“‘And how did you break the block?”
‘”The’ day before had been my mother’s birthday. l got her half a dozen roses at the florist’s. And I stood there with all of them yelling at me and l thought: I am going to open my mouth and scream ROSES! lust as loud as I can. I got that word all ready.”
“‘Then what did you do?”
“‘I opened my mouth and screamed FIRE! at the top of my lungs.”‘
It had been eight years since Johnny had read that case history in the introduction to Stanney’s text, but he had never forgotten it. He had always thought that the key word in Rupert J.’s recollection of what had happened was impotent. If you feel that sexual intercourse is the most important thing on earth at this point in time, your risk of corning up with a limp penis increases ten or a hundredfold. And if you feel that reading is the most important thing on earth…
‘What’s your middle name, Chuck?’ he asked casually. ‘Murphy,’ Chuck said with a little grin. ‘How’s that for bad? My mother’s maiden name. You tell Jack or Al that, and I’ll be forced to do gross damage to your skinny body.’
‘No-fear,’ Johnny said. ‘When’s your birthday?’
‘September 8.’
Johnny began to throw the questions faster, not giving Chuck a chance to think – but they weren’t questions you had to think about.
‘What’s your girl’s name?’
‘Beth. You know Beth, Johnny…
‘What’s her middle name?’
Chuck grinned. ‘Alma. Pretty horrible, right?’
‘What’s your paternal grandfather’s name?’
‘Richard.’
‘Who do you like in the American League East this year?’
‘Yankees. In a walk.’
‘Who do you like for president?’
‘I’d like to see Jerry Brown get it.’
‘You planning to trade that Vette?’
‘Not this year. Maybe next.’
‘Your mom’s idea?’
‘You bet. She says it outraces her peace of mind.’
‘How did Red Hawk get past the guards and kill Danny Jupiter?’
‘Sherburne didn’t pay enough attention to that trapdoor leading into the jail attic,’ Chuck said promptly. without thinking, and Johnny felt a sudden burst of triumph that hit him like a knock of straight bourbon. It had worked. He had gotten Chuck talking about roses, and he had responded with a good, healthy yell of fire!
Chuck was looking at him in almost total surprise.
‘Red Hawk got into the attic through the skylight. Kicked open the trapdoor. Shot Danny Jupiter. Shot Tom Kenyon, too.’
‘That’s right, Chuck.’
‘I remembered,’ he muttered, and then looked up at Johnny, eyes widening, a grin starting at the corners of his mouth. ‘You tricked me into remembering!’
‘I just took you by the hand and led you around the side of whatever has been in your way all this time,’ Johnny said. ‘But whatever it is, it’s still there, Chuck. Don’t kid yourself.
Who was the girl Sherburne fell for?’
‘It was …’ His eyes clouded a little, and he shook his head reluctantly. ‘I don’t remember.’
He struck his thigh with sudden viciousness. ‘I can’t remember anything! I’m so fucking stupid!’
‘Can you remember ever having been told how your dad and mom met?’
Chuck looked up at him and smiled a little. There was an angry red place on his thigh where he had struck himself. ‘Sure. She was working for Avis down in Charleston, South
Carolina. She rented my dad a car with a fiat tire.’ Chuck laughed. ‘She still claims she only married him because number two tries harder.
‘And who was that girl Sherburne got interested in?’
‘Jenny Langhorne. Big-time trouble for him. She’s Gresham’s girl. A redhead. Like Beth.
She…’ He broke off, staring at Johnny as if he had just produced a rabbit from the breast pocket of his shirt. ‘You did it again!’
‘No. You did it. It’s a simple trick of misdirection. Why do you say Jenny Langhorne is big-time trouble for John Sherburne?’
‘Well, because Gresham’s the big wheel there in that town…’
‘What town?’
Chuck opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Suddenly he cut his eyes away from Johnny’s face and looked at the pool. Then he smiled and looked back. ‘Amity. The same as in the flick Jaws.’