That afternoon, I went out for a walk with Asda, explaining to two people on the street that it was a German Setter, not a Scotch-Irish cross, and stopped at Jim's for a drink, where I met Leigh. Lee Crawley, ask him to come back with me to the Hotel Normandie.Nora was serving cocktails for the Queens, Margot Innes, a man whose name I didn't catch, and Dorothy Weinant.Dorothy said there was something she wanted to talk to me about, and we both went into the bedroom with our glasses.
She asked immediately, "Do you think my father killed her, Nick?"
"No," I replied. "Why should I think so?"
"That's what the police think—look, she's his mistress, isn't she?"
I nodded: "It was when I knew them."
She stared at the glass and said, "He's my father, but I never liked him. I never liked my mother." She looked up at me, "I didn't like Gilbert either. "—Gilbert was her brother.
"Don't worry about it. Many people don't like their relatives."
"Do you like them?"
"My relatives?"
"Mine," she glared at me, "don't talk to me like I'm a 12-year-old kid."
"No," I explained, "I'm just a little drunk."
"Then do you like them?"
I shook my head: "You used to be fine, just a spoiled child. I can get along with you without them."
"Then what's the matter with us?" she asked, as if she really wanted to make it clear, though she didn't want to argue.
"That's different. You—"
At this moment, Harrison Quinn opened the door and said, "Nick, come and play some ping-pong."
"Come in a moment."
"Bring the beauty, too," he smiled at Dorothy, and went away.
She said, "You probably don't know Jorgenson."
"I know a man named Nars Jorgenson."
"Some people just have luck. That guy's called Christian. He's a real gem. That's what Mommy is—divorced from a lunatic and married to a male whore." Her eyes were wet, and she gasped for breath. , asking, "What should I do, Nick?" The tone was like the cry of a frightened child.
I put my arm around her and said something that I hoped would comfort her.She cried on the lapel of my coat.The phone light next to the bed rang.A popular song came from the radio in the next room.I drank the glass and said, "Then just leave them alone."
She cried again: "But you can't ignore yourself."
"I don't quite understand what you're talking about."
"Stop teasing me." She said sheepishly.
Nora came in to answer the phone, and she looked at me suspiciously.I made a funny face at the girl from above her head.Nora said into the microphone, "Hello?" The girl hurried away from me and took a step back, blushing, and stammered, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't—"
Nora smiled at her sympathetically.
I said, "Don't be stupid." The girl took out a towel and wiped her eyes lightly.
Nora said into the microphone, "Yes... I'll see if he's there. Who are you?" She put one hand on the microphone and said to me, "It's a man named Norman. Talk to him speak?"
I said I couldn't figure out who he was, so I took the microphone: "Hello?"
A gruff voice: "Mr. Charles? . . . Mr. Charles. I hear you used to have something to do with the Pan Am Detective Company."
"Who are you?" I asked.
"My name is Albert Norman, Mr. Charles, and you may not have heard of me, but I would like to give you a piece of advice. I'm sure you will—"
"What kind of advice?"
"I can't go into details on the phone, Mr. Charles. But if you'll give me half an hour, I promise I can—"
"I'm sorry," I replied, "I'm busy, and—"
"Mr. Charles, this is—" Then there was a bang from the phone, probably a gunshot, or something falling down or something.I asked "Hello, hello" several times, and hung up the phone when there was no reply.
Nora took Dorothy to a looking-glass, and powdered and rouged her.
I said, "A call from an insurance guy," and we went back to the living room for drinks.
There were some more guests.I greeted them and talked to them.Harrison Quest got up from the couch he shared with Margot Innes and said, "Now play ping pong." Asda jumped up and poked my stomach with both front paws.I turned off the radio and poured a cocktail.This guy whose name I don't remember was saying, "Whenever the revolution comes, the first thing we do is we all have to stand in a line against the wall and wait to get shot." He seemed to think it was funny.
Zhan came over to refill his drink, and glanced at the bedroom door: "Where did you find that blonde beauty?"
"She used to bounce around on my lap."
"Which knee?" he asked, "may I touch it?"
Nora and Dorothy came out of the bedroom.I see an evening paper on the radio.Then pick it up.The headlines are:
Nora whispered close behind me: "I asked Dorothy to have dinner with us, and be nice to that kid"—Nora was 26—"she was in a terrible mood."
"Everything is up to you." I turned around.Dorothy was laughing across the room at something Quinn said, "But don't expect me to kiss your wounds if you get involved in other people's troubles."
"No. You're a sweet old fool! Don't read the paper here now." Nora snatched the paper from me and stuffed it behind the radio.
Notes:
Notes: