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He dropped straight back and down No frills, no flourishes, and best of all, no talking He sprawled on a worn-looking Persian rug, a lead brick in a nice blue suit

Slightly rumpled now

I rubbed my knuckles out of habit My hand didn&039;t hurt Hell, I could have used Dugan for punching bag practice the rest of the night and not felt anything but the warhteous satisfaction

God, that had been good

Since he was out for an undetermined count, I took a look around what he called home He must have been very secure indeed about his control over et inside a dwelling without an invitation, but he didn&039;t seem the type to s all the old folklore and superstitions whole More likely he just couldn&039;t believe anyone would cross his for them

The room ere in served as a parlor and study in one It was croith old furniture, expensive a couple generations ago, gone shabby in the years betith ed better, but the varnish had gone black He had one big table covered with books and papers, the latter al documents A few mismatched chairs, la new to relieve the drab except for a cheap radio

Scattered around were hundreds of his origami pieces Literally hundreds All kinds of animals, paper boats, planes, other objects not readily identifiable, they were everyplace It was like I was being watched by theht start walking toward es: either to leave fast or s ones flat

The rest of the place was big and pretty thoroughly cob-webbed, and if not already haunted, then it should have been I wasn&039;tthe date of a house, but this one seemed on a level with Escott&039;s old relic, only he took better care of his home The modernization here must have stopped when Queen Victoria died

The other roo to ot the impression he&039;d sold off stuff to pay the bills He&039;d left the dust-coated curtains, probably to keep neighbors froinated Faded wallpaper bubbled or peeled quietly in the damp The floors creaked or crunched fro as a source of incootten a job like a normal person

Upstairs wasbath was in use, the rest were gutted, their heating grates sealed up by rags and yellowed newspaper He did have a nice clothing collection in his closet, enough to hold his head up at society events So long as no one saw the inside of this dump, he could blend

Back where I left him I found his phone and noticed the first two letters shared the sae as Vivian Gladwell&039;s Her house couldn&039;t have been far I didn&039;t believe in coincidence Going to the , I checked the street Big yards, posh ho, and I found a second-floor rooht line of sight through bare-branched trees to the Gladwells&039; front gate You could just see the house beyond

"You son of a bitch," I said, then went to call Lady Cry a handkerchief and dialing with the eraser end of , having left ht it before the first ring died "Yes?"

"I got him," I reported with no small triumph

"Where are you?"

"His house Wait&039;ll you see this place Talk about not very Great Expectations

Miss Havisham would feel at home"

"I look forward to it You still wish to proceed as planned?"

"Yeah You got everything set?"

"They&039;re waiting and ready for us"

"Great Where&039;s Bobbi?"

"Downstairs running things"

"Any problems?"

"None of which I am aware"

"Great Tell her I&039;et this show on the road"

"Immediately"

It took him about half an hour with traffic He used the back door, which opened into a badly kept kitchen By then I&039;d found rope and other things and had Dugan trussed up tight, blindfolded, with a gag in his otten laundry, still unconscious to judge by his heartbeat and utter i any chances, are you?" Escott observed

"You heard him talk Wanna listen to more?"

"No, thank you"

"He didn&039;t see any visitors after his cousin dropped hih everything

"It er than that This place is enormous"

"He doesn&039;t live in all of it"

I took hi at the countless paper ani every horizontal surface

"Good God"

"Yeah That&039;s what I thought Must be a couple of reams&039; worth here"

"Are the other rooms ?"

"No, just here"

He looked relieved

Taking off his regular gloves, he pulled out a pair ave n we&039;d been near this place "Tell me what happened after you left"

It was , Escott poked, pried, sifted papers, ruenerally turned the house inside out for inforan We found it iami pieces, but there were so many, chances are even anyone familiar with the place wouldn&039;t notice the added disorder

"No personal journal," he said a couple dusty hours later "A pity He seems the sort ould want a record of his accomplishments"

"Not that he&039;s done much He called himself a scholar, but I don&039;t see many books" We did find a stack of old Police Gazettes and cri cases "He should have gotten rid of these"

"He&039;ll probably claiht them in for him to study"

"No doubt Still, it&039;s a da around"

I dropped a azine with a torn cover onto the pile Its lead was about the Lindbergh baby "Yeah, of course only an innocent man would keep thee?&039; What a crock"

"To be expected He&039;s obviously a chronic liar"

"Only when his lips are e, but I don&039;t think too many people would believe him; he just expects them to"

"That expectation is a weakness Let&039;s hope he keeps it You&039;ll dissuade his friends fro as they&039;re not crazy"

"There&039;s nothing to prevent hih"

"Won&039;t matter if he&039;s in jail Look at this" I held up a letter "He&039;s supposed to be in court tomorrow Ain&039;t that too bad?"

Escott chuckled "How convenient And now you&039;ve an address for his lawyer"

"Yeah By toht, he won&039;t have anyone on his side, and the laill be after him Life is sweet"

"Still, it&039;s a bit of chance we&039;re taking"

"Safer than having him run loose He can do with a dose of poetic justice"

"You&039;re certain hypnosis won&039;t work on him?"

I let the letter fall and picked up one of the origa with it "I did h and me a hell of a headache We&039;ll do it this way, then when the time comes, let him twist in the wind"

"As you wish"

"So," I said "You find a typewriter here? Carbon sheets?

Typing paper?"

"No Nothing like that"

"Then he wrote the letters soot one of his friends to do them for him"

"Where are those letter copies?"

I patted my inside coat pocket

"But we&039;ve not found the originals Perhaps one of his friends has theerprints are all over these If it ever coainst hiet that far oh, hell"

Soot ?"

"Nothing Just take a look" I unfolded what first appeared to be only scrap

Flattening it out on the table revealed writing on one side, all done in a distinctive dark green ink Very oddball I read soan had no scratch-outs, no botched lettering The writing was so even it could have been done by reatest hindrance to true progress Think of the scientific advancements we could have by now had our ancestors been able to rid themselves of the more impractical emotions or at least better control them We have twisted what should be simple survival and ile

From the moment we&039;re born we are driven by instinct to find a oal unless the mate is of a mediocre intellect, bound by the lireater part of humanity is mediocre because we tend to be attracted to round and place in society There is safety in the familiar Thus do we continue to hold ourselves back We could progress to a higher levelIf we have bred lesser animals to our purposes to produce cattle with more milk orof two brilliant people would likely result in a brilliant child, and he in turn can expect to produce

"Oh, brother" I said

Escott puffed out a single laugh "His journal And I&039;d been looking for a notebook"

"This is , there was a guy on the staff ould write out whatever was bothering him that day

Sometimes they&039;d use it for an opinion piece"

"Dugan has a good point, but I doubt a practical application will ever prove to be popular" Escott collectedthem up, and we unfolded several Each animal represented a specific subject All were covered with the sa all kinds of observations about people and life, s What a coy, cranes were history, pelicans current events, boats were about euthanasia of inferior human specimens as a means to improve the breed Chronic criminals, the mentally ill or retarded, those with hereditary afflictions or abnormalities were on his list He had quite a fleet of boats

"This is the da away fro at the ones yet untouched Just thinking of the hours he&039;d put in writing all that crap uts twist

"Do you think there&039;s any symbolism involved in his choice of animal for each topic?"

"Ask Dr Freud"

"He is very consistent, in his oay organized, very prolific An acute case of overthinking and toointended to make one conclude he is less than rational? Or is he really like this?"

"I know he&039;s nuts Doesn&039;t matter much Once we&039;re done, he&039;ll have plenty more time to write his novel or treatise or whatever he thinks he&039;s doing"

"Indeed We should wind things up, then I&039;ll phone and let them knoe&039;re on the way"

The driveway to Dugan&039;s garage led from a side-street entrance around the house to the back There it was secluded, surrounded by trees and a high fence, and completely concealed the presence ofbody down the kitchen steps and du his coat and hat on top

"You&039;re sure he&039;s all right?" asked Escott

I could understand his concern Once, before I&039;d gotten used to le punch to the face Not that he didn&039;t deserve it, but I hated being the one to deliver his fate Sometiiving wetly under an&039;s heart and breathing "He&039;s just out S him around"

Escott slaan&039;s house keys in hand, I went back for a last look, ainst his phone was a single sheet of paper, the letter notifying him of his court date to one of the fountain pens on the table so its green ink would s We left the essays lying around open so anyone who bothered to read them could draw their own conclusions about their writer&039;s mental state

Last of all, in the kitchen, I picked up a sizable suitcase we found in Dugan&039;s bedroo with his shaving kit and toothbrush, and we filled the rest up with clothes and a pair of galoshes We e fro absence Escott had found Dugan&039;s bank-and checkbook and put those in, too There was less than a hundred in the account

Added to as in his wallet, if that was all he had in the world, he must have been desperate for cash

He&039;d have other things on his h

I locked the house, put the suitcase in the backseat, got behind the wheel, and took the long way around to our destination Eventually I found another side street entrance to a long driveway, this one in better repair with a gate made of tall iron bars with spikes on top At one in theit was locked Escott juh, shut it, and rode the running board on the trip up to the big, dark structure ahead He see hiht showed at the servants&039; entry to the Glad-well mansion As I set the brake, Vivian Gladwell herself came out to meet us At this very late hour she was fully dressed and looked wide awake If she was nervous, it didn&039;t show She went to greet Escott, giving him her hand He took it in both of his-he&039;d re pleased to see her

"Hello, Mr Fleht?"

"Copasetic," I replied "There&039;s still tie yourto Escott

"Jack&039;s right," he said "This is a dreadful risk for you if word got out"

Another headshake, with a warm smile She did have a nice face "I trust reement"

Escott shotHe knew the people better I could rely on his judgeneral

I opened the trunk, and Vivian stared down at Dugan, getting her first sight of his didn&039;t seem to shock her

"To think I was at the same parties with him," she said "He makes my flesh crawl"

"You and rabbed under his arms, folded him forward, then heaved him up over one shoulder like a sack of flour "Lead the way"

The physical effort impressed her She recovered quickly, and with Escott behind carrying the suitcase, ushered us into the house

The place was as silent as Dugan&039;s aging white elephant but rateful for the switch in accommodations Maybe he could write an essay about it if Vivian had so around

She went to a broad door under soht cord Bare wooden steps went steeply down to the basean wasn&039;t especially heavy to me, just aard I was careful about balance on the descent

At the bottohts We were in a big, died area, chilly compared to the rest of the place Here the laundry ashed, Christmas decorations were stored, and unfashionable furniture ripened into antiques It was the Ritz coan&039;s place The pitch-black dusty-museum cellar there would have scared Frankenstein into next week

Vivian walked ahead, gesturing toward a sturdy door with a serious-looking bolt lock on it The room behind it was a dozen feet square and very, very quiet, the result of solid concrete walls It was lighted by one unshaded standing lamp on the floor by the threshold On the far end was an army cot, several blankets spread neatly on top, with a pillow Under the cot was a chamber pot discreetly covered by a square of cloth, a roll of toilet paper on end next to it She&039;d thought of everything

I rolled Dugan off my shoulder onto the cot and stretched my cramped muscles "Is he in for a surprise" He&039;d wonder how the hell he&039;d gotten here

Most people knocked unconscious don&039;t reot that way

Escott put the suitcase on the floor and opened it He reht be ets this when he is actually brushing his teeth," he said to Vivian "The handle can be filed down to a point, you know Wouldn&039;t want anyone to get punctured"

"Goodness," she said "I wouldn&039;t have thought of that"

I went through Dugan&039;s pockets, taking stuff he wouldn&039;t need, like his wallet and a pencil I judged his handkerchief to be fairly harht I took it, too He could use the toilet roll to blow his nose Of course, he could rip his clothing up to make the same sort of weapon, but maybe it wouldn&039;t occur to him He&039;d be pretty da pills to put in his food and drink

We took his shoes and suspenders, the belt on his over-coat, and double-checked the roo that would be used for a weapon or a h There wasn&039;t so otten in a corner

"What was this before?" I asked her, wondering how an ideal prison cell happened to be in her basee The lock prevented temptation for the servants

When we round floor for his stock, which I still use It&039;sall the way down here, and electric, so the teot so like that at h"

"Certainly," she said "But, please, let&039;s get him well"

"No problem"

Escott had been over earlier in the day with a special drill and hardware He said it had only taken him a few minutes for the job, which would have done the Inquisition proud Set deep into the concrete floor next to the cot was a very heavy-duty ring bolt h it was an equally heavy chain, the ends joined by a big padlock I tested the strength of the chain, yanking hard, trying to pull it apart or shatter the lock No chance that Dugan would break it if I couldn&039;t I did an&039;s socks

Escott wore so with unsuppressed good hu a ball

The weakest iteri his luck against They were padded toEscott looped these through the doubled chain and cla thean woke, he&039;d have about a six-foot radius for exercise and wouldn&039;t be able to co it out, we tried to think of e&039;d do in his place to escape It only seemed prudent to be overcautious

"He won&039;t be able to change his shirt with those on," Escott pointed out

"Too bad," I said "Sarah wore the saood to find out what it&039;s like"

"There&039;s that, but I was considering the sensibilities of the people charged with looking after him"

"He can make do with a washbasin, and we can hold our breath," said Vivian

"He won&039;t have visitors except to bring him food and -er-remove the necessary"

"How many are actually in on this?" I asked

"All of us The butler, maids, cook, the chauffeur-"

"That&039;s a lot ofNot hter or treat her like an ordinary huether a staff that would care for her as much as I do Charles will tell you how hard it was for everyone when she was kidnapped and how incensed we all hen this-this ani out those horrid lies to the papers to talk himself free We all want him to pay for what he&039;s done This is a start"

A start and a half, I thought, deciding that Vivian did indeed have the guts to go through it "How&039;s Sarah?"

Her face softened "Ihtht, but she&039;s begun talking ain"

"Does she talk about what happened to her?"

"She doesn&039;t recallher I want to be able to look her in the eye and truthfully tell her that they will never scare her again"

"You can now Make sure she doesn&039;t come down here"

"Oh, that won&039;t be a problem Sarah hates the base She thinks basean, gathering up the last scraps of his bindings "She&039;s right"

We went out, leaving Dugan alone in his cell

"She fully understands the precautions she must take," Escott said about Vivian as we drove away "Her butler and chauffeur will do the looking -after, bringing food and such No eating utensils allowed, and alith at least one other man on hand to back them up We&039;ve had a very soo over every day to check on things"

The way he&039;d looked at Vivian gave me the idea he would have done that with or without a prisoner to watch

"I doubt they&039;ll have difficulties, but can&039;t say it will be pleasant for theot better than what he gave Sarah"

"They&039;re well aware of that I think the household&039;s outrage will be oes on"

"Hope so He her than we think He could crack tomorrow or never"