The Cat Who Walks Through Walls Read Online Free PDF Page A

be dead” if T. is not dead by noon Sunday?
    4. Who is this corpse who called himself “Schultz”?
    5. Why am I the logical hatchet man for T.?
    6. Is this killing necessary?
    7. Which one of the Walker Evans Memorial Society sicked this thumb-fingered bubblehead on me? And why?
    8. Who killed “Schultz”? And why?
    9. Why did the staff of Rainbow’s End move in and cover up the killing?
    10. (Omnibus) Why did Gwen leave before I did and why did she come here instead of going home and how did she get in?
    “Do we take them in order?” asked Gwen. “Number ten is the only one I can answer.”
    “That one I just chucked in,” I answered. “Of the first nine I think that, if I find answers to any three, I could then deduce the rest.” I went on putting words up on the screen:
    POSSIBLE ACTIONS
“When in Danger or in Doubt,
Run in Circles. Scream and Shout.”
    “Does that help?” asked Gwen.
    “Every time! Ask any old military man. Now let’s take it one question at a time”:
    Q. 1—Phone each Taliaferro in the directory. Learn preferred pronunciation of name. Strike out any who use the every-letter pronunciation.
    Q. 2—Dig into background of whoever is left. Start with the Herald back files.
    Q. 3—While checking Q2, keep ears spread for anything scheduled or expected for noon Sunday.
    Q. 4—If you were a corpse arriving at Golden Rule space habitat and you wanted to conceal your identity but had to be able to get at your passport and other documents for departure, where would you stash them? Hint: Check when this cadaver arrived in Golden Rule. Then check hotels, lockers, deposit box services, poste restante, etc.
    Q. 5—postpone
    Q. 6—postpone
    Q. 7—Reach by phone as many of the “Walker Evans” oath group as possible. Keep going till one spills. Note: Some jelly brain may have talked too much without knowing it.
    Q. 8—Morris, or the maître d’, or the busman, or all of them, or any two, knows who killed Schultz. One or more of them expected it. So we look for each one’s weak point—liquor, drugs, money, sex ( comme ci ou comme ça )—and what was your name back dirtside, chum? Any paper out on you somewhere? Find that soft spot. Push it. Do this with all three of them, then see how their stories check. Every closet has a skeleton. This is a natural law—so find it in each case.
    Q. 9—Money (Conclusive assumption until proved false.)
    (Query: How much is all this going to cost me? Can I afford it? Counter query: Can I afford not to pursue it?)
    “I’ve been wondering about that,” said Gwen. “When I poked my nose in, I thought you were in real trouble. But apparently you are home free. Why must you do anything, my husband?”
    “I need to kill him.”
    “ What? But you don’t know which Tolliver is meant! Or why he should be dead. If he should be.”
    “No, no, not Tolliver. Although it may develop that Tolliver should be dead. No, dear, the man who killed Schultz. I must find him and kill him.”
    “Oh. Uh, I can see that he should be dead; he’s a murderer. But why must you do it? Both are strangers to you—both the victim and whoever killed him. Actually it’s not your business. Is it?”
    “It is my business. Schultz or whatever his name is was killed while he was a guest at my table. That’s intolerably rude. I won’t put up with it. Gwen my love, if one tolerates bad manners, they grow worse. Our pleasant habitat could decay into the sort of slum Ell-Five is, with crowding and unmannerly behavior and unnecessary noise and impolite language. I must find the oaf who did this thing, explain to him his offense, give him a chance to apologize, and kill him.”
     
III
    “One should forgive one’s enemies, but not before they are hanged.”
    HEINRICH HEINE 1797-1856
    My lovely bride stared at me. “You would kill a man? For bad manners?”
    “Do you know of a better reason? Would you have me ignore rude behavior?”
    “No but—I can understand executing a man for