the elevator door opened and orville could see, across the lobby, the wolf man and the cat woman exchanging a few words with the two security guards at the front door.
the wolf man and the cat woman left through the revolving doors,
orville crossed the lobby. it was deserted except for the two guards, and his shoes clicked loudly on the hard polished floor.
orville recognized the two guards. one was a bear and the other was a bit of a mystery.
“hey, buddy,” orville addressed the bear, “where can i get a good cup of java around here?”
“i am not your buddy,” the bear replied.
orville went out through the revolving doors.
the street was dark and quiet. there was no sign of the wolf man or the cat woman or anybody else.
orville checked his pockets and his wallet. he had three dollars and thirty three cents.
he began walking.
he came to the docks. they seemed deserted.
he saw a light in a small one story building. he headed toward it.
it was a cafe, presumably open 24 hours, although there was no sign saying so, nor did it have a name displayed.
orville pushed through the front door.
a large redfaced man leaned behind the counter.
the only customer in evidence was a little grayfaced man in a booth in the back, staring sadly at a coffee cup.
the usual, pete? the redfaced man asked orville.
the usual.
the redfaced man pointed to a small table with one chair. the table was littered with newspaoers.
so how’s it going, ernie? pete asked the redfaced man.
good, good, no complaints. the papers are over there. i know you like to read the papers.
thanks.
ernie poured pete a cup of coffee out of a nasty looking old fashioned coffee pot that had been simmering on a burner behind.the counter. if the establishment sold anything but coffee, there was no sign that it did.
here you go, just the way you like it.
pete put six bits down on the counter and picked up the cup of black coffee. the handle was cracked so he shifted the cup to his palm and it was so hot it almost burned his hand.
he sat down at the table with the one chair and the newspapers. he was conscious of the little grayfaced man staring at him. he put the coffee down on the table and picked up one of the newspapers.
the headline read:
empire riddled with corruption.
he glanced at it and picked up another one of the papers, whose headline read:
systematic defiance exploited.
suddenly pete heard a low scratching sound like a rat in a wall.
the little gray man had grabbed a chair and pulled it up to the table and was sitting across from pete.
what are we going to do, pete? the little man asked. it looks bad.
pete looked at the headline of a third paper:
repurcussions anticipated.
and a fourth:
senate resumes probe.
you are right, les, he told the little man. it looks very bad.
just then the phone behind the counter rang and ernie picked it up. he listened for a few seconds.
anybody here named randolph? he asked the room.
not me, said les, i’m les.
and i’m pete, said pete.
and i’m ernie, ernie added. into the phone he said, no, there’s nobody here by that name.
ernie left his post behind the counter and came and sat down with pete and les.
les picked up the first newspaper again.
look at these headlines, he intoned - empire riddled with corruption - systematic defiance exploited - repurcussions anticipated - senate resumes probe.
les turned to pete. tell me. pete, he said, which of these headlines do you think deals with the most urgent issue - the most urgent issue facing the world today?
that’s easy, pete answered promptly. senate resumes probe.
and the second most? les asked.
systematic defiance exploited.
and the third.
pete shrugged. repurcussions anticipated.
so i guess that leaves “empire riddled with corruption” as the least important, eh.. pete?
yes, of those four things, pete replied, a little uncertainly. say, where are you going with this? and why are you asking me? why not ernie here, or the next bum who wanders in out of the cold?
les looked at ernie. we got him, he said.
i’ll say we do, ernie said. he stood up and hovered over pete.
we’ve got you, mister thaddeus p carter.
but, but, pete stammered.
ten years ago, ernie continued, thaddeus p carter was asked those exact same questions in san rafael california - and he answered in exactly the same way! we have you, mr thaddeus p carter, we have you nailed to the wall but good!
at a signal for les, the door of the cafe was flung open, and the octopus woman, the cat woman, and the wolf man entered. all three wore the uniforms of the security police and carried nasty looking weapons in their hands.
orville/pete/thaddeus p carter slumped in his chair. he knew when he was beat.
ernie and les and the three newcomers began whooping and hollering and slapping high fives!
we have done some good work here tonight, guys, the octopus woman said. we can be proud of ourselves.
damn straight, les added. this is sweet. real sweet. i have been after this miscreant for a long, long time.
only the cat woman added a note of caution. we can take a few moments to savor this, she said, but let us not get ahead of ourselves. there is still work to be done. a lot of work to be done.
the others nodded agreement.
what about you? the wolf man asked thaddeus p carter. do you agree there is still work to be done?
of course, the wretch agreed.
and are you ready to give information on your colleagues in crime?
it is what i am here for.
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