istartedtosaysomethingbutheputhishandup.「takeiteasy.i’mnotaccusinganybody,justspeculating.fiveminuteslaterandyougetthesameanswer.shehadtenminutestopullitoff.」

「tenminutes,」isaidirritably,「thatcouldn’tpossiblyhavebeenforeseen,muchlessplanned.」

heleanedbackinthechairandsighed.「iknow.you’vegotalltheanswers,i’vegotalltheanswers.andistilldon’tlikeit.whatthehellwereyoudoingwiththesepeopleanyway?theguywritesyouacheckforagrand,thentearsitup.gotmadatyou,yousay.youdidn’twantitanyway,wouldn’thavetakenit,yousay.maybe.didhethinkyouweresleepingwithhiswife?」

「layoff,bernie.」

「ididn’taskwereyou,iaskeddidhethinkyouwere.」

「sameanswer.」

「okay,trythis.whatdidthemexhaveonhim?」

「nothingthatiknowof.」

「themexhastoomuchmoney.overfifteenhundredinthebanks,allkindsofclothes,abrandnewchevvy.」

「maybehepeddlesdope,」isaid.

ohlspushedhimselfupoutofthechairandscowleddownatme.

「you’reanawfulluckyboy,marlowe.twiceyou’veslidoutfromunderaheavyone.youcouldgetoverconfident.youwereprettyhelpfultothosepeopleandyoudidn’tmakeadime.youwereprettyhelpfultoaguynamedlennoxtoo,thewayihearit.andyoudidn’tmakeadimeoutofthatoneeither.whatdoyoudoforeatingmoney,pal?yougotalotsavedsoyoudon’thavetoworkanymore?」

istoodupandwalkedaroundthedeskandfacedhim.「i’maromantic,bernie.ihearvoicescryinginthenightandigoseewhat’sthematter.youdon’tmakeadimethatway.yougotsense,youshutyourwindowsandturnupmoresoundonthetvset.oryoushovedownonthegasandgetfarawayfromthere.stayoutofotherpeople’stroubles.allitcangetyouisthesmear.thelasttimeisawterrylennoxwehadacupofcoffeetogetherthatimademyselfinmyhouse,andwesmokedacigarette.sowheniheardhewasdeadiwentouttothekitchenandmadesomecoffeeandpouredacupforhimandlitacigaretteforhimandwhenthecoffeewascoldandthecigarettewasburneddownisaidgoodnighttohim.youdon’tmakeadimethatway.youwouldn’tdoit.that’swhyyou’reagoodcopandi’maprivateeye.eileenwadeisworriedaboutherhusband,soigooutandfindhimandbringhimhome.anothertimehe’sintroubleandcallsmeupandigooutandcarryhiminoffthelawnandputhimtobedandidon’tmakeadimeoutofit.nopercentageatall.nonothing,exceptsometimesigetmyfacepushedinorgettossedinthecanorgetthreatenedbysomefastmoneyboylikemendymenendez.butnomoney,notadime.i’vegotafive-thousand-dollarbillinmysafebuti’llneverspendanickelofit.becausetherewassomethingwrongwiththewayigotit.iplayedwithitalittleatfirstandistillgetitoutonceinawhileandlookatit.butthat’sall—notadimeofspendingmoney.」

「mustbeaphony,」ohlssaiddryly,「excepttheydon’tmakethemthatbig.sowhat’syourpointwithallthisyap?」

「nopoint.itoldyouiwasaromantic.」

「iheardyou.andyoudon’tmakeadimeatit.iheardthattoo.」

「buticanalwaystellacoptogotohell.gotohell,bernie.」

「youwouldn’ttellmetogotohellifihadyouinthebackroomunderthelight,chum.」

「maybewe’llfindoutaboutthatsomeday.」

hewalkedtothedoorandyankeditopen.「youknowsomething,kid?youthinkyou’recutebutyou’rejuststupid.you’reashadowonthewall.i’vegottwentyyearsonthecopswithoutamarkagainstme.iknowwheni’mbeingkiddedandiknowwhenaguyisholdingoutonme.thewiseguyneverfoolsanybodybuthimself.takeitfromme,chum.iknow.」

hepulledhisheadbackoutofthedoorwayandletthedoorclose.hisheelshammereddownthecorridor.icouldstillhearthemwhenthephoneonmydeskstartedtosound.thevoicesaidinthatclearprofessionaltone:

「newyorkiscallingmr.philipmarlowe.」

「i’mphilipmarlowe.」

「thankyou.onemoment,please,mr.marlowe.hereisyourparty.」

thenextvoiceiknew.「howardspencer,mr.marlowe.we’veheardaboutrogerwade.itwasaprettyhardblow.wehaven’tthefulldetails,butyournameseemstobeinvolved.」

「iwastherewhenithappened.hejustgotdrunkandshothimself.mrs.wadecamehomealittlelater.theservantswereaway—thursday’sthedayoff.」

「youwerealonewithhim?」

「iwasn’twithhim.iwasoutsidethehouse,justhangingaroundwaitingforhiswifetocomehome.」

「isee.well,isupposetherewillbeaninquest.」

「it’sallover,mr.spencer.suicide.andremarkablylittlepublicity.」

「really?that’scurious.」hedidn’texactlysounddisappointed—morelikepuzzledandsurprised.「hewassowellknown.iwouldhavethought—well,nevermindwhatithought.iguessi’dbetterflyoutthere,butican’tmakeitbeforetheendofnextweek.i’llsendawiretomrs.wade.theremaybesomethingicoulddoforher—andalsoaboutthebook.imeantheremaybeenoughofitsothatwecouldgetsomeonetofinishit.iassumeyoudidtakethejobafterall.」

「no.althoughheaskedmetohimself.itoldhimrightouticouldn’tstophimfromdrinking.」

「apparentlyyoudidn’teventry.」

「look,mr.spencer,youdon’tknowthefirstdamnthingaboutthissituation.whynotwaituntilyoudobeforejumpingtoconclusions?notthatidon’tblamemyselfalittle.iguessthat’sinevitablewhensomethinglikethishappens,andyou’retheguyonthespot.」

「ofcourse,」hesaid.「i’msorryimadethatremark.mostuncalledfor.willeileenwadebeatherhomenow—orwouldn’tyouknow?」

「iwouldn’tknow,mr.spencer.whydon’tyoujustcallherup?」

「ihardlythinkshewouldwanttospeaktoanyoneyet,」hesaidslowly.

「whynot?shetalkedtothecoronerandneverbattedaneye.」

heclearedhisthroat.「youdon’tsoundexactlysympathetic.」

「rogerwadeisdead,spencer.hewasabitofabastardandmaybeabitofageniustoo.that’sovermyhead.hewasanegotisticaldrunkandhehatedhisownguts.hemademealotoftroubleandintheendalotofgrief.whythehellshouldibesympathetic?」

「iwastalkingaboutmrs.wade,」hesaidshortly.

「sowasi.」

「i’llcallyouwhenigetin,」hesaidabruptly.「goodbye.」

hehungup.ihungup.istaredatthetelephoneforacoupleofminuteswithoutmoving.thenigotthephonebookuponthedeskandlookedforanumber.