse.
He hated that goddamn machinel He hated what Its terrifying little beeps
did to him.
He 6ew heavily on the smoke and knew there was no alternative. He had to
get out of the Carmount Country Club and reach a telephone booth. Greenberg
wouldn’t have phoned at four in the morning unless it was an emergency. He
couldet take the chance of calling Greenberg on the Carmount line.
He threw his clothes into the suitcase and dressed quieldy.
He assumed there’d be a night watchman, or a parkIng attendant asleep in a
booth, and hed retrieve his, Kramer!s, automobile. If not, he’d wake up
someone, even if it was Stockton himself. Stockton was still frightened of
trouble, Windsor Shoals trouble-he woul(Wt try to detain him. Any story
would do for the purveyor of young, adorable flesh. The suri. burned
southern flower of the Connecticut Valley. The stench of Nimrod.
THE MATLOCK PAPER 261
Matlock closed the door quietly and walked down the silent corridor to the
enormous staircase. Wall sconces were lighted, dimmed by rheostats to give
a candlelight effect. Even in the dead of night, Howard Stocktow couldiA
forget his heritage. The interior of the Carmount Country Club looked more
than ever like a sleeping great hall of a plantation house.
He started for the front entrance, and by the time he reached the storm
carpet, he knew it was as far as he would go. At least for the moment.
Howard Stockton, clad in a flowing velour, nineteenth-oentury dressing
gown, emerged from a glass door next to the entrance. He was accompanied by
a large~ Italian-looking man whose jet black eyes silently spoke
generations of the Black Hand. Stocktoes companion was a killer.
“Why, Mr. Matlockl Are you leavinus?’
He decided to be aggressive.
“Since you tapped my goddamn phone, I assume you gather I’ve got problernsl
Theyre my business, not yourd If you want to know, I resent your intru-
sionl”
The ploy worked. Stockton was startled by Matlocles hostility.
‘Mere’s no reason to be angry…. I’m a businessman, like you. Any invasion
of your privacy is for your protection. Goddamnl Thaes true, boyr
“IT accept the lousy explanation. Are my keys In the carr
“Well, not in your car. My friend Mario heWs got ’em. Hids a real
high-class Eyetalian, let me tell you.’
‘I can see the family crest on his pocket. May I have my keys?*
Mario looked at Stockton, obviously confused.
“Now, just it minute,” Stockton said. ‘Wait a bit,
262 Robert Ludlum
Mario. Lees not be impulsive… rm a reasonable umn- A very reasonable,
rational person. rm merely a Virginia . . –
‘Cracker, trying to make a dollarl” interrupted Matlock “IT buy thatl Now
get the hell out of my way and give me the keyst-
“Good Lord, you aU are downright meant I mean, meanI Put yourself in my
placel … Some crazy code like ‘Chargie Three-zero’ and an urgent call
from Wheelie, West Virginial And instead of usie *my perfectly good
telephone, you gotta make space and get outta herel C’mon, jim. What would
you do?1″
Matlock kept his voice chillingly precise. ‘rd try to understand who I was
dealing with…. Weve made a number of inquiries, Howard. My superiors are
concerned about you.”
‘What-do-you-mean?’ Stockton!s question was asked so swiftly the words had
no separation.
They think … we think you’ve called too much attention to yourself.
president and vice-president of a Rawy Club/ jesusl A one-man fund-raiser
for new school buildings; the big provider for widows and orphans–charge
accounts included; Memorial Day picnicsf Then hiring locals to spread
rumors about the girlsl Half the time the kids walk around half naked. You
think the local citizens dojYt talk? Christ, How,krdIJV
-Who the hell are you?-
‘Just a tired businessman who gets annoyed when he sees another businessman
make an ass of himself. what the hell do you think you’re running for?
Santa Claus? Have you any idea how prominent that cOstume isr
-‘Goddamn it, you got it in for mel rve got the finest combined operation
north of Atlantal I dont
TEE MATLOCK PAM 263
know who you people been talkin’ to, but I tell youthis ril old Mount Hollyd
go to hell in a basket for mel Those things you people dug up-they’re good
thingsl Re4l goodi . . . You twist Pem, maw em sound badl That ain’t rightr
Stockton took out a handkerchief and patted his flushed, persphing face.
The southerner was so upset his sentences spilled over into one another,
his voice strident Matlock tried to think swiftly, cautiously. Perhaps the
time was now-with Stockton. It had to be sometime. He had to send out his
own particular invitation. He had to start the last lap of his journey to
Nimrod.
“Calm down, Stockton. Relax. You may be right… I havedt time to think
about it now. Weve got a crisis. All of us. That phone call was serious.’
Matlock paused, looking hard at the nervous Stockton, and then put his
suitcase on the marble floor. “Howard,” he said slowly, choosing his words
carefully, “Irm going to trust you with something and I hope to bell you’re
up to it. If you pull it off, no one’ll bother your operation-ever.”
“Whaes thatr
‘Tell him to take a walk. just down the hall, if you like.”