girl. You don’t want it that way, so you can have your couple of moments alone with her and a police officer.”
“You can’t do that,” Bannerman protested.
“Unless I have your oath that you will follow my instructions,” Gibby said coldly, “I’ll do exactly that.”
Bannerman hesitated. He studied Gibby’s face for a moment. It was absolutely stony. He turned to me. I put everything I had into making mine as granitic as Gibby’s. I must have succeeded. Bannerman caved in. He did bargain a bit, but we had him.
“I make one condition,” he said. “If I am to lie to Joanie, I’ll be doing it under duress. You will tell her that. You forced me to lie to her.”
“We’ll tell her,” Gibby promised. “We forced you to lie to her. We know more about how to handle these things than you can know or she can know, but even in the face of that you didn’t want to lie to her. You did it for the only reason that could ever have moved you, the fact that her safety and maybe her life are at stake.”
Bannerman sighed. “I don’t know why I believe you,” he said, “but I do. I’ll follow your instructions.”
Gibby let go his arm and slapped him on the shoulder. “Good boy,” he said. “Go to her now.”
Bannerman took off. When he had first seen her, he had been ready to take off on the run. Now he went with dragging feet. The task Gibby had set him was evidently so distasteful that it was quite outweighing his eagerness.
“Do you think he’s going to do as you told him?” I asked.
“That,” Gibby said, “depends on whether he’s scared enough to go against his principles. We have to risk it.”
As he spoke he was moving slowly off to the left. I moved with him. I could see what he was doing. He was keeping in position so that, he had the man in the tan suit and brown hat, Bannerman, and the girl all lined up in front of him. He was watching all of them at once. The man didn’t move around much, only as much as was necessary so that he could keep his eye always on Joan Loomis. I didn’t even for a moment have the thought that we might be mistaken. There was no question about it. This was the man who had driven Kirk Reginald Emmenthal Jellicoe away from our encounter in front of that secondhand-clothing store.
“You know,” I murmured, “we’re going out on so many limbs today that I’m losing count. We’ve tangled with this baby once before and got out of it luckily. We’re holding Jellicoe down at Bellevue on the phoniest of phonies and now I don’t even want to think about when the time will come around and you’ll have to explain all this to Bannerman. He’s the righteous type. If he catches you cutting corners, he’ll take it to the Old Man. That’s not a boy who believes in forgiveness for sin.”
“I’m betting he’ll have to do his explaining first,” Gibby said. “Anyhow we can worry later. Watch this now.”
We watched. Bannerman came quietly up behind the girl. He put his hands over her eyes. Her reaction time was the quickest I’ve ever seen. It was as though he had pulled a trigger. She whirled around and with a full swing of arm and body she slapped him. That was a slap. The crack of it echoed and re-echoed in that vast marble enclosure. Bannerman rocked on his heels and touched his hand to his reddened cheek. Then and only then, the girl screamed.
“Milty. No, Milty, you’re not here. Your tram isn’t in yet.”
We were in luck. We could see his face full on. Since he didn’t scream back at her we couldn’t hear but we could watch his lips and read them. Lip reading ordinarily isn’t one of Gibby’s talents nor is it one of mine but when you have a pretty good idea of what a man might say, you can make a good stab at telling whether the lip movements fit with what you think he’s saying.
“I got away earlier than I thought I could.”
If those weren’t the exact words, they came very close.
Since all he said was that or something very like
“You can’t do that,” Bannerman protested.
“Unless I have your oath that you will follow my instructions,” Gibby said coldly, “I’ll do exactly that.”
Bannerman hesitated. He studied Gibby’s face for a moment. It was absolutely stony. He turned to me. I put everything I had into making mine as granitic as Gibby’s. I must have succeeded. Bannerman caved in. He did bargain a bit, but we had him.
“I make one condition,” he said. “If I am to lie to Joanie, I’ll be doing it under duress. You will tell her that. You forced me to lie to her.”
“We’ll tell her,” Gibby promised. “We forced you to lie to her. We know more about how to handle these things than you can know or she can know, but even in the face of that you didn’t want to lie to her. You did it for the only reason that could ever have moved you, the fact that her safety and maybe her life are at stake.”
Bannerman sighed. “I don’t know why I believe you,” he said, “but I do. I’ll follow your instructions.”
Gibby let go his arm and slapped him on the shoulder. “Good boy,” he said. “Go to her now.”
Bannerman took off. When he had first seen her, he had been ready to take off on the run. Now he went with dragging feet. The task Gibby had set him was evidently so distasteful that it was quite outweighing his eagerness.
“Do you think he’s going to do as you told him?” I asked.
“That,” Gibby said, “depends on whether he’s scared enough to go against his principles. We have to risk it.”
As he spoke he was moving slowly off to the left. I moved with him. I could see what he was doing. He was keeping in position so that, he had the man in the tan suit and brown hat, Bannerman, and the girl all lined up in front of him. He was watching all of them at once. The man didn’t move around much, only as much as was necessary so that he could keep his eye always on Joan Loomis. I didn’t even for a moment have the thought that we might be mistaken. There was no question about it. This was the man who had driven Kirk Reginald Emmenthal Jellicoe away from our encounter in front of that secondhand-clothing store.
“You know,” I murmured, “we’re going out on so many limbs today that I’m losing count. We’ve tangled with this baby once before and got out of it luckily. We’re holding Jellicoe down at Bellevue on the phoniest of phonies and now I don’t even want to think about when the time will come around and you’ll have to explain all this to Bannerman. He’s the righteous type. If he catches you cutting corners, he’ll take it to the Old Man. That’s not a boy who believes in forgiveness for sin.”
“I’m betting he’ll have to do his explaining first,” Gibby said. “Anyhow we can worry later. Watch this now.”
We watched. Bannerman came quietly up behind the girl. He put his hands over her eyes. Her reaction time was the quickest I’ve ever seen. It was as though he had pulled a trigger. She whirled around and with a full swing of arm and body she slapped him. That was a slap. The crack of it echoed and re-echoed in that vast marble enclosure. Bannerman rocked on his heels and touched his hand to his reddened cheek. Then and only then, the girl screamed.
“Milty. No, Milty, you’re not here. Your tram isn’t in yet.”
We were in luck. We could see his face full on. Since he didn’t scream back at her we couldn’t hear but we could watch his lips and read them. Lip reading ordinarily isn’t one of Gibby’s talents nor is it one of mine but when you have a pretty good idea of what a man might say, you can make a good stab at telling whether the lip movements fit with what you think he’s saying.
“I got away earlier than I thought I could.”
If those weren’t the exact words, they came very close.
Since all he said was that or something very like
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