Chapter 7 Chapter VII

On the morning of Monday, July 8, Sylvester called Sam and was in his office at ten-thirty. "Things are going wrong," he said. "As usual, they didn't give me advance notice. I'm going to be transferred to California to run one of the top local bureaus. It's a promotion." "Congratulations." "Thanks. That would make it impossible for me to arrange that thing we're talking about. I mean, if you decide to give it a go." "I'm going to let it go, can't you deal with it before you leave?" "It's too early. But I've made a little arrangement for you. Would you like to write it down? Joe Tenrini, 1821 Market Street. It's a little candy and cigarette shop, and there's a horse racing shop in the back." Small room for betting. He'll be waiting for you on Wednesday the 17th, don't tell him your name, just mention my name, and he'll know what's up. He'll ask you to pay five hundred dollars up front, no Problem, pay him. When it's done, he'll ask you for the rest of the five hundred. This time he'll get someone better than last time."

In Sam's view, the situation was strangely unreal.He hadn't expected such a conversation in his office, and there was nothing shady about Sylvester's speaking, as if he was referring to the best places to buy fresh eggs. "Thank you." Sylvester showed a look of recalling the past. "A long time ago, in other places, this kind of thing was much more convenient than it is now. In 1933 or 1934 in Chicago, Kansas City, Atlanta or Birmingham, etc., the price was much cheaper You can break a leg for ten yuan; if you want to kill someone, and that person is not an important person, the most is two hundred yuan. Now there are only a small number of professional killers in the whole country, and they only The business of taking over gangs, even if you can get in touch with them, the price is sky-high. Find a kid with a drug addiction, the money is less, but things will be messy. Professional killers do things cleanly, and they use a lot of money. Fly in on a good pretext, in groups of two or three, rent a car, live in a big hotel, choose a time and place, do it quickly and cleanly, and leave when it's done. Amateur fanciers will always If he gets caught, it will always reveal who hired him."

Sam's polite laugh sounded forced and hollow. "I never thought of these things, Sylvester." Silves woke up from the memory, and he looked at Sam. "I don't want to make you even more nervous, Mr. Bowden. But it's better for me to tell you this first. Out of curiosity, I asked the top branch of Huilin Town to check his details. It’s not in the name of entrustment by clients, even if it’s helping each other in the branches. The Kadi family has lived there for several generations. They are considered to be people in the mountains. Before he was sentenced in the army, Max Cady had no criminal record, but he was not a good person. The four children in the Cady family were not good people. Marx once cut a man with a broken bottle, and then he joined the army. He was jealous because of a woman. The court asked him to choose to join the army or go to prison, so he joined the army. His old man is a bootlegger. He has been in and out of prison all his life. He has a hot temper. Three years ago Died of a stroke. He married the boys' mother when she was fifteen and he was nearly thirty. She was always a moron and now lives with the youngest son. The oldest son is in Got shot eight years ago in a shootout chase with the feds; second child died in a Georgia state prison riot while he was serving a life sentence in Georgia for homicide. My ego was shattered by my failure to follow Cardi , now I don't feel so bad. Cardi is a wild kind of guy. They don't think like normal people. Whether he gets caught for the rape or not, he will end up in jail Yes. People like him don't know right from wrong, their only thought is whether they will be caught, and as long as they can get away with it, it's worth doing."

"Isn't there a name for this character?" "Psychopaths. They made us learn that term, which is a category that I don't know what else to call it. They are incurable people, the kind of people who don't care what you do to them. , except perhaps for the actions we intend to take now." He stood up. "I've got some things to clean up before I leave in the morning, and Joe'll get that sorted out for you." With Sylvester gone, it took Sam a while to refocus on work.He was grateful to Sylvester for telling him all those nasty facts, but it just made him think Cady was a much scarier guy.It's like seeing a frightening black shadow when I was a child, and the more I look at it, the bigger and more terrifying it becomes.He told himself that Cady was human and had his weaknesses; he told himself that it was shameful to be afraid of being alone.He decides not to tell Kylo what Sylvester knows about Cady.He would tell her the new arrangement, but she needed no new reason to be afraid of Cady.

On Friday, July 12th, after the dishes for dinner had been washed, Sam, who was reading, heard a strange sound from Caro, and raised his head.She was sitting on the couch reading a paper, and then she put the paper down and stared at him with a very strange expression. "What's up?" "What's the name of the man you're going to see next Wednesday night?" "Tanlini. Joe Tanlini." "Come and see this." He sits next to her and sees Joe Tenrini's obituary.The obituary said that Tan Lini, who lived at 118 Rose Street, died of a heart attack in Memorial Hospital last night. He was fifty-six years old. Mr. Tan Lini was a retailer in New Essex. Eighteen years.Below is a long list of survivors.

"Probably not the same person, dear." "But what if it is?" He said confidently: "Even if it's him, I can still go to the address Silves gave me to contact other people." "Really?" "Very sure." "I don't think you should wait until next Wednesday, my dear. I think you should go tomorrow evening." "Aren't we going to Kimbell's for dinner?" "I can go by myself, you just meet me there." "I'll drive there tomorrow afternoon." "Afternoon? I always feel that it should be something to do at night."

"At least I can sort things out in the afternoon and see if it's the same person." But under his verbal guarantee, he actually knew in his heart that it was the same person, and the ruthless hand of fate gave all the biggest trump cards in the deck to Cardy. It was unbearably hot on Market Street at four o'clock in the afternoon.Sam found a metered parking space on the stretch of street where "Eighth" begins, and carefully locked the car door, which is a place where you automatically lock the car.1821 has no sign showing the name of the owner or the company, and the door is two steps down from the sidewalk.On the small window, there are several old advertisements for soda and cigarettes, and the dust has accumulated so much that the glass is almost opaque."Cigarettes, magazines, sweets" was written in the peeling gold paint on the windows.This side of the street was in shadow, and the entrance to the building next door was up six or seven stone steps.A fat red-haired woman sat on the top step, her fat frame stretching her dirty pink dress.She was sipping a can of beer.

He went down the steps and pushed the door, but it was locked. "Because of Old Joe, the door is locked, baby." A loud voice told him so, and he raised his head to look at the fat woman's round face.She was much younger than he had just gotten the impression from a hasty glance. "That's right. Old Joe's dead. Someone's betting ten dollars and winning him a lot. His heart can't stand the fright." She giggled. He climbed the steps back to the sidewalk, looked at her and said, "Do you know when they'll open the door again?" "Damn it, they're still in business, they just locked the front door in mourning for old Joe, you know. I don't know who's in charge now, or who's going to take over, but they don't even Don’t miss a day’s worth of business, especially on a Saturday.”

He found her happily drunk. "How do I get in?" "Well, if you want to go in, man, you've got to go down the first alley, go through that alley and turn left to the third door, and knock on the third door. But these racehorses Will kill you, hey, if you got twenty bucks to spend. There happens to be a pretty blond chick in this building, she's bored as hell, you know, she's a singer, she's She was with a band, and then that band broke down, and she had to earn two pennies for travel expenses to go to the West Bank, where an audition had been arranged, and she was a real college girl, and— —”

"No, thanks, not today." She frowned at him. "The punters," she said. "Damn punters." He thanked her and followed her instructions to find her.The door was very heavy, and there were no small windows on it.The door opened about six inches wide, revealing a round, white doughy face with two raisin-like eyes looking at him through the door and saying, "What is it?" "I...I want to find the person in charge here." He heard loud voices behind the door. "What are you doing?" "I... Silves asked me to come." "Wait."

The door closed, and after a full minute had passed, it opened again. "Nobody ever heard of Sylvester." "Joe Tenrini knew him." "Fantastic." Those raisin-like eyes seemed to see right through him, and fell behind him. "If you say... I want to bet." "Go to the racetrack." "Wait a moment……" But the door was shut tightly, and he waited a minute or two, then knocked again. "Well, I say, friend—" said the pale face. "Listen, Joe was going to do a thing for me, and now he can't do it, but I still want to do it, I'm still willing to pay, and I want to know who I should see. " "Me. What's the matter?" "I can't stand on the street and tell you." "Well, man, I'm at my beck and call. Joe takes personal business, I don't. He's got his way, I've got mine, so go tell your folks, you can't even get in the door here." The door was about to close, then pulled open again. "Don't stick around here, old man, and don't knock on the door again, or someone will come out and reason with you." The door closed with a bang. Sam lingered around Market Street until nearly ten o'clock in the evening.In the movies that kind of thing is always easy to do, the main character always finds the villainous type, he goes to some of the roughest looking bars he can find, he never hit on strangers before, now He tried to find the right person, chatted with the person first, and then led the conversation to a place where he could explain his problem in a hypothetical tone.For example, chat: "Just to give an example, I have a friend who wants to pay someone to fix a man who is messing with his wife..." "It's better for this idiot to find two or three friends to take care of himself, or he can just leave his wife to him. This kind of woman might as well go away." Someone replied. One man looked violent and clever, but after hearing the question, he said, "Ask your friend to turn the other cheek, and ask God to forgive him for having such evil in his heart, and let him kneel down and pray that the The abductor knew what he had done was sinful, and let the lustful woman come back to Jesus Christ." After repeated setbacks, he tried another approach. "Who's in charge here?", "Who's boss in the New Essex underground?" A sad-faced bartender gave him a low-key lesson in this regard. "Brother, you'd better watch less TV. You can't find this kind of people in this town. There is no such organization here, and I hope God never allows such a thing here. There are two or three floating around here. In the casino, you can also find some chicks, and occasionally there will be bootleggers passing by here, and there are union thugs from time to time; but there are no bosses, because no one is behind the control, and gangs will intervene only if they are large. If you Get a lot of votes, then you can hire a politician to stop the cops from spying on you, and then you can solidify your power. It's all just small players here, big brother." "And, say, Joe Tenrini or something?" "I don't like to speak ill of dead men, but Joe's nothing at all. When there's no danger, he'll do a little bit of business, and a scene or two now and then. He's just smart enough to know he can't get big, Otherwise someone will step on him. We're tough enough here, but smart enough, brother." "Then who is more important than Joe?" "I'm trying to tell you, but you're not listening or something, I can't make sense to you. There's like three or four of Joe Tanrini's kind of thing, the guy who does that kind of stuff, the one that's paid well About three big bills a week. As for the kind of people you said, there are no here. This town is like a lid, and I hope it will stay like this. A brand of beer was repaired by others, so I moved here." Sam knew he was a little drunk by the taste in his mouth. "I'll tell you what I'm really looking for." "Let me tell you something first. I don't want to hear it, I don't want to know what you're trying to buy or sell, and the less I know, the better I'll sleep at night." "But--" "Let's be friends, and I'll take this drink for you. Now, if you want to keep talking, let's talk about women or baseball, you take your pick." He drove carefully back to Harper Village and went directly to Kimbell's house.The guests were gathered in the backyard of their house, and Dolly Kimbell found him a cold steak and warmed it over the still-extinguished coals until it tasted like leather.The guests, about a dozen couples, were playing a complex game that amused them and left him in the cold.He took his chance and pulled Kailo into the dark. "I've been really successful," he said bitterly. "I'm so impressed by my ability, it's like selling erotic pictures in a Sunday school class." "How much wine did you drink?" "A lot. It's a professional gamble, I'm sneaking around sleazy taverns with my collar turned up and my thumb on a switch on a switchblade. People call me boss, brother, dude, oh shit Damn it!" "Is there anything you can do?" "I could call Sylvester on Monday morning. Oh my god, this party is horrible!" "Shh, honey, don't be so loud, it's not that bad." "How soon can we leave?" "When we can go, I'll give you the usual sign. It's our bad luck that Mr. Tenrini died just like that!" Zoey Kimbell brought him a glass of wine that seemed to affect him more than his previous drinks.He squinted his eyes unsteadily and looked down at Kai Luo. "Old Joe's luck is really bad!" "Don't talk to me like that." "I see, you know what it is, don't you? Fate's finger was on little Sam Bowden, the good old man, the noble and upright man. Ah, now he stumbles and falls! Now He's going to hire a killer. We can't make it easy for him, because then old Sam won't even notice that he's fallen from the moral peak. We've got to let him wallow in these things, we've got to let him stay Make an impression so he won't forget." "Honey, please." "Law and order Bowden, that's what we call him in the office, he's the best thing other than the Second Advent, and he's 100 percent strong because his grail is full. He's The type who would rather be broken than broken, he would rather break than bend, and never compromise. Recently he has become so pitiful, sneaking around in back alleys, stealing money from others, drinking canned He would beg for a small amount of money from others. Maybe one day he will be arrested for improperly exposing and obstructing public morals." The sound of her small, firm hand slapping his cheek was loud and menacing, and the sting filled his eyes with tears.He looked down at her, and she didn't look angry or upset, but looked up at him calmly. "Hello!" he said. "Whether you're drunk or not, I don't think this is the moment when we start feeling sorry for ourselves, honey." "But, I'm just—" "Angry because you can't do something that deviates from your principles and violates your beliefs. So you have to roll in sadness and deliberately make yourself sad?" "You really have the right to say such things, my wife." "How? Are you like this?" "I suppose so." "I need a lot of strength to support me at this point. Until a few minutes ago, it was a lot of strength." "This power is back, let's lean in again." "Are you mad at me?" "Very angry, very angry, and desperate for revenge." He kissed the tip of her nose as he said. To his surprise, she began to cry, sobbing, helpless.When she began to calm down, he understood why she was crying. She was sorry for slapping him.All our emotional responses have become sharp and rough, he thought, tension washing away the gravel from the foot of our castle walls. On Monday morning, the local bureau of Apex Detective Agency gave him the data he needed, allowing him to call Silves in California.The California bureau replied: "Mr. Silves is not in the office, but he will return the call." Because of the time difference, Sam waited until eleven o'clock to make the first call, and it was three o'clock in the afternoon when Sylvester called back.Although the line was clear, Sylvester's voice sounded distant and lacking in interest. "Heart attack? Too bad." "It bothers me quite a bit, Sylvester." "I can imagine how it would be." "Who do I contact for this same... service?" "I don't think there's anyone else to be found." "What should I do?" "You can arrange it elsewhere and ask them to send someone over, which will cost more money and take more time." "Can you arrange it for me?" "I have quite a lot of responsibility here, and... to be honest, I don't do the same things here. Bowden, I mean, it's a private arrangement, I can't do anything formally, especially that On the one hand, you understand?" "I think I understand." "I've tried my best, you're out of luck." "Maybe I can find someone myself." "I don't think you'll find it. And at great risk, you'd better... evacuate your family." "I... I see." "Sorry, I can't help you any more." It really was a most unsatisfying conversation.In other words, there is not even a possible line of defense, and they must retreat to another defensive position. On Monday night, he told Caro about it.After listening, her reaction was much calmer than he expected. "I know there's something to it," she said, "but we split up so much, and Nancy and Jamie were at camp, and Butch and I went God knows where, and you were all alone, it made me sad." Afraid, dear. What good would it do any of us if something happened to you?" "I'll be the most cowardly man you'll ever hear, baby, and I'll take a room at the New Essex Hotel and never go out after dark unless I'm sure I know who's knocking, Otherwise, the door will never be opened." "Suppose nothing happened? When do we get back? When do we know it's all over?" "I'm sure he won't be that patient. I think he'll make a move, and it'll be me. I'm sure he won't succeed. If that's the case, we'll have the evidence to send him back to prison." It's been closed for a long time." "Oh yes, a year, maybe three years, and then we can enjoy it again, plan what we'll do when he gets out, and it'll be like this month again. All nervous smiley faces , tell some nasty jokes." "The problem will be solved." "Forgive me, can I ask you not to say that to me again, it makes me feel like you're trying to appease me. We hope things work out, we really do, but there's no guarantee in writing, Right? Honey?" "No, we can only do our best. In this matter, you must be very happy to know that tomorrow I will become a brave and dangerous figure, thanks to the help of Captain Dutton." "What's the meaning?" "He's arranging to issue me a license, and he's not as reluctant as I thought. At lunchtime, I went and bought a Smith & Wesson thing. It's ugly, but it works. ...and when the holster is made, it hangs here, in a gun pouch with a spring clasp, and no one can snatch it away, but if I get it right, Dutton said, it'll jump Into the palm of my hand. Then all I need is a case of gin, a beautiful willing blonde, and a shabby little private office." She looked at him calmly: "So many happy little jokes, such a big, fake and uncomfortable smile." "Then what do you want from me? Clenched teeth, staring cold eyes? Of course I'm uncomfortable! I'm not in this business, you know. I'm afraid of Cady, so I just do Nightmare kids are scared. Thinking about him makes my hands sweat and my stomach feels empty. I'm so scared that I'm going to take my gun with me. I'm going to the mountains tomorrow night with loads of ammo Target practice, and when I'm done, I can draw my gun and hit the target I'm aiming at. I'll feel like a kid playing cop-and-robber, and I'll feel uncomfortable, so I'm going to let myself The poor miss looked like pure nervousness. Anyway, it was a lot more comfortable to be a target to fight back." He stopped walking up and down and looked at her, watching the tears rolling down her cheeks.He sat down beside her, took her into his arms, and kissed her salty eyes. "I shouldn't have yelled at you," he murmured. "I...shouldn't have said that, I'm just...tired of the forced smiles we use to cover everything up. It's become an uneasy habit, but I think that's how we are." She She smiled weakly at him. "I can't stand a dull husband with no sense of humor. I'm... I'm glad you got that gun, it makes me feel better. Really." "Me, my gun, and my stupid babble." "I want all three, and I am happy to bear it." "So, back to our itinerary now. We'll start early on Friday morning, and find a place for you and Butch to settle in. We'll spend the night there on Friday; and we'll see the birthday girl on Saturday. Six nights I'll stay with you at the settlement we found. On Sunday I'll drive back to town and—" "Why don't we take both cars, honey? We can leave my MG car at the place where I'm going to live for a while while we go to camp, and then we can go back to the hotel on Sunday when you go to the hotel." Drive it back to town." "good idea." "I hate to leave you." "You won't be alone." On Tuesday night he came home with the short-bore revolver on his body.The pistol belt was tight, and he thought it would take a long time to get used to it.He had worn the gun when he returned to the office earlier, feeling stupid and suspecting that every passerby who glanced at him saw the suspicious lump under his left arm. He stood there as Caro walked around him to check.Finally she said, "I know where the gun is, so I can see there's a bump there. But, dear, I think you're just right, you're thin and you like to wear baggy tops. " "The pretty chick wandered in, and I could tell she was a pretty shrewd woman at a glance, and she sat down pretendingly, crossed her beautiful legs, and put her hands in a leather bag as big as a dwarf phone booth , pulled out a large roll of green bills big enough for a hippopotamus to bite her throat. Then she leaned over and started counting hundred-dollar bills on the corner of my desk. I was busy counting with her, even No time to look at her boobs." Caro put on a slightly obscene pose, and said from the corner of her mouth: "What does this slut want, baby?" "Ah, I've been pretending for a long time, and it's still a routine. She wants me to kill a man." "Will you take this business?" "Tomorrow, after lunch. That kid should be killed. You know, baby, this is the mission God gave me. I want me to go around and get rid of evil, get rid of those who, because of various connections, so the law can't help him. Guys, get it. I'm going to clean up the villains, get it. I'm going to get rid of them like the samurai used to kill those fire-breathing dragons around. There's money to be paid for doing it, and those blondes And will always be grateful, really grateful.” "And your lustful eyes, my friend, are too convincing." "Come up the hill with me later and see what I can do when I get used to this thing. Dutton said don't take aim, but point the gun as naturally as you would point at something. Butch ? I don't want him to suddenly rush into the line of fire." "Lise Turner took the whole bunch of kids to the country fair." "A brave and noble lady indeed." He took three boxes of flicks up the hill, and a big sheet and some twine.He tied the sheet to a rather thick tree, which looked like a human body, and sketched a heart in pencil on his left breast.At first his movements were slow and clumsy, and his aim was poor, which discouraged him.The weapon slammed flat, far more imposing than his usual . . Kai Luo came up and said, "The sound of your gun practice sounds like a revolution in a South American country, my dear." "It was a lot harder than I imagined." "Should you be standing so close?" "That's a measured twenty feet, honey. This thing wasn't meant for long-distance shooting. I don't know if I'm ready to give it a shot, but I'll try." He let go of the holey sheet, switched to a new side, and tied it up again. "what is that?" "That's the heart." "It's too small, and it should be closer to the middle." "Stop directing. Alright, I've already stood in my position, and I've half-turned away, with my hands hanging by my sides, relaxed and at ease. Whenever you like, just yell 'up'!" "superior!" He gripped the gun cleanly, with his finger on the trigger as he turned, and fired the magazine, punching five black holes in the target, one in the belly, one in the waist, and three roughly Concentrate on the center of the chest. "Oh," she said, with genuine admiration, "missed a shot?" "No, the first round is empty in the chamber, so you have to pull the trigger twice at first." She looked a little pale, and her throat moved as she swallowed a mouthful of saliva. "Perhaps my imagination is too rich, my dear, but this seems... frighteningly useful." "It's 100% useful. Guns are meant to kill people. A gun of this size, coupled with its fastest speed and maximum lethality, doesn't pay attention to beauty or romance." He opened the gun, ejected the magazine, and reloaded. "Do you want to try it?" "No, I think I'd rather not try." "Did my demo make you feel better?" She nodded. "Yeah, Sam, it really made me feel better, but I always feel weird thinking about you... I mean..." "I know what you mean, 'lovely old Sam,' and Dutton knew it too, and he was careful and oblique to give me his opinion. He told me that the military During the Korean War and the Korean War, a large number of soldiers refused to shoot. They were not sure of the real reason, which was related to human civilization, growing up in a Christian family, respecting life and personal dignity, etc. He said that in the army This is the kind of guy who is clearly a strong young man with quick reflexes and a high score on the shooting range. Then on the battlefield, he will do exactly what he has learned, until he takes aim and snaps his fingers. On the trigger. And then he stopped right here, and if things went wrong, there would be an extra dead soldier on the spot. I don't know what would happen to me, I can smash a tree to pieces, and I still have blood on my face. But what if it was flesh and blood? I don't know, I really don't know. If I had ever been in a fight, I would know. I think I can, I must practice this It has to be completely subconscious so that the pull of the trigger becomes part of the routine and not just another separate movement at the end. Then, once I do it, I can do it all the way through. I hope." She tilted her head, examining him carefully. "You don't put on airs at all, Sam, I mean, you take the time to reflect on yourself calmly." "If you mean that I don't see myself as a very brave person, then you're quite right. I'm a forty-year-old office worker sitting in an office with mortgage payments on my house , have a family to support, and insurance to pay. I'm probably as comfortable with this newfound violence and villainy as a comedian is in a Golden Gloves boxing heavyweight. To say It's a cliché that life will make many strange and unexpected demands of you, and I'm trying to face it, but, my lady Indian, there still seems to be something that makes me feel like It's a white mouse that fell into a snake pit." She came up to him and took both of his hands. "I tell you, you're not a guinea pig, you're as brave as anyone else, you've got warmth, you've got strength, you know how to love and be loved, it's an amazing and rare art, you're my man, I don't want you to change in any way." He kissed her and stood there, holding her in his arms.He looked down over her shoulder, and to his right the dim light of the sun seemed discordant.His wrists were pulled back so the weapon wouldn't touch her light blue smock.Looking down the gun, he could see the white target and the pencil heart, and five small black holes.