A Long Line of Dead Men

by Lawrence Block

Page 41

 

  "You know his name. Its part of your annual litany. "

  "Part of our-"

  "For years now," I said, "you all thought he was dead. "

  "My God," he said. "Its him, isnt it?"

  "You tell me, Ray. "

  "It is," he said. "Its Severance. "

  "I made a couple of stops on my way here," I told him. "I went over to Lew Hildebrands apartment and caught him before he left for work. I saw Avery Davis at his office. They were both able to identify the sketch as James Severance. In fact Davis said he had already been struck by the killers resemblance to Severance, and would have mentioned something except that he knew Severance was dead. Everybody knew it, and how could you possibly forget it? Youve been reading his name all those years. "

  "And hes not dead?"

  "I went down to Washington yesterday," I said. "I went to see if his name was engraved on the Memorial down there. "

  "And it wasnt?"

  "No. "

  "Im not sure if that proves anything, Matt. Their accuracys a long way from a hundred percent. People have been left off the Memorial, and guys who survived the war have found their names carved in stone. He could be carried on the books as MIA, he could have been overlooked in any number of ways-"

  "He never served," I said.

  "He was never in Vietnam?"

  "He was never in the service, period. I went to the Veterans Administration and I found somebody who knew somebody at the Pentagon. They did a pretty comprehensive check of the service records. He was never in any branch of the service. I dont know if he was ever called up, or if he even bothered to register for the draft. That would be harder to check, and Im not sure theres any point to it. Whats relevant is he didnt die in Vietnam, and he doesnt seem to have died anywhere else, either. Because hes still alive. "

  "It seems impossible. "

  "Avery Davis said its like finding out at age thirty that you were adopted. "

  "I know what he meant. I barely knew Severance. He never said much. I saw him once a year for a couple of years, and then he missed a dinner because he was in the army, and then the following year or the year after Homer read his name. And Ive heard it read once a year ever since. "

  "How did he get chosen for the club?"

  "I dont know. Either he was somebodys friend or Homer found him all by himself. Did Lew or Avery-"

  I shook my head. "They met him for the first time at Cunninghams. And they didnt know how he got there. I wonder how he faked his death. How did you learn of it?"

  "Let me think. " He took a sip of his hard-way coffee. "God, it was a long time ago. I seem to remember Homer reading a letter from him, explaining that his heart was with us even though his body was wearing a uniform. And he hoped to be with us soon, and if anything happened to him hed made arrangements for us to be notified. "

  "He was setting you up. "

  "I guess so. It must have been a year later that Homer read his name along with Phil Kalishs and explained that hed received a telegram a couple of months before. "

  "From whom?"

  "I dont think he said. I suppose I assumed it was either from the army or from a relative of Severances. Obviously it wasnt from either, no matter how it may have been signed. Severance sent it himself. "

  "Yes. "

  "Was he already planning to kill us?"

  "Hard to say. "

  "And why, for Gods sake? What did we ever do to him?"

  "I dont know," I said. "You know, I met him a few times. I sat across a table from him. "

  "So youve said. "

  "And Ive met the surviving members, most of them, anyway. And its hard to imagine him sitting down to dinner with the rest of you. Ill grant you that youve all worked hard and created successful lives for yourselves while hes been living in cheap hotels and eating in diners and holding subsistence jobs when hes worked at all. The different paths youve taken for the past thirty years would account for some of the difference, but I think he must have been different to start with. "

  "Well, hell," he said. "I didnt like to say it when I regarded him as one of our honored dead, but I can say it now, cant I? He came across as a loser. "

  "A loser. "

  "A nobody, a nebbish. A guy who wasnt going to make the cut. Youre right, he wasnt in our league. He didnt belong at the same table with the rest of us. "

  "Maybe he realized that himself," I said. "Maybe it pissed him off. "

  * * *

  He wanted to speculate on Severances motives, and what might have gone through his mind. Earlier, he said, before he had any idea who the killer was or what might be motivating him, it had struck him that the whole affair was a sort of collective form of erotomania, where a disturbed individual becomes fixated on someone, often a celebrity. "Like that woman who kept breaking into David Lettermans house," he said. "Or the lunatic who killed John Lennon. "

  "Afterward," I said, "there will be plenty of time to figure out what makes him tick. "

  "Afterward?"

  "After hes locked up," I said. "And I think its time to make sure that happens as soon as possible. Im afraid Ive gone about as far as I can go with this, Ray. Im ready to turn it over to the professionals. "

  "I never thought of you as an amateur. "

  "I am when it comes to mounting an all-out manhunt. Thats the way to catch him fast. Between the cops and the tabloids and Americas Most Wanted, theres no way hell be able to stay hidden. "

  He looked at me. "And what about us?"

  "The clubs story will come out," I said. "If thats what you mean. But theres no way to avoid that. "

  "No?"

  "I dont see how. "

  He cupped his chin in his hand. "Lets assume hes in New York," he said. "Do you think you could find him?"

  "Without the police?"

  "Without the police or the press. "

  "I dont have their resources. "

  "No, but you have other resources at your disposal. We could give you a substantial operating budget. And you could offer a reward. "

  "Its not impossible," I said. "But youd just be postponing the inevitable. The story would have to come out when he went to trial, and it would be every bit as sensational and get just as much of a play. "

  "When he went to trial. "

  "Thats right. "

  "And what do you suppose would happen at that trial? And afterward?"

  "Im not sure I follow you. "

  "What would happen? What would be the outcome of the trial?"

  "I suppose hed get convicted of murder," I said. "Unless he had Hard-Way Ray for a lawyer. "

  He laughed. "No, Im afraid hed have to get along without my services. But are you all that certain hed be found guilty? Which killing do you suppose hed stand trial for?"

  "Billings is the most recent one. "

  "And whats the evidence? Can you put him on the scene? Can you tie him to the car? Can you produce a murder weapon, let alone prove it was in his hand?"

  "Once the police go to work on it-"

  "They might have an eyewitness or two who can pick him out of a lineup," he said, "but I wouldnt count on it, and I dont have to tell you how little most eyewitness testimony is worth in a courtroom. Who else has he killed? Watsons widow? Watson himself? Can you prove any of that? We know he was on the scene, he discovered Alans body, but wheres your evidence?"

  "Whats your point?"

  "My point is that a conviction is by no means a foregone conclusion. You can throw out the early cases entirely. He killed Boyd and Diana Shipton, he went down to Atlanta and shot Ned Bayliss, he hanged Hal Gabriel with his belt, God knows what else he did, and you can forget all of that because theres not going to be any way to prove it. And I seriously doubt you can convince a jury he killed anybody else, either. "

  I recalled something Joe Durkin had said. "Its a wonder anybody ever goes to jail for anything," I said.

  "I dont know about that," he said. "I think the system is generally
pretty good at locking people up. Too good, sometimes. But that doesnt mean you can make a tight enough case against Severance to put him away. Hell, if you had the goods on him, he could probably plead insanity and make it stand up. Hes devoted his life to a career of senseless systematic serial murder. You want to try to sell him to a jury as a model of mental health?"

  "I cant even buy that myself. "

  "Neither can I. I figure the bastards nuts. I also figure hes done enough harm for one lifetime. "

  I had an idea where this was going. I didnt much want to go there. I got the waiters attention and had him refill my coffee cup.

  Gruliow said, "Say Im wrong. He stands trial, they find him guilty on all counts, and he goes to prison. "

  "Sounds good to me. "

  "Does it? Obviously, it makes the club and all of its members the focus of a lot of unwelcomed publicity, but theres no avoiding that, is there? Maybe wed survive as an institution. For my own part, I cant imagine ceasing to get together every May. But I hate to think how all that media attention would change things. "

  "Thats unfortunate, but-"

  "But were talking life and death here, and our desire to stay out of the spotlight is comparatively inconsequential. I cant argue with that. But lets take this a little further. What happens to Severance?"

  "He stays in some maximum-security joint upstate for the rest of his life. "

  "Think so?"

  "I thought we were supposing hed be found guilty. I dont think the courts going to slap his wrist and let him off with time served and five years probation. "

  "Lets assume he gets a life sentence. How much time would he serve?"

  "That depends. "

  "Seven years?"

  "It could be a lot more than that. "

  "Dont you think he could behave himself in prison? Dont you think he could convince the parole board that hes a changed man? Matt, the mans the most patient son of a bitch on Gods earth. Hes spent thirty years killing us and hes only a little more than halfway through. You think he wont be content to bide his time? Theyll have him stamping out license plates and itll just be another menial job, like working as a rent-a-cop in Queens. Theyll stick him in a cell and itll just be another in a long string of furnished rooms. What does he care how long he has to sit on his ass? Hes been sitting on his ass for thirty years. Sooner or later theyll have to let him out, and do you think for one moment that hell be magically rehabilitated?"

  I looked at him.

  "Well? Do you?"

  "No, of course not. "

  "Hell start in where he left off. By the time he gets out, Mother Nature will have done some of his work for him. Therell have been some thinning of the ranks. But some of us will be left, and what do you bet he comes after us? What do you bet he tries to pick us off one by one?"

  I opened my mouth, then closed it without saying anything.