by P. N. Elrod
“Okay, I get the picture. What do you want?”
He sat back on the couch. Smiling. Really enjoying himself. “Just answer a few simple questions. And perform a small favor.”
The kind of questions and favor he’d have in mind could never be simple or small. I dropped the letters; they slewed across the desk. One sheet slipped clear and drifted, zigzag, to the floor. “Such as?”
“This may take a while. Please, be seated.”
“Just ask.”
Dugan gave a little shrug. “Very well. Our initial meeting was a bit onesided. We had no real opportunity to talk. I will confess I was rather disturbed to find myself tied up in the car, then carried into the Gladwell house like so much luggage. Once that passed, I soon worked out that you were the one who spoiled my experiment—”
“That’s what you call kidnapping, extortion, and attempted murder?”
“Oh, no, it was an experiment.”
Jesus, he was absolutely serious.
“You may think I was after the money, but not so. That was just a little research in human behavior, which meant I had to work with people instead of mice,” he explained, as though that made it all right. “The ransom was only a means to involve the other men in the operation, a way to success. I planned every detail: the sort of men I would need, the choice of victim. It was something entertaining and challenging to fill the time.”
“Dugan, just what kind of sick bastard are you?”
His eyes twinkled. “I rather expected such a reaction. It’s nothing new to me. I’m insult-proof. Try to calm yourself.”
I calmed myself with the idea that he must have been lying. Nobody could be that crazy.
“Thank you. Now, I was just closing that experiment down when you halted the works. At first I wondered how you managed to follow my men. They’re not up to my level of intellect but do possess a sharp instinct for survival; that’s why I chose them. I couldn’t accept that you’d suborned them by threat or bribery in so brief a time. It was quite a puzzle. Since you were unaware that I’d woken up from your most brutal assault, I continued the pretense of being unconscious. Once my initial confusion passed, I was able to study your interaction with each of my men very closely in the Gladwell parlor. Without the use of any drug you managed to sway them to your will. It was fascinating and alarming, particularly when my turn came. I braced myself for some sort of mental shock, but nothing happened.”
“Nothing at all?” It’d be a shame for my head to hurt so much for nothing, not to mention annoying the hell out of me.
“Do give yourself some credit for the effort. I will confess I was truly fearful of succumbing to whatever spell you put upon them, then delighted to find an immunity to it. Obviously their weaker minds made them easy prey. To assure my continued good health I wisely agreed with all you told me. It was a very macabre situation, especially when I came to realize just what sort of man was before me.”
I kept quiet, wondering if he’d say “vampire” aloud.
He only showed his damned smile again. “You are a most unusual specimen, very rare. I’ve read a lot and know a great deal about all sorts of things, and at first couldn’t bring myself to believe the evidence. For instance, I’m not unfamiliar with hypnosis. I’ve seen it done to others. I have never once witnessed an adept forcing it upon an unwilling subject as you did to my men. You had a very special power at your command.”
“They were off guard. You weren’t by the time I got to you.”
“Yes, but when you came in here, you tried again. You tried very hard and failed. That was quite evident. What I gleaned from that first encounter was that you fully expected it to work on me. Perhaps a talented stage magician or mentalist might be able to force his will upon a weaker, more receptive mind, but hardly—”
“Dugan, cut the crap and get to the point.”
That hit a nerve. His mouth snapped shut, his eyes going hard for a second, but he didn’t give in to temper. “Well, well, someone’s mother forgot to teach him good manners. Please, let’s be civil with each other.”
“You’re a murdering son of a bitch who kidnapped a helpless girl and came that close to killing her, so don’t talk to me about how to behave.”
He waved one hand dismissively. “Very well, though your sentiment for that creature is misplaced. I chose her quite carefully, you know. I would never remove a contributing member of society, but she was nothing. Hardly a contributor; on the contrary, she was and continues to be a waste of resources.”
“Her mother doesn’t think so.”
“Well, mothers are dominated by an instinct to protect their young, whether or not that offspring is worth the trouble. Things are different in the wild, where the weak are sensibly culled from the herd by nature’s many checks and balances. Oh, please, do not counter with the judgment that we are not animals. We really are. The vast majority of humans are so complaisant in their superiority over animals that they don’t consider the scientific fact that they are just another species among thousands. When it comes down to the basics, we are little removed from the brutes who grubbed around in caves not so long ago. It’s a great astonishment to the populace when a truly superior intellect comes along to show them their place in the scheme of things. That’s why genius is so frequently misunderstood, mistrusted, mercilessly exploited by lesser men, or stamped out.”
“You like to hear yourself talk, don’t you?”
“Ah, by that I can infer that you wish me to move on to other points.”
“If it will shorten the misery. What do you want? You said you had questions.”
He made a little frown. “You’re a very rude man. Were you always this way, or is it a result of your condition?”
“It’s a result of you being in the same room.”
“I’ll just have to suffer through, then. I do assure you that your show of contempt is wasted on me.”
“I’m heartbroken. Just get on with it or get out. I got a saloon to run.”
The frown deepened. “I was hoping for better from you. You seemed a likable sort from your interaction with that detective fellow. By the way, where is he?”
I looked at my watch. “You got one minute, then I’m kicking you down the stairs.”
A definite flare of anger in his pale eyes. “I remind you that I am the one in control here. I will send those letters out if you don’t—”
“Yeah, yeah, and my whole life is ruined. Listen, Gurley Hilbert, I’ve had to deal with dumber mugs than you, but at least they got down to business. I never heard such a bum for listening to himself gabble.”
His face went red. Apparently I wasn’t the first who ever made fun of his name in that way or suggested he talked too much. “You will regret that.”
“You got half a minute, then it’s headfirst into the lobby.”
He snorted. “Very well. I know exactly what you are. I only suspected at first and made a bold effort to confirm it. You must admit it’s a compliment to you that I borrowed your method of pursuit, though the car ride was not at all easy or comfortable—”
“A quarter minute.”
“Nor especially agreeable. You have a terrible singing voice.”
That sidetracked me. “What?”
“During the trip you sang along with the radio, if one can call such an off-key yodel singing.”
Now I really wanted to punch him inside out. I was well aware I couldn’t hold a tune in a bucket, but the performance hadn’t been for him.
“Anyway,” he said. “I’d intended to make my presence known to you at some convenient point and ascertain one way or another your true nature. Imagine my elation when you stopped at the Stockyards and I was able to witness at firsthand the proof of my supposition. The follow-up was, of course, when I put you to the test with my firearm. I’d not intended to do it there, but you forced the issue with your attack. There was a risk you might be killed, but it worked out.”
“You could have been killed yourself.”
<
br /> “I didn’t think that likely. I got confirmation; the stories I’ve heard about the abilities of your kind are true.”
“Heard from where?”
“A source meaningless to you. The public library.”
As with Gordy and Bristow, the more Dugan talked, the more I learned about him. What little I picked up made my flesh creep. I’d encountered a similar type before during my days as a reporter. That other man had been a killer heading for death row and not a moment too soon. He’d been friendly, even charming, but gave off a sick emotional stink that made you want to run far and fast. I got the same feeling from Dugan. Whatever it was inside a person that my hypnosis could grab and exploit was missing in him. It felt like I was looking into a face where the eyes had been scooped out, while the body still lived on, unaware of the horror.
“You tell your friends here what you know about me?” I asked.
“You noticed them.”
“Hard not to.”
“They’re here as part of my insurance; they’ve only seen your sort at the cinema. I can count on their loyalty.”
“What lies did you tell them last night to make phone calls to you?”
He was unsurprised I knew. “Oh, that was nothing, and no huge lie was involved. I only said I wanted a quiet word with you in person so as to arrange a meeting with Escott. They accepted it.”
“What about your ‘experiment’? I doubt you gave them the real dirt.”
“Of course not. They are convinced of my innocence. Nothing you say to them to the contrary will be believed. They are not aware of what you are, but I’ll also warn you against harming or attempting to hypnotically influence them.” He gestured at the carbon copies. “Any action on your part that I do not approve will result in all of these being dropped in the post. Please be assured, they are real; this is no bluff.”
He had a kind of gun to my head, but there was only one bullet in it, and I was really good at ducking. He didn’t need to hear that, though. “I can return the favor, you know. Winchell wouldn’t find me nearly as interesting as you.”
“That would be unwise, Mr. Fleming. I already have sufficient notoriety but am well able to withstand its blast. You cannot. I am certain, because of what you are, you would shun official notice of your existence. You can’t hypnotize every bureaucrat, every reporter between Chicago and Washington.”
“Sure about that?”
“Yes.”
No need to disabuse him of that idea.
“Also, you have too much to lose.” He lifted a hand to indicate my nightclub. “I don’t. I have the kind of connections and money to allow me to leave this country and enjoy all that the world has to offer. If it looks like circumstances will shift against me, I’ll simply move on. With all that you have invested in this place you don’t have my sort of freedom. Should you try to leave, it will be in the knowledge that those you leave behind will suffer for it.”
“What do you want?”
“Nothing major. You have only to talk to my men just as you did before. This time you will convince them to adjust their confessions slightly. They are to provide the police a story that will guarantee my exoneration from their crimes. I have one prepared that’s a bit more detailed than what I’ve told the papers. It will serve to free me.”
“You think I can do that with them wide awake and on guard?”
“Yes. I saw how you operated that night. You demonstrated such complete confidence that your hypnosis was obviously routine. You have evidently used it so many times before that failure was not even a remote consideration.”
He had that pegged to the wall, but if I gave in too quick, he wouldn’t believe me. “Suppose I fix them for you. Then what?”
“Another experiment, of course.”
“What kind?”
“I’ll let you know.”
“Not good enough. You tell me now.”
“Or what?”
“I don’t cooperate. I’ll have a few nights feeling bad about what you did to my friends, and I’ll be mad about losing the club, but it’ll be from miles away where you’ll never find me.”
Dugan shook his head. “I think not. You risked life and limb and your great secret to find that girl. What I overheard between you and Escott informed me that you are good friends, and you exhibit the unmistakable signs of possessing a sense of honour. Your anger at me for what you perceived to be a crime is one of them. Those are fatal flaws.”
“I can get over them, but you won’t get over being dead.”
“Then my many letters will be mailed, and you will have six unimpeachable witnesses testifying that I came to this club at Escott’s invitation. I left a note in a safe place outlining the whole business. My story is that Escott wanted to have a private meeting with me here to discuss matters to do with the Gladwell kidnapping. In the company of my friends I felt safe enough, you see. If you do anything rash, I guarantee he will be implicated in my death or disappearance.”
“I’ll talk to your friends before that happens.”
“Perhaps, if you found them in time. They’ll have left by now. If I’m not away from here by nine o’clock at the latest, they are to contact the police, then scatter—after dropping my letters in the mail.”
“Just a chance I’ll have to take.”
“But the letters will create a devil of a mess. It’s unavoidable, no matter what efforts you make to the contrary. But think carefully on this: three of the kidnappers will still go to jail, and the girl’s alive and well. What I’m asking isn’t much. You need to be pragmatic. Balance a few hours of your time against months if not years of dealing with a host of very unsympathetic bureaucrats, police, and so forth. You can’t bend all of them to your will. Truly you cannot.”
I could if I had to, but the bastard had the high hand for the moment. I let him see me thinking it over. “What’s this other experiment you got in mind?”
The smile tugged at him, as though he knew I was over the last hill. “When the time comes, I’ll tell you. I promise that it will not be morally abhorrent. I prefer to maintain businesslike conduct in all things whenever possible. You recall that I did return your car as a sign of my good faith; take that as an example of things to come. We’ve had a rather rough introduction to each other, but it need not have an adverse effect on our future dealings.”
“I don’t want any dealings with you. Here’s how it works: you get this one favor to get you off the hook and out of my hair, and then it’s good-bye. You go your way, I go mine.”
His smile was patient. “Impossible. You are unique. I have to know more. How did you acquire this condition?”
“You tell me.”
“Well, perhaps we can discuss it later. You have a very important errand to run tonight. I’ll contact you tomorrow evening to ask after your progress with my men.”
“Yeah, sure, now get the hell out.”
“How delightful. However, I can’t help thinking that you’re giving in much too easily.”
“I’m a fast thinker; it comes with the condition.”
“Oh, really, come, come.”
“What are you looking for, argument and hair-tearing at how unfair the world is? I’ll do what you want. Now get out so I can call the fumigators.”
“It’s to be done tonight.”
“Too soon. Those friends of yours are in jail. The cops don’t let just anyone in for a visit, especially at night.”
“Actually, they will. With your abilities, it should be very easy for you to get through to them.”
“It’ll take time. I don’t even know which jail they’re in.”
“But I do.” He pulled a folded paper from his wallet and held it up, then delicately straightened it with his long fingers until its intended shape was restored. It looked like the note he’d sent last night, a bird with raised wings. “How do you like my little cranes?”
I made no reply.
“One of my hobbies. I know dozens of patterns. Something to fill the tim
e.” He offered it to me. When I didn’t come around to fetch, he gave a small shrug and set it on the table by the flower vase. “This has the necessary information and the new story the men are to provide to the police. You will persuade them to it.”
“I have my limits.”
“You will overcome them. You will also be watched. Don’t mistake my pleasant manner for softness. I don’t trust you.”
“That makes two of us.” I unlocked the door and held it wide. “Out, before I change my mind.”
“He stood and went to the desk, gathering his hat and the letter copies, not forgetting the one on the floor, then walked past. I sensed his tension, his bracing for another assault, but neither of us got stupid with the other. He paused. “One last instruction. Go to the front windows there.”
“Why?”
“I want to make sure you don’t invisibly follow me. You are to open the blinds and stand before the window for ten minutes. You will be watched.”
He sure loved playing that tune.
“If you move from that spot before time, I will mail the letters.”
That one as well.
I did as he said, making it clear that I didn’t like being ordered around. I pushed the curtains wide and pulled up the blinds. Standing like this raised my hackles, but I could trust that the bulletproof glass would do its job in case Dugan or one of his friends thought to take a potshot.
He smiled one last time, put on his hat, and finally left, his steps unhurried on the stairs.
“Charles,” I said, not too loudly. “Get your ass in here.”
The next door down the hall opened, and Escott rushed in, alert.
“You hear what he wanted?” I asked.
“Everything. Miss Smythe and I have—”
“Great, we’ll get detailed later, swap places with me, quick.”