Chapter 2: Icehouse Interview
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I sipped my drink, feeling the warming fluid deep in my throat. The pulse in his lean grey throat throbbed visibly and yet so slowly that it was hardly a pulse at all. An old man two-thirds dead and still determined to believe he could still take it. "Your conclusions?" he asked suddenly. "I'd pay him." "Why?" "It's a question of a little money against a lot of annoyance. There has to be something behind it. But nobody's going to break your heart, if it hasn't been done already. And it would take an awful lot of chisellers an awful lot of time to rob you of enough so that you'd even notice it." "I have pride, sir," he said, his voice as cold as the room itself. "Somebody's counting on that. It's the easiest way to fool them. That or the police. Geiger can collect on these notes, unless you can show fraud. Instead of that he makes you a present of them and admits they are gambling debts, which gives you a defence, even if he had kept the notes. If he's a crook, he knows his onions, and if he's an honest man doing a little loan business on the side, he ought to have his money. Who was this Joe Brody you paid the five mill to?" "Some kind of gambler. I hardly recall. Norris would know. My butler." "Your daughters have money in their own right, General?" "Vivian has, but not a great deal. Carmen has some from her mother's will. I give them both generous allowances." I said: "I can take this Geiger off your back, General, if that's what you want. Whoever he is whatever he has. It may cost you a little money, besides what you pay me. And of course it won't get you anything. Sugaring them never does. You're already listed in their database of nice names." "I see." He shrugged his wide sharp shoulders, the assisting machinery humming. "A moment ago you said pay him. Now you say it won't get me anything." "I mean it might be cheaper and easier to stand for a certain amount of squeeze. That's all." "I'm afraid I'm rather an impatient man, Mr Marlowe. What are your charges?" "I get twenty-five thousand a day and expenses - when I'm lucky." "I see. It seems reasonable enough for removing morbid growths from people's backs. Quite a delicate operation. You realise that, I hope. You'll make your operation as little of a shock to the patient as possible? There might be several of them, Mr Marlowe." I finished my second drink. The cold didn't get any less cold with the brandy in me. The General folded his hands and blinked at me. "Can I make a deal with this guy, if I think he's within hooting distance of being on the level?" "Yes. The matter is now in your hands. I never do things by halves." "I'll take him out," I said, "He'll think a bridge fell on him." "I'm sure you will. And now I must excuse myself. I am tired." He reached out and touched a keypad on the edge of the casket. He closed his eyes, opened them for a brief bright stare and settled back in his box. The casket lid dropped slowly with a hiss and a puff of ice crystals. He wasn't in a position to give me any more attention. I went off among the hulking machinery, opened the two doors and stood outside in the October air getting myself warm. The chauffeur and the in-system cruiser had gone away. The butler came along the red path with smooth light steps and his back straight. He stopped about two metres away and said gravely: "Mrs Regan would like to see you before you leave, sir. And in the matter of money the General has instructed me to transfer to you whatever amount seems desirable." "Instructed you how?" He looked puzzled, as far as a robot can ever look puzzled. "Ah, I see, sir. You are, of course, a detective. Using his keypad." "You handle his money?" "I have that privilege." "That ought to save you from second-hard spare parts. No money now, thanks. What does Mrs Regan want to see me about?" His electric blue eyes gave me a smooth level look. "She has a misconception about the purpose of your visit, sir." "Who told her anything about my visit?" "Her surveillance monitors the icehouse. She saw us go in. I was obliged to tell her who you were." "I don't like that," I said. "Are you attempting to tell me my duties, sir?" "No. But I'm having a lot of fun trying to guess what they are." We stared at each other for a moment. He gave me an icy blue glare and turned away.
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Part 2