Never had a harrowing event-to-be been heralded with such offhandedness.
Ca.s.sandra looked at him as though she hoped to pene- trate his eyes and see into his very thoughts. Then< with="" an="" evanescent="" smile,="" she="" turned="" toward="" the="" doorway.="" "see="" you="" in="" a="" little="" while,"="" she="" said.="" she="" glanced="" at="" harry.="" "i"ve="" driv-="" ing="" brian="" to="" the="" station,"="" she="">
"Good." He nodded. "Give me boss and me a chance to
talk."
Another fleeting smile from her. "Will you still be here when I get back?" she asked.
"How long?" he responded.
"Less than an hour."
"I imagine so," said Harry. "Though I do have to get back to Boston by early evening." (The well-laid plans...)
Ca.s.sandra nodded and left, closing the door. Harry and Max watching her departure.
After she was gone. Harry smiled at Max. "Quite a gal you"ve got there," he said.
"Quite a gal," repeated Max. For several seconds he looked at Harry, face expressionless. What is he thinking? I
wondered.
Then he smiled. "Well< old="" friend,"="" he="" said,="" "i="" thank="" you="" for="">
"My pleasure, pal," Harry replied expansively.
NowYouSMH... 45
Max gestured toward the chairs. "Shall we?" he inquired.
Harry"s smile was wry; at least, he thought it was. "Thafs what I"m here for," he responded-
He moved to me chair, where he had set down his attache case and hat, which he picked up and placed on the table.
m the meantime. Max had headed for the bar. Glancing over. Harry noticed (as I did, worriedly) his sluggish gait and grimaced to himself.
"Your usual Scotch?" asked Max.
"No, no, just a diet soda if you have it," Harry answered.
"Too early for the hard stuff."
Max peered beneath the bar and came up with a can of Diet c.o.ke. "Are you hungry?" he asked.
Harry shook his head. "No. Had my little health-food breakfast before I left Boston."
Max pulled the can tab free and asked, "Why Boston?"
He picked up the silver tongs to put ice cubes in a gla.s.s.
"Opening tonight," said Harry. "Client of mine."
"Sounds exciting/" commented Max.
"It is-for him," said Harry. "His first play. A murder mystery."
"Never can believe them," Max replied; it was a remark immersed in irony, considering what was about to happen.
"Neither can I," fawned Harry. "But the public likes "em if they"re well done. This one is."
"Glad to hear it," Max responded, starting over with the gla.s.s of Diet c.o.ke on ice cubes. Harry hesitated, then appar- ently telt compelled to say, "You"re movin7 kind o" slow, pal."
"Am I?" Max reached me chairs and handed the drink to Harry.
"Thanks, Max," Harry murmured, watching Max settle into the other chair with a faint, but unmistakably weary, groan- What"s going on? I thought; I"ve never seen him look so bad.
46 Richard Mathecu
Harry winced at the sight but managed a smile as Max looked over at him. He held me gla.s.s up toastingly. "To the best," he said.
Max appeared amused as Harry took a sip of Diet c.o.ke, then set the gla.s.s down on me table. Max lifted a cigar box from the table and raised its lid, holding it out to Harry, who gestured no. "That stuffll kill you/" he remarked; an- other inadvertently ironic statement.
"The least of my problems at the moment," Max replied.
His voice sounded so tired that Harry nearly commented on it, I noted. Then/ changing direction/ Harry gestured to- ward the casket, grinning. "Love that figure in mere," he said- "A new gimmick maybe?"
Max shook his head. "]ust wanted to see what I"d look like."
"Jesus Christ." Harry made a face. "Ca.s.sandra told me mat, but I couldn"t really believe her."
"Why not?" asked Max in mild surprise.
Harry looked askance at him. "Max," he said.
"My future home inside my present one," Max said.
"Seems logical to me."
"Come on." Clearly, Harry still had trouble believing it;
but men, he was unable to approach me thinking of a Dela- corte.
Max smiled tiredly, flexing his fingers with effort, winc- ing as he did. Again I noted Harry on the verge of saying something, then discarding the idea. He took another sip of Diet c.o.ke and set the gla.s.s back down. "All right," he said.
"Shall we get on with it?"
The lid of Pandora"s box was about to be raised.
N.
o, wait. Before we do," said Harry. I saw him brace him- self. "You know Ca.s.sandra"s really worried about you."