THE GLASS KEY by Dashiell Hammett

“But why?”

“You’re not supposed to give people things unless you’re sure they’d like to get them from you.”

“But everybody likes to–”

“Maybe, but it goes deeper than that. When you give somebody something, you’re saying out loud that you know they’d like to have you give–”

“I got you,” Madvig said. He rubbed his chin with fingers of his right hand. He frowned and said: “I guess you’re right.” His face cleared. He said: “But I’ll be damned if I’ll pass up the chance.”

Ned Beaumont said quickly: “Well, flowers then, or something like that, might be all right.”

“Flowers? Jesus! I wanted–”

“Sure, you wanted to give her a roadster or a couple of yards of pearls. You’ll get your chance at that later. Start little and grow.”

Madvig made a wry face. “I guess you’re right, Ned. You know more about this kind of stuff than I do. Flowers it is.”

“And not too many of them.” Then, in the same breath: “Walt Ivans’s telling the world you ought to spring his brother.”

Madvig pulled the bottom of his vest down. “The world can tell him Tim’s going to stay indoors till after election .”

“You’re going to let him stand trial?”

“I am,” Madvig replied, and added with more heat: “You know damned well I can’t help it, Ned. With everybody up for re-election and the women’s clubs on the war-path it would be jumping in the lake to have Tim’s case squared now.”

Ned Beaumont grinned crookedly at the blond man and made his voice drawl. “We didn’t have to do much worrying about women’s clubs before we joined the aristocracy.”

“We do now.” Madvig’s eyes were opaque.

“Tim’s wife’s going to have a baby next month,” Ned Beaumont said.

Madvig blew breath out in an impatient gust. “Anything to make it tougher,” he complained. “Why don’t they think of those things before they get in trouble? They’ve got no brains, none of them.”

“They’ve got votes.”

“That’s the hell of it,” Madvig growled. He glowered at the floor for a moment, then raised his head. “We’ll take care of him as soon as the votes are counted, but nothing doing till then.”

“That’s not going over big with the boys,” Ned Beaumont said, looking obliquely at the blond man. “Brains or no brains, they’re used to being taken care of.”

Madvig thrust his chin out a little. His eyes, round and opaquely blue, were fixed on Ned Beaumont’s. In a soft voice he asked: “Well?”

Ned Beaumont smiled and kept his voice matter-of-fact. “You know it won’t take a lot of this to start them saying it was different in the old days before you put in with the Senator.”

“Yes?”

Ned Beaumont stood his ground with no change in voice or smile. “You know how little of this can start them saying Shad O’Rory still takes care of his boys.”

Madvig, who had listened with an air of complete attentiveness, now said in a very deliberately quiet voice: “I know you won’t start them talking like that, Ned, and I know I can count on you to do your best to stop any of that kind of talk you happen to hear.”

For a moment after that they stood silent, looking eye into eye, and there was no change in the face of either. Ned Beaumont ended the silence. He said: “It might help some if we took care of Tim’s wife and the kid.”

“That’s the idea.” Madvig drew his chin back and his eyes lost their opaqueness. “Look after it, will you? Give them everything.”

3

Walter Ivans was waiting for Ned Beaumont at the foot of the stairs, bright-eyed and hopeful. “Wh-what did he s-say?”

“It’s what I told you: no can do. After election Tim’s to have anything he needs to get out, but nothing stirring till then.”

Walter Ivans hung his head and made a low growling noise in his chest.

Ned Beaumont put a hand on the shorter man’s shoulder and said: “It’s a tough break and nobody knows it better than Paul, but he can’t help himself. He wants you to tell her not to pay any bills. Send them to him–rent, grocer, doctor, and hospital.”

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *