XIX + 

The Degenerate + 

Rolly and I went back to my room, closing the connecting door. He said: + 

тАЬTch, tch, tch. IтАЩd of thought Mrs.┬аHerman was the last person in the world toтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬYou ought toтАЩve,тАЭ I grumbled. тАЬYou recommended her. Who is she?тАЭ + 

тАЬSheтАЩs Tod HermanтАЩs wife. HeтАЩs got the garage. She used to be a trained nurse before she married Tod. I thought she was all right.тАЭ + 

тАЬShe got a nephew in Vallejo?тАЭ + 

тАЬUh-huh; that would be the Schultz kid that works at Mare Island. How do you suppose she come to get mixed up inтБатАФ?тАЭ + 

тАЬProbably didnтАЩt, or she would have had the writing paper she went after. Put somebody here to keep people out till we can borrow a San Francisco bomb-expert to look it over.тАЭ + 

The deputy called one of the men in from the corridor, and we left him looking important in the room. Mickey Linehan was in the lobby when we got there. + 

тАЬFinkтАЩs got a cracked skull. HeтАЩs on his way to the county hospital with the other wreck.тАЭ + 

тАЬFitzstephan dead yet?тАЭ I asked. + 

тАЬNope, and the doc thinks if they get him over where they got the right kind of implements they can keep him from dying. God knows what forтБатАФthe shape heтАЩs in! But thatтАЩs just the kind of stuff a croaker thinks is a lot of fun.тАЭ + 

тАЬWas Aaronia Haldorn sprung with Fink?тАЭ I asked. + 

тАЬYes. Al MasonтАЩs tailing her.тАЭ + 

тАЬCall up the Old Man and see if AlтАЩs reported anything on her. Tell the Old Man whatтАЩs happened here, and see if theyтАЩve found Andrews.тАЭ + 

тАЬAndrews?тАЭ Rolly asked as Mickey headed for the phone. тАЬWhatтАЩs the matter with him?тАЭ + 

тАЬNothing that I know of; only we havenтАЩt been able to find him to tell him Mrs.┬аCollinson has been rescued. His office hasnтАЩt seen him since yesterday morning, and nobody will say they know where he is.тАЭ + 

тАЬTch, tch, tch. Is there any special reason for wanting him?тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt want her on my hands the rest of my life,тАЭ I said. тАЬHeтАЩs in charge of her affairs, heтАЩs responsible for her, and I want to turn her over to him.тАЭ + 

Rolly nodded vaguely. + 

We went outside and asked all the people we could find all the questions we could think of. None of the answers led anywhere, except to repeated assurance that the bomb hadnтАЩt been chucked through the window. We found six people who had been in sight of that side of the hotel immediately before, and at the time of, the explosion; and none of them had seen anything that could be twisted into bearing on the bomb-throwing. + 

Mickey came away from the phone with the information that Aaronia Haldorn, when released from the city prison, had gone to the home of a family named Jeffries in San Mateo, and had been there ever since; and that Dick Foley, hunting for Andrews, had hopes of locating him in Sausalito. + 

District attorney Vernon and sheriff Feeney, with a horde of reporters and photographers close behind them, arrived from the county seat. They went through a lot of detecting motions that got them nowhere except on the front pages of all the San Francisco and Los Angeles papersтБатАФthe place they liked best. + 

I had Gabrielle Collinson moved into another room in the hotel, and posted Mickey Linehan next door, with the connecting door unlocked. Gabrielle talked now, to Vernon, Feeney, Rolly, and me. What she said didnтАЩt help us much. She had been asleep, she said; had been awakened by a terrible noise and a terrible jarring of her bed; and then I had come in. That was all she knew. + 

Late in the afternoon McCracken, a San Francisco police department bomb-expert, arrived. After examining all the fragments of this and that which he could sweep up, he gave us a preliminary verdict that the bomb had been a small one, of aluminum, charged with a low-grade nitroglycerine, and exploded by a crude friction device. + 

тАЬAmateur or professional job?тАЭ I asked. + 

McCracken spit out loose shreds of tobaccoтБатАФhe was one of the men who chew their cigarettesтБатАФand said: + 

тАЬIтАЩd say it was made by a guy that knew his stuff, but had to work with what he could get his hands on. IтАЩll tell you more when IтАЩve worked this junk over in the lab.тАЭ + 

тАЬNo timer on it?тАЭ I asked. + 

тАЬNo signs of one.тАЭ + 

Doctor George returned from the county seat with the news that what was left of Fitzstephan still breathed. The doctor was tickled pink. I had to yell at him to make him hear my questions about Fink and Gabrielle. Then he told me FinkтАЩs life wasnтАЩt in danger, and the girlтАЩs cold was enough better that she might get out of bed if she wished. I asked about her nerves, but he was in too much of a hurry to get back to Fitzstephan to pay much attention to anything else. + 

тАЬHmтАСmтАСm, yes, certainly,тАЭ he muttered, edging past me towards his car. тАЬQuiet, rest, freedom from anxiety,тАЭ and he was gone. + 

I ate dinner with Vernon and Feeney in the hotel caf├й that evening. They didnтАЩt think I had told them all I knew about the bombing, and kept me on the witness stand throughout the meal, though neither of them accused me point-blank of holding out. + 

After dinner I went up to my new room. Mickey was sprawled on the bed reading a newspaper. + 

тАЬGo feed yourself,тАЭ I said. тАЬHowтАЩs our baby?тАЭ + 

тАЬSheтАЩs up. How do you figure herтБатАФonly fifty cards to her deck?тАЭ + 

тАЬWhy?тАЭ I asked. тАЬWhatтАЩs she been doing?тАЭ + 

тАЬNothing. I was just thinking.тАЭ + 

тАЬThatтАЩs from having an empty stomach. Better go eat.тАЭ + 

тАЬAye, aye, Mr.┬аContinental,тАЭ he said and went out. + 

The next room was quiet. I listened at the door and then tapped it. Mrs.┬аHermanтАЩs voice said: тАЬCome in.тАЭ + 

She was sitting beside the bed making gaudy butterflies on a piece of yellowish cloth stretched on hoops. Gabrielle Collinson sat in a rocking chair on the other side of the room, frowning at hands clasped in her lapтБатАФclasped hard enough to whiten the knuckles and spread the finger-ends. She had on the tweed clothes in which she had been kidnapped. They were still rumpled, but had been brushed clean of mud. She didnтАЩt look up when I came in. The nurse did, pushing her freckles together in an uneasy smile. + 

тАЬGood evening,тАЭ I said, trying to make a cheerful entrance. тАЬLooks like weтАЩre running out of invalids.тАЭ + 

That brought no response from the girl, too much from the nurse. + 

тАЬYes, indeed,тАЭ Mrs.┬аHerman exclaimed with exaggerated enthusiasm. тАЬWe canтАЩt call Mrs.┬аCollinson an invalid nowтБатАФnow that sheтАЩs up and aboutтБатАФand IтАЩm almost sorry that she isтБатАФhe-he-heтБатАФbecause I certainly never did have such a nice patient in every way; but thatтАЩs what we girls used to say at the hospital when we were in training: the nicer the patient was, the shorter the time weтАЩd have him, while you take a disagreeable one and sheтАЩd liveтБатАФI mean, be thereтБатАФforever and a day, it seems like. I remember once whenтБатАФтАЭ + 

I made a face at her and wagged my head at the door. She let the rest of her words die inside her open mouth. Her face turned red, then white. She dropped her embroidery and got up, saying idiotically: тАЬYes, yes, thatтАЩs the way it always is. Well, IтАЩve got to go see about thoseтБатАФyou knowтБатАФwhat do you call them. Pardon me for a few minutes, please.тАЭ She went out quickly, sidewise, as if afraid IтАЩd sneak up behind her and kick her. + 

When the door had closed, Gabrielle looked up from her hands and said: + 

тАЬOwen is dead.тАЭ + 

She didnтАЩt ask, she said it; but there was no way of treating it except as a question. + 

тАЬNo.тАЭ I sat down in the nurseтАЩs chair and fished out cigarettes. тАЬHeтАЩs alive.тАЭ + 

тАЬWill he live?тАЭ Her voice was still husky from her cold. + 

тАЬThe doctors think so,тАЭ I exaggerated. + 

тАЬIf he lives, will heтБатАФ?тАЭ She left the question unfinished, but her husky voice seemed impersonal enough. + 

тАЬHeтАЩll be pretty badly maimed.тАЭ + 

She spoke more to herself than to me: + 

тАЬThat should be even more satisfactory.тАЭ + 

I grinned. If I was as good an actor as I thought, there was nothing in the grin but good-humored amusement. + 

тАЬLaugh,тАЭ she said gravely. тАЬI wish you could laugh it away. But you canтАЩt. ItтАЩs there. It will always be there.тАЭ She looked down at her hands and whispered: тАЬCursed.тАЭ + 

Spoken in any other tone, that last word would have been melodramatic, ridiculously stagey. But she said it automatically, without any feeling, as if saying it had become a habit. I could see her lying in bed in the dark, whispering it to herself hour after hour, whispering it to her body when she put on her clothes, to her face reflected in mirrors, day after day. + 

I squirmed in my chair and growled: + 

тАЬStop it. Just because a bad-tempered woman works off her hatred and rage in a ten-twenty-thirty speech aboutтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬNo, no; my stepmother merely put in words what I have always known. I hadnтАЩt known it was in the Dain blood, but I knew it was in mine. How could I help knowing? HadnтАЩt I the physical marks of degeneracy?тАЭ She crossed the room to stand in front of me, turning her head sidewise, holding back her curls with both hands. тАЬLook at my earsтБатАФwithout lobes, pointed tops. People donтАЩt have ears like that. Animals do.тАЭ She turned her face to me again, still holding back her hair. тАЬLook at my foreheadтБатАФits smallness, its shapeтБатАФanimal. My teeth.тАЭ She bared themтБатАФwhite, small, pointed. тАЬThe shape of my face.тАЭ Her hands left her hair and slid down her cheeks, coming together under her oddly pointed small chin. + 

тАЬIs that all?тАЭ I asked. тАЬHavenтАЩt you got cloven hoofs? All right. Say these things are as peculiar as you seem to think they are. What of it? Your stepmother was a Dain, and she was poison, but where were her physical marks of degeneracy? WasnтАЩt she as normal, as wholesome-looking as any woman youтАЩre likely to find?тАЭ + 

тАЬBut thatтАЩs no answer.тАЭ She shook her head impatiently. тАЬShe didnтАЩt have the physical marks perhaps. I have, and the mental ones too. IтБатАФтАЭ She sat down on the side of the bed close to me, elbows on knees, tortured white face between hands. тАЬIтАЩve not ever been able to think clearly, as other people do, even the simplest thoughts. Everything is always so confused in my mind. No matter what I try to think about, thereтАЩs a fog that gets between me and it, and other thoughts get between us, so I barely catch a glimpse of the thought I want before I lose it again, and have to hunt through the fog, and at last find it, only to have the same thing happen again and again and again. Can you understand how horrible that can become: going through life like thatтБатАФyear after yearтБатАФknowing you will always be like thatтБатАФor worse?тАЭ + 

тАЬI canтАЩt,тАЭ I said. тАЬIt sounds normal as hell to me. Nobody thinks clearly, no matter what they pretend. ThinkingтАЩs a dizzy business, a matter of catching as many of those foggy glimpses as you can and fitting them together the best you can. ThatтАЩs why people hang on so tight to their beliefs and opinions; because, compared to the haphazard way in which theyтАЩre arrived at, even the goofiest opinion seems wonderfully clear, sane, and self-evident. And if you let it get away from you, then youтАЩve got to dive back into that foggy muddle to wangle yourself out another to take its place.тАЭ + 

She took her face out of her hands and smiled shyly at me, saying: + 

тАЬItтАЩs funny I didnтАЩt like you before.тАЭ Her face became serious again. тАЬButтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬBut nothing,тАЭ I said. тАЬYouтАЩre old enough to know that everybody except very crazy people and very stupid people suspect themselves now and thenтБатАФor whenever they happen to think about itтБатАФof not being exactly sane. Evidence of goofiness is easily found: the more you dig into yourself, the more you turn up. NobodyтАЩs mind could stand the sort of examination youтАЩve been giving yours. Going around trying to prove yourself cuckoo! ItтАЩs a wonder you havenтАЩt driven yourself nuts.тАЭ + 

тАЬPerhaps I have.тАЭ + 

тАЬNo. Take my word for it, youтАЩre sane. Or donтАЩt take my word for it. Look. You got a hell of a start in life. You got into bad hands at the very beginning. Your stepmother was plain poison, and did her best to ruin you, and in the end succeeded in convincing you that you were smeared with a very special family curse. In the past couple of monthsтБатАФthe time IтАЩve known youтБатАФall the calamities known to man have been piled up on you, and your belief in your curse has made you hold yourself responsible for every item in the pile. All right. HowтАЩs it affected you? YouтАЩve been dazed a lot of the time, hysterical part of the time, and when your husband was killed you tried to kill yourself, but werenтАЩt unbalanced enough to face the shock of the bullet tearing through your flesh. + 

тАЬWell, good God, sister! IтАЩm only a hired man with only a hired manтАЩs interest in your troubles, and some of them have had me groggy. DidnтАЩt I try to bite a ghost back in that Temple? And IтАЩm supposed to be old and toughened to crime. This morningтБатАФafter all youтАЩd been throughтБатАФsomebody touches off a package of nitroglycerine almost beside your bed. Here you are this evening, up and dressed, arguing with me about your sanity. + 

тАЬIf you arenтАЩt normal, itтАЩs because youтАЩre tougher, saner, cooler than normal. Stop thinking about your Dain blood and think about the Mayenne blood in you. Where do you suppose you got your toughness, except from him? ItтАЩs the same toughness that carried him through DevilтАЩs Island, Central America, and Mexico, and kept him standing up till the end. YouтАЩre more like him than like the one Dain I saw. Physically, you take after your father, and if youтАЩve got any physical marks of degeneracyтБатАФwhatever that meansтБатАФyou got them from him.тАЭ + 

She seemed to like that. Her eyes were almost happy. But I had talked myself out of words for the moment, and while I was hunting for more behind a cigarette the shine went out of her eyes. + 

тАЬIтАЩm gladтБатАФIтАЩm grateful to you for what youтАЩve said, if youтАЩve meant it.тАЭ Hopelessness was in her tone again, and her face was back between her hands. тАЬBut, whatever I am, she was right. You canтАЩt say she wasnтАЩt. You canтАЩt deny that my life has been cursed, blackened, and the lives of everyone whoтАЩs touched me.тАЭ + 

тАЬIтАЩm one answer to that,тАЭ I said. тАЬIтАЩve been around you a lot recently, and IтАЩve mixed into your affairs enough, and nothingтАЩs happened to me that a nightтАЩs sleep wouldnтАЩt fix up.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut in a different way,тАЭ she protested slowly, wrinkling her forehead. тАЬThereтАЩs no personal relationship with you. ItтАЩs professional with youтБатАФyour work. That makes a difference.тАЭ + 

I laughed and said: + 

тАЬThat wonтАЩt do. ThereтАЩs Fitzstephan. He knew your family, of course, but he was here through me, on my account, and was actually, then, a step further removed from you than I. Why shouldnтАЩt I have gone down first? Maybe the bomb was meant for me? Maybe. But that brings us to a human mind behind itтБатАФone that can bungleтБатАФand not your infallible curse.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou are mistaken,тАЭ she said, staring at her knees. тАЬOwen loved me.тАЭ + 

I decided not to appear surprised. I asked: + 

тАЬHad youтБатАФ?тАЭ + 

тАЬNo, please! Please donтАЩt ask me to talk about it. Not nowтБатАФafter what happened this morning.тАЭ She jerked her shoulders up high and straight, said crisply: тАЬYou said something about an infallible curse. I donтАЩt know whether you misunderstand me, or are pretending to, to make me seem foolish. But I donтАЩt believe in an infallible curse, one coming from the devil or God, like JobтАЩs, say.тАЭ She was earnest now, no longer talking to change the conversation. тАЬBut canтАЩt there beтБатАФarenтАЩt there people who are so thoroughlyтБатАФfundamentallyтБатАФevil that they poisonтБатАФbring out the worst inтБатАФeverybody they touch? And canтАЩt thatтБатАФ?тАЭ + 

тАЬThere are people who can,тАЭ I half-agreed, тАЬwhen they want to.тАЭ + 

тАЬNo, no! Whether they want to or not. When they desperately donтАЩt want to. It is so. It is. I loved Eric because he was clean and fine. You know he was. You knew him well enough, and you know men well enough, to know he was. I loved him that way, wanted him that way. And then, when we were marriedтБатАФтАЭ + 

She shuddered and gave me both of her hands. The palms were dry and hot, the ends of her fingers cold. I had to hold them tight to keep the nails out of my flesh. I asked: + 

тАЬYou were a virgin when you married him?тАЭ + 

тАЬYes, I was. I am. IтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬItтАЩs nothing to get excited about,тАЭ I said. тАЬYou are, and have the usual silly notions. And you use dope, donтАЩt you?тАЭ + 

She nodded. I went on: + 

тАЬThat would cut your own interest in sex to below normal, so that a perfectly natural interest in it on somebody elseтАЩs part would seem abnormal. Eric was too young, too much in love with you, maybe too inexperienced, to keep from being clumsy. You canтАЩt make anything horrible out of that.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut it wasnтАЩt only Eric,тАЭ she explained. тАЬEvery man IтАЩve known. DonтАЩt think me conceited. I know IтАЩm not beautiful. But I donтАЩt want to be evil. I donтАЩt. Why do menтБатАФ? Why have all the men IтАЩveтБатАФ?тАЭ + 

тАЬAre you,тАЭ I asked, тАЬtalking about me?тАЭ + 

тАЬNoтБатАФyou know IтАЩm not. DonтАЩt make fun of me, please.тАЭ + 

тАЬThen there are exceptions? Any others? Madison Andrews, for instance?тАЭ + 

тАЬIf you know him at all well, or have heard much about him, you donтАЩt have to ask that.тАЭ + 

тАЬNo,тАЭ I agreed. тАЬBut you canтАЩt blame the curse with himтБатАФitтАЩs habit. Was he very bad?тАЭ + 

тАЬHe was very funny,тАЭ she said bitterly. + 

тАЬHow long ago was it?тАЭ + 

тАЬOh, possibly a year and a half. I didnтАЩt say anything to my father and stepmother. I wasтБатАФI was ashamed that men were like that to me, and thatтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬHow do you know,тАЭ I grumbled, тАЬthat most men arenтАЩt like that to most women? What makes you think your case is so damned unique? If your ears were sharp enough, you could listen now and hear a thousand women in San Francisco making the same complaint, andтБатАФGod knowsтБатАФmaybe half of them would be thinking themselves sincere.тАЭ + 

She took her hands away from me and sat up straight on the bed. Some pink came into her face. + 

тАЬNow you have made me feel silly,тАЭ she said. + 

тАЬNot much sillier than I do. IтАЩm supposed to be a detective. Since this job began, IтАЩve been riding around on a merry-go-round, staying the same distance behind your curse, suspecting what itтАЩd look like if I could get face to face with it, but never getting there. I will now. Can you stand another week or two?тАЭ + 

тАЬYou meanтБатАФ?тАЭ + 

тАЬIтАЩm going to show you that your curse is a lot of hooey, but itтАЩll take a few days, maybe a couple of weeks.тАЭ + 

She was round-eyed and trembling, wanting to believe me, afraid to. I said: + 

тАЬThatтАЩs settled. What are you going to do now?тАЭ + 

тАЬIтБатАФI donтАЩt know. Do you mean what youтАЩve said? That this can be ended? That IтАЩll have no moreтБатАФ? That you canтБатАФ?тАЭ + 

тАЬYeah. Could you go back to the house in the cove for a while? It might help things along, and youтАЩll be safe enough there. We could take Mrs.┬аHerman with us, and maybe an op or two.тАЭ + 

тАЬIтАЩll go,тАЭ she said. + 

I looked at my watch and stood up saying: + 

тАЬBetter go back to bed. WeтАЩll move down tomorrow. Good night.тАЭ + 

She chewed her lower lip, wanting to say something, not wanting to say it, finally blurting it out: + 

тАЬIтАЩll have to have morphine down there.тАЭ + 

тАЬSure. WhatтАЩs your dayтАЩs ration?тАЭ + 

тАЬFiveтБатАФten grains.тАЭ + 

тАЬThatтАЩs mild enough,тАЭ I said, and then, casually: тАЬDo you like using the stuff?тАЭ + 

тАЬIтАЩm afraid itтАЩs too late for my liking or not liking it to matter.тАЭ + 

тАЬYouтАЩve been reading the Hearst papers,тАЭ I said. тАЬIf you want to break off, and weтАЩve a few days to spare down there, weтАЩll use them weaning you. ItтАЩs not so tough.тАЭ + 

She laughed shakily, with a queer twitching of her mouth. + 

тАЬGo away,тАЭ she cried. тАЬDonтАЩt give me any more assurances, any more of your promises, please. I canтАЩt stand any more tonight. IтАЩm drunk on them now. Please go away.тАЭ + 

тАЬAll right. Night.тАЭ + 

тАЬGood nightтБатАФand thanks.тАЭ + 

I went into my room, closing the door. Mickey was unscrewing the top of a flask. His knees were dusty. He turned his half-witтАЩs grin on me and said: + 

тАЬWhat a swell dish you are. What are you trying to do? Win yourself a home?тАЭ + 

тАЬShтАСhтАСh. Anything new?тАЭ + 

тАЬThe masterminds have gone back to the county seat. The redhead nurse was getting a load at the keyhole when I came back from feeding. I chased her.тАЭ + 

тАЬAnd took her place?тАЭ I asked, nodding at his dusty knees. + 

You couldnтАЩt embarrass Mickey. He said: + 

тАЬHell, no. She was at the other door, in the hall.тАЭ + 