III + 

Something Black + 

At the Nob Hill address Halstead had given me, I told my name to the boy at the switchboard and asked him to pass it on to Fitzstephan. I remembered Fitzstephan as a long, lean, sorrel-haired man of thirty-two, with sleepy gray eyes, a wide, humorous mouth, and carelessly worn clothes; a man who pretended to be lazier than he was, would rather talk than do anything else, and had a lot of what seemed to be accurate information and original ideas on any subject that happened to come up, as long as it was a little out of the ordinary. + 

I had met him five years before, in New York, where I was digging dirt on a chain of fake mediums who had taken a coal-and-ice dealerтАЩs widow for a hundred thousand dollars. Fitzstephan was plowing the same field for literary material. We became acquainted and pooled forces. I got more out of the combination than he did, since he knew the spook racket inside and out; and, with his help, I cleaned up my job in a couple of weeks. We were fairly chummy for a month or two after that, until I left New York. + 

тАЬMr.┬аFitzstephan says to come right up,тАЭ the switchboard boy said. + 

His apartment was on the sixth floor. He was standing at its door when I got out of the elevator. + 

тАЬBy God,тАЭ he said, holding out a lean hand, тАЬit is you!тАЭ + 

тАЬNone other.тАЭ + 

He hadnтАЩt changed any. We went into a room where half a dozen bookcases and four tables left little room for anything else. Magazines and books in various languages, papers, clippings, proof sheets, were scattered everywhereтБатАФall just as it used to be in his New York rooms. + 

We sat down, found places for our feet between table-legs, and accounted roughly for our lives since we had last seen one another. He had been in San Francisco for a little more than a yearтБатАФexcept, he said, for weekends, and two months hermiting in the country, finishing a novel. I had been there nearly five years. He liked San Francisco, he said, but wouldnтАЩt oppose any movement to give the West back to the Indians. + 

тАЬHowтАЩs the literary grift go?тАЭ I asked. + 

He looked at me sharply, demanding: тАЬYou havenтАЩt been reading me?тАЭ + 

тАЬNo. WhereтАЩd you get that funny idea?тАЭ + 

тАЬThere was something in your tone, something proprietary, as in the voice of one who has bought an author for a couple of dollars. I havenтАЩt met it often enough to be used to it. Good God! Remember once I offered you a set of my books as a present?тАЭ He had always liked to talk that way. + 

тАЬYeah. But I never blamed you. You were drunk.тАЭ + 

тАЬOn sherryтБатАФElsa DonneтАЩs sherry. Remember Elsa? She showed us a picture she had just finished, and you said it was pretty. Sweet God, wasnтАЩt she furious! You said it so vapidly and sincerely and as if you were so sure that she would like your saying it. Remember? She put us out, but weтАЩd both already got plastered on her sherry. But you werenтАЩt tight enough to take the books.тАЭ + 

тАЬI was afraid IтАЩd read them and understand them,тАЭ I explained, тАЬand then youтАЩd have felt insulted.тАЭ + 

A Chinese boy brought us cold white wine. + 

Fitzstephan said: тАЬI suppose youтАЩre still hounding the unfortunate evildoer?тАЭ + 

тАЬYeah. ThatтАЩs how I happened to locate you. Halstead tells me you know Edgar Leggett.тАЭ + 

A gleam pushed through the sleepiness in his gray eyes, and he sat up a little in his chair, asking: тАЬLeggettтАЩs been up to something?тАЭ + 

тАЬWhy do you say that?тАЭ + 

тАЬI didnтАЩt say it. I asked it.тАЭ He made himself limp in the chair again, but the gleam didnтАЩt go out of his eyes. тАЬCome on, out with it. DonтАЩt try to be subtle with me, my son; thatтАЩs not your style at all. Try it and youтАЩre sunk. Out with it: whatтАЩs Leggett been up to?тАЭ + 

тАЬWe donтАЩt do it that way,тАЭ I said. тАЬYouтАЩre a storywriter. I canтАЩt trust you not to build up on what I tell you. IтАЩll save mine till after youтАЩve spoken your piece, so yours wonтАЩt be twisted to fit mine. How long have you known him?тАЭ + 

тАЬSince shortly after I came here. HeтАЩs always interested me. ThereтАЩs something obscure in him, something dark and inviting. He is, for instance, physically asceticтБатАФneither smoking or drinking, eating meagerly, sleeping, IтАЩm told, only three or four hours a nightтБатАФbut mentally, or spiritually, sensualтБатАФdoes that mean anything to you?тБатАФto the point of decadence. You used to think I had an abnormal appetite for the fantastic. You should know him. His friendsтБатАФno, he hasnтАЩt anyтБатАФhis choice companions are those who have the most outlandish ideas to offer: Marquard and his insane figures that arenтАЩt figures, but the boundaries of areas in space that are the figures; Denbar Curt and his algebraism; the Haldorns and their Holy Grail sect; crazy Laura Joines; FarnhamтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬAnd you,тАЭ I put in, тАЬwith explanations and descriptions that explain and describe nothing. I hope you donтАЩt think any of what youтАЩve said means anything to me.тАЭ + 

тАЬI remember you now: you were always like that.тАЭ He grinned at me, running thin fingers through his sorrel hair. тАЬTell me whatтАЩs up while I try to find one-syllable words for you.тАЭ + 

I asked him if he knew Eric Collinson. He said he did; there was nothing to know about him except that he was engaged to Gabrielle Leggett, that his father was the lumber Collinson, and that Eric was Princeton, stocks and bonds, and handball, a nice boy. + 

тАЬMaybe,тАЭ I said, тАЬbut he lied to me.тАЭ + 

тАЬIsnтАЩt that like a sleuth?тАЭ Fitzstephan shook his head, grinning. тАЬYou must have had the wrong fellowтБатАФsomebody impersonating him. The Chevalier Bayard doesnтАЩt lie, and, besides, lying requires imagination. YouтАЩveтБатАФor wait! Was a woman involved in your question?тАЭ + 

I nodded. + 

тАЬYouтАЩre correct, then,тАЭ Fitzstephan assured me. тАЬI apologize. The Chevalier Bayard always lies when a woman is involved, even if itтАЩs unnecessary and puts her to a lot of trouble. ItтАЩs one of the conventions of Bayardism, something to do with guarding her honor or the like. Who was the woman?тАЭ + 

тАЬGabrielle Leggett,тАЭ I said, and told him all I knew about the Leggetts, the diamonds, and the dead man in Golden Gate Avenue. Disappointment deepened in his face while I talked. + 

тАЬThatтАЩs trivial, dull,тАЭ he complained when I had finished. тАЬIтАЩve been thinking of Leggett in terms of Dumas, and you bring me a piece of gimcrackery out of O. Henry. YouтАЩve let me down, you and your shabby diamonds. ButтАЭтБатАФhis eyes brightened againтБатАФтАЬthis may lead to something. Leggett may or may not be criminal, but thereтАЩs more to him than a twopenny insurance swindle.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou mean,тАЭ I asked, тАЬthat heтАЩs one of these masterminds? So you read newspapers? What do you think he is? King of the bootleggers? Chief of an international crime syndicate? A white-slave magnate? Head of a dope ring? Or queen of the counterfeiters in disguise?тАЭ + 

тАЬDonтАЩt be an idiot,тАЭ he said. тАЬBut heтАЩs got brains, and thereтАЩs something black in him. ThereтАЩs something he doesnтАЩt want to think about, but must not forget. IтАЩve told you that heтАЩs thirsty for all thatтАЩs dizziest in thought, yet heтАЩs cold as a fish, but with a bitter-dry coldness. HeтАЩs a neurotic who keeps his body fit and sensitive and readyтБатАФfor what?тБатАФwhile he drugs his mind with lunacies. Yet heтАЩs cold and sane. If a man has a past that he wants to forget, he can easiest drug his mind against memory through his body, with sensuality if not with narcotics. But suppose the past is not dead, and this man must keep himself fit to cope with it should it come into the present. Well, then he would be wisest to anaesthetize his mind directly, letting his body stay strong and ready.тАЭ + 

тАЬAnd this past?тАЭ + 

Fitzstephan shook his head, saying: тАЬIf I donтАЩt knowтБатАФand I donтАЩtтБатАФit isnтАЩt my fault. Before youтАЩre through, youтАЩll know how difficult it is to get information out of that family.тАЭ + 

тАЬDid you try?тАЭ + 

тАЬCertainly. IтАЩm a novelist. My business is with souls and what goes on in them. HeтАЩs got one that attracts me, and IтАЩve always considered myself unjustly treated by his not turning himself inside out for me. You know, I doubt if LeggettтАЩs his name. HeтАЩs French. He told me once he came from Atlanta, but heтАЩs French in outlook, in quality of mind, in everything except admission.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhat of the rest of the family?тАЭ I asked. тАЬGabrielleтАЩs cuckoo, isnтАЩt she?тАЭ + 

тАЬI wonder.тАЭ Fitzstephan looked curiously at me. тАЬAre you saying that carelessly, or do you really think sheтАЩs off?тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt know. SheтАЩs odd, an uncomfortable sort of person. And, then, sheтАЩs got animal ears, hardly any forehead; and her eyes shift from green to brown and back without ever settling on one color. How much of her affairs have you turned up in your snooping around?тАЭ + 

тАЬAre youтБатАФwho make your living snoopingтБатАФsneering at my curiosity about people and my attempts to satisfy it?тАЭ + 

тАЬWeтАЩre different,тАЭ I said. тАЬI do mine with the object of putting people in jail, and I get paid for it, though not as much as I should.тАЭ + 

тАЬThatтАЩs not different,тАЭ he said. тАЬI do mine with the object of putting people in books, and I get paid for it, though not as much as I should.тАЭ + 

тАЬYeah, but what good does that do?тАЭ + 

тАЬGod knows. What good does putting them in jail do?тАЭ + 

тАЬRelieves congestion,тАЭ I said. тАЬPut enough people in jail, and cities wouldnтАЩt have traffic problems. What do you know about this Gabrielle?тАЭ + 

тАЬShe hates her father. He worships her.тАЭ + 

тАЬHow come the hate?тАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt know; perhaps because he worships her.тАЭ + 

тАЬThereтАЩs no sense to that,тАЭ I complained. тАЬYouтАЩre just being literary. What about Mrs.┬аLeggett?тАЭ + 

тАЬYouтАЩve never eaten one of her meals, I suppose? YouтАЩd have no doubts if you had. None but a serene, sane soul ever achieved such cooking. IтАЩve often wondered what she thinks of the weird creatures who are her husband and daughter, though I imagine she simply accepts them as they are without even being conscious of their weirdness.тАЭ + 

тАЬAll this is well enough in its way,тАЭ I said, тАЬbut you still havenтАЩt told me anything definite.тАЭ + 

тАЬNo, I havenтАЩt,тАЭ he replied, тАЬand that, my boy, is it. IтАЩve told you what I know and what I imagine, and none of it is definite. ThatтАЩs the pointтБатАФin a year of trying IтАЩve learned nothing definite about Leggett. IsnтАЩt thatтБатАФremembering my curiosity and my usual skill in satisfying itтБатАФenough to convince you that the man is hiding something and knows how to hide it?тАЭ + 

тАЬIs it? I donтАЩt know. But I know IтАЩve wasted enough time learning nothing that anybody can be jailed for. Dinner tomorrow night? Or the next?тАЭ + 

тАЬThe next. About seven oтАЩclock?тАЭ + 

I said I would stop for him, and went out. It was then after five oтАЩclock. Not having had any luncheon, I went up to BlancoтАЩs for food, and then to darktown for a look at Rhino Tingley. + 

I found him in Big-foot GerberтАЩs cigar-store, rolling a fat cigar around in his mouth, telling something to the other NegroesтБатАФfour of themтБатАФin the place. + 

тАЬтАж┬аsays to him: тАШNigger, you talking yourself out of skin,тАЩ and I reaches out my hand for him, and, тАЩfore God, there werenтАЩt none of him there excepting his footprints in the ce-ment pavement, eight feet apart and leading home.тАЭ + 

Buying a package of cigarettes, I weighed him in while he talked. He was a chocolate man of less than thirty years, close to six feet tall and weighing two hundred pounds plus, with big yellow-balled pop eyes, a broad nose, a big blue-lipped and blue-gummed mouth, and a ragged black scar running from his lower lip down behind his blue and white striped collar. His clothes were new enough to look new, and he wore them sportily. His voice was a heavy bass that shook the glass of the showcases when he laughed with his audience. + 

I went out of the store while they were laughing, heard the laughter stop short behind me, resisted the temptation to look back, and moved down the street towards the building where he and Minnie lived. He came abreast of me when I was half a block from the flat. + 

I said nothing while we took seven steps side by side. + 

Then he said: тАЬYou the man that been inquiring around about me?тАЭ + 

The sour odor of Italian wine was thick enough to be seen. + 

I considered, and said: тАЬYeah.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhat you got to do with me?тАЭ he asked, not disagreeably, but as if he wanted to know. + 

Across the street Gabrielle Leggett, in brown coat and brown and yellow hat, came out of MinnieтАЩs building and walked south, not turning her face towards us. She walked swiftly and her lower lip was between her teeth. + 

I looked at the Negro. He was looking at me. There was nothing in his face to show that he had seen Gabrielle Leggett, or that the sight of her meant anything to him. + 

I said: тАЬYouтАЩve got nothing to hide, have you? What do you care who asks about you?тАЭ + 

тАЬAll the same, IтАЩm the party to come to if you wants to know about me. You the man that got Minnie fired?тАЭ + 

тАЬShe wasnтАЩt fired. She quit.тАЭ + 

тАЬMinnie donтАЩt have to take nobodyтАЩs lip. SheтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬLetтАЩs go over and talk to her,тАЭ I suggested, leading the way across the street. At the front door he went ahead, up a flight of stairs, down a dark hall to a door which he opened with one of the twenty or more keys on his ring. + 

Minnie Hershey, in a pink kimono trimmed with yellow ostrich feathers that looked like little dead ferns, came out of the bedroom to meet us in the living-room. Her eyes got big when she saw me. + 

Rhino said: тАЬYou know this gentleman, Minnie.тАЭ + 

Minnie said: тАЬYтАСyes.тАЭ + 

I said: тАЬYou shouldnтАЩt have left the LeggettsтАЩ that way. Nobody thinks you had anything to do with the diamonds. What did Miss Leggett want here?тАЭ + 

тАЬThere been no Miss Leggetts here,тАЭ she told me. тАЬI donтАЩt know what you talking about.тАЭ + 

тАЬShe came out as we were coming in.тАЭ + 

тАЬOh! Miss Leggett. I thought you said Mrs. Leggett. I beg your pardon. Yes, sir. Miss Gabrielle was sure enough here. She wanted to know if I wouldnтАЩt come back there. She thinks a powerful lot of me, Miss Gabrielle does.тАЭ + 

тАЬThat,тАЭ I said, тАЬis what you ought to do. It was foolish, leaving like that.тАЭ + 

Rhino took the cigar out of his mouth and pointed the red end at the girl. + 

тАЬYou away from them,тАЭ he boomed, тАЬand you stay away from them. You donтАЩt have to take nothing from nobody.тАЭ He put a hand in his pants pocket, lugged out a thick bundle of paper money, thumped it down on the table, and rumbled: тАЬWhat for you have to work for folks?тАЭ + 

He was talking to the girl, but looking at me, grinning, gold teeth shining against purplish mouth. The girl looked at him scornfully, said: тАЬLead him around, vino,тАЭ and turned to me again, her brown face tense, anxious to be believed, saying earnestly: тАЬRhino got that money in a crap game, mister. Hope to die if he didnтАЩt.тАЭ + 

Rhino said: тАЬAinтАЩt nobodyтАЩs business where I got my money. I got it. I gotтБатАФтАЭ He put his cigar on the edge of the table, picked up the money, wet a thumb as big as a heel on a tongue like a bath-mat, and counted his roll bill by bill down on the table. тАЬTwentyтБатАФthirtyтБатАФeightyтБатАФhundredтБатАФhundred and tenтБатАФtwo hundred and tenтБатАФthree hundred and tenтБатАФthree hundred and thirtyтБатАФthree hundred and thirty-fiveтБатАФfour hundred and thirty-fiveтБатАФfive hundred and thirty-fiveтБатАФfive hundred and eighty-fiveтБатАФsix hundred and fiveтБатАФsix hundred and tenтБатАФsix hundred and twentyтБатАФseven hundred and twentyтБатАФseven hundred and seventyтБатАФeight hundred and twentyтБатАФeight hundred and thirtyтБатАФeight hundred and fortyтБатАФnine hundred and fortyтБатАФnine hundred and sixtyтБатАФnine hundred and seventyтБатАФnine hundred and seventy-fiveтБатАФnine hundred and ninety-fiveтБатАФten hundred and fifteenтБатАФten hundred and twentyтБатАФeleven hundred and twentyтБатАФeleven hundred and seventy. Anybody want to know what I got, thatтАЩs what I gotтБатАФeleven hundred and seventy dollars. Anybody want to know where I get it, maybe I tell them, maybe I donтАЩt. Just depend on how I feel about it.тАЭ + 

Minnie said: тАЬHe won it in a crap game, mister, up the Happy Day Social Club. Hope to die if he didnтАЩt.тАЭ + 

тАЬMaybe I did,тАЭ Rhino said, still grinning widely at me. тАЬBut supposing I didnтАЩt?тАЭ + 

тАЬIтАЩm no good at riddles,тАЭ I said, and, after again advising Minnie to return to the Leggetts, left the flat. Minnie closed the door behind me. As I went down the hall I could hear her voice scolding and RhinoтАЩs chesty bass laughter. + 

In a downtown Owl drugstore I turned to the Berkeley section of the telephone directory, found only one Freemander listed, and called the number. Mrs.┬аBegg was there and consented to see me if I came over on the next ferry. + 

The Freemander house was set off a road that wound uphill towards the University of California. + 

Mrs.┬аBegg was a scrawny, big-boned woman, with not much gray hair packed close around a bony skull, hard gray eyes, and hard, capable hands. She was sour and severe, but plainspoken enough to let us talk turkey without a lot of preliminary hemming and hawing. + 

I told her about the burglary and my belief that the thief had been helped, at least with information, by somebody who knew the Leggett household, winding up: тАЬMrs.┬аPriestly told me you had been LeggettтАЩs housekeeper, and she thought you could help me.тАЭ + 

Mrs.┬аBegg said she doubted whether she could tell me anything that would pay me for my trip from the city, but she was willing to do what she could, being an honest woman and having nothing to conceal from anybody. Once started, she told me a great deal, damned near talking me earless. Throwing out the stuff that didnтАЩt interest me, I came away with this information: + 

Mrs.┬аBegg had been hired by Leggett, through an employment agency, as housekeeper in the spring of 1921. At first she had a girl to help her, but there wasnтАЩt enough work for two, so, at Mrs.┬аBeggтАЩs suggestion, they let the girl go. Leggett was a man of simple tastes and spent nearly all his time on the top floor, where he had his laboratory and a cubbyhole bedroom. He seldom used the rest of the house except when he had friends in for an evening. Mrs.┬аBegg didnтАЩt like his friends, though she could say nothing against them except that the way they talked was a shame and a disgrace. Edgar Leggett was as nice a man as a person could want to know, she said, only so secretive that it made a person nervous. She was never allowed to go up on the third floor, and the door of the laboratory was always kept locked. Once a month a Jap would come in to clean it up under LeggettтАЩs supervision. Well, she supposed he had a lot of scientific secrets, and maybe dangerous chemicals, that he didnтАЩt want people poking into, but just the same it made a person uneasy. She didnтАЩt know anything about her employerтАЩs personal or family affairs and knew her place too well to ask him any questions. + 

In August 1923тБатАФit was a rainy morning, she rememberedтБатАФa woman and a girl of fifteen, with a lot of suitcases, had come to the house. She let them in and the woman asked for Mr.┬аLeggett. Mrs.┬аBegg went up to the laboratory door and told him, and he came down. Never in all her born days had she seen such a surprised man as he was when he saw them. He turned absolutely white, and she thought he was going to fall down, he shook that bad. She didnтАЩt know what Leggett and the woman and the girl said to one another that morning, because they jabbered away in some foreign language, though the lot of them could talk English as good as anybody else, and better than most, especially that Gabrielle when she got to cursing. Mrs.┬аBegg had left them and gone on about her business. Pretty soon Leggett came out to the kitchen and told her his visitors were a Mrs.┬аDain, his sister-in-law, and her daughter, neither of whom he had seen for ten years; and that they were going to stay there with him. Mrs.┬аDain later told Mrs.┬аBegg that they were English, but had been living in New York for several years. Mrs.┬аBegg said she liked Mrs.┬аDain, who was a sensible woman and a first-rate housewife, but that Gabrielle was a tartar. Mrs.┬аBegg always spoke of the girl as тАЬthat Gabrielle.тАЭ + 

With the Dains there, and with Mrs.┬аDainтАЩs ability as a housekeeper, there was no longer any place for Mrs.┬аBegg. They had been very liberal, she said, helping her find a new place and giving her a generous bonus when she left. She hadnтАЩt seen any of them since, but, thanks to the careful watch she habitually kept on the marriage, death, and birth notices in the morning papers, she had learned, a week after she left, that a marriage license had been issued to Edgar Leggett and Alice Dain. + 