herself about the necessity for diplomacy.
Nevertheless, she said,
“You’ve known all these years that Candy is a vicious killer, and you’ve
done nothing to alert anyone to the danger?”
“Why should I?” Fogarty asked.
“Haven’t you ever heard of social responsibility?”
“It’s a nice phrase, but meaningless.”
“People have been brutally murdered because you let that man-”
“People will always and forever be brutally murdered. His shit buried
millions. Stalin, tory is full of brutal murder. Hitler murdered many
millions more. Mao Tse-tung, more millions than anyone. They’re all
considered monsters now, but they had their admirers in their time,
didn’t they? And there’re people even now who’ll tell you Hitler and
Stalin only did what they had i to do, that Mao was just keeping the
public order, disposing of ruffians. So many people admire those
murderers who are bold about it and who cloak their bloodlust in noble
causes like brotherhood and political reform and justice-and social
responsibility. We’re all meat, just meat, and in our hearts we know
it, so we secretly applaud the men bold enough to treat us as what we
are. Meat.” By now she knew that he was a sociopath, with no
conscience, no capacity for love, and no ability to empathize with other
people. Not all of them were street hoodiumr even high-class, high-tech
thieves like Tom Rasmussen, who had tried to kill Bobby last week. Some
got to be doctorsr lawyers, TV ministers, politicians. None of them
could be reasoned with, for they had no normal human feelings.
He said,
“Why should I tell anyone about Candy Pollard?
I’m safe from him because his mother always called me God’s instrument,
told her wretched spawn I was to be respected. It’s none of my
business. He’s covered his mother’s murder to avoid having the police
tramping through the house, told people she moved to a nice oceanside
condo near San Diego. I don’t think anybody believes that crazy bitch
would suddenly lighten up and become a beach bunny, but nobody questio
it because nobody wants to get involved. Everybody feels it’ none of
their business. Same with me. Whatever outrage Candy adds to the
world’s pain are negligible. At least, give his peculiar psychology and
physiology, his outrages will be more imaginative than most.
“Besides, when Candy was about eight, Roselle came to thank me for
bringing her four into the world, and for keepin my own counsel, so that
Satan was unaware of their blessed presence on earth. That’s exactly
how she put it! And as token of her appreciation, she gave me a
suitcase full of mone enough to make early retirement possible. I
couldn’t figur where she’d gotten it. The money that Deeter and
Elizabeth piled up in the thirties had long ago dwindled away. So she
to explain that she’d never want for cash. That was the firs told me a
little bit about Candy’s ability, not much, but enough time I realized
there was a genetic boon tied to the genetic did saster.” Fogarty
raised his glass of bourbon in a toast that they did not return. “To
God’s mysterious ways.” LIKE THE ARCHANGEL come to declare the end of
the worl in the Book of the Apocalypse, Candy arrived just as the
heavens sundered and the rain began to fall in earnest, althoug this was
not black rain as would be the deluge of Armageddon nor was it a storm
of fire. Not yet. Not yet.
He materialized in the darkness between two widely space street lamps,
almost a block from the doctor’s house, to be sur that the soft trumpets
that unfailingly announced his arrive would not be audible to anyone in
Fogarty’s library. As he walked toward the house through the hammering
rain, he believed that his power, provided by God, had now grown s
enormous that nothing could prevent him from takingachieving anything he
desired.
“IN SIXTY-SIX, the twins were born, and physically they were as normal
as Frank,” Fogarty said as rain suddenly splattered noisily against the
window.
“No fun in that. I couldn’t believe it, really. Three out of four of
the kids, perfectly healthy. I’d been expecting all sorts of cute