suffered permanent damage.”
“That happened long before. You’re still playing God,” I said.
“I know the extent of my responsibility. I helped to bring that terrible memory back to his conscious mind. He’s been fixed on it ever since.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do, though. That’s the hell of it. He came here tonight and insisted I tell him exactly where his father’s corpse was found. It’s still the dominant thing in his mind.”
“Did you tell him?”
“Yes. It was the only way to get rid of him.”
“Can you take me to the place? Tonight?”
“I could. But it’s at least an hour’s drive up the coast.” He looked at his watch. “It’s past twelve thirty. If I take you, I won’t get home before three. And I have to be at school at a quarter to eight.”
“Forget about school. You said yourself there are priorities. This one has to do with a man’s life or death.”
“What man?”
I told Langston about the breathing in the trunk. “I thought at first was a snatch for money. The people who pull them are getting younger all the time. But the motives for kidnapping are changing with the times, too. More and more of them are naked power plays, for the sheer sake of dominating another person. God knows what goes on in Davy’s mind. Or the girl’s, for that matter. They may be planning to re-enact his father’s death.”
I had Langston’s full attention. He couldn’t resist the psychological bait. “You may be right. He was terribly urgent about finding the right place. Are the police in on this?”
“No. The victim’s family asked me to handle it myself.”
“Who is he?”
“A Los Angeles financier. The girl’s father works for one of his companies.”
“It does sound more complex than a crime for money.”
“Will you help me?” I said.
“I don’t have much choice. We’ll take your car, okay?”
“Whatever you say, Mr. Langston.”
“Please call me Hank, everybody else does.” He got out of the car. “Come into the house for a moment, won’t you? I have to leave a note for my wife.”
He wrote it on top of the baby grand while I looked over his books. They covered a surprising range including law and history. His psychology and sociology books emphasized the freer spirits in those fields: Erik Erikson and Erich Fromm,Paul Goodman, Edgar Z. Friedenberg.
He left the note to his wife on the music rack of the piano, with a small light shining on it. I read it on the way out:
Dearest:
Just in case you wake up and wonder where I am, I’ve gone for a little spin with Mr. Archer. If anybody comes to the door, don’t answer. Please don’t worry. I love you with all my heart, in case you were wondering. Back soon.
Love
H.
(
12:30 a.m.
)
chapter
14
I DROVE THE CAR , and told Langston he could sleep. He claimed that he wasn’t sleepy, but soon after we got onto the highway he butted his cigarette and dozed off.
The highway left the sea for a while, looping inland through a mountain pass, and then returned to the sea. The railroad ran between the sea and the mountains, and I caught the gleam of the tracks from time to time.
There was very little traffic. This northern part of the county was mostly open country. On the ocean side a few oil stations and gas flares broke up the darkness. Inland, the fields sloped up to the rocky flanks of the headless mountains. There were cattle in the fields, as still as stones.
“No!” Langston said in his sleep.
“Wake up, Hank.”
He seemed dazed. “Terrible dream. The three of us were in bed to—” He stopped in mid-sentence, and watched the night rush by.
“Which three of you?”
“My wife and I, and Davy. It was a rotten dream.”
I said after some hesitation: “Are you afraid that Davy might go to your house?”
“The thought did occur to me,” he admitted. “But he wouldn’t do anything to anyone I love.”
He was talking against the darkness. Perhaps I should have left him at home, I
“That happened long before. You’re still playing God,” I said.
“I know the extent of my responsibility. I helped to bring that terrible memory back to his conscious mind. He’s been fixed on it ever since.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do, though. That’s the hell of it. He came here tonight and insisted I tell him exactly where his father’s corpse was found. It’s still the dominant thing in his mind.”
“Did you tell him?”
“Yes. It was the only way to get rid of him.”
“Can you take me to the place? Tonight?”
“I could. But it’s at least an hour’s drive up the coast.” He looked at his watch. “It’s past twelve thirty. If I take you, I won’t get home before three. And I have to be at school at a quarter to eight.”
“Forget about school. You said yourself there are priorities. This one has to do with a man’s life or death.”
“What man?”
I told Langston about the breathing in the trunk. “I thought at first was a snatch for money. The people who pull them are getting younger all the time. But the motives for kidnapping are changing with the times, too. More and more of them are naked power plays, for the sheer sake of dominating another person. God knows what goes on in Davy’s mind. Or the girl’s, for that matter. They may be planning to re-enact his father’s death.”
I had Langston’s full attention. He couldn’t resist the psychological bait. “You may be right. He was terribly urgent about finding the right place. Are the police in on this?”
“No. The victim’s family asked me to handle it myself.”
“Who is he?”
“A Los Angeles financier. The girl’s father works for one of his companies.”
“It does sound more complex than a crime for money.”
“Will you help me?” I said.
“I don’t have much choice. We’ll take your car, okay?”
“Whatever you say, Mr. Langston.”
“Please call me Hank, everybody else does.” He got out of the car. “Come into the house for a moment, won’t you? I have to leave a note for my wife.”
He wrote it on top of the baby grand while I looked over his books. They covered a surprising range including law and history. His psychology and sociology books emphasized the freer spirits in those fields: Erik Erikson and Erich Fromm,Paul Goodman, Edgar Z. Friedenberg.
He left the note to his wife on the music rack of the piano, with a small light shining on it. I read it on the way out:
Dearest:
Just in case you wake up and wonder where I am, I’ve gone for a little spin with Mr. Archer. If anybody comes to the door, don’t answer. Please don’t worry. I love you with all my heart, in case you were wondering. Back soon.
Love
H.
(
12:30 a.m.
)
chapter
14
I DROVE THE CAR , and told Langston he could sleep. He claimed that he wasn’t sleepy, but soon after we got onto the highway he butted his cigarette and dozed off.
The highway left the sea for a while, looping inland through a mountain pass, and then returned to the sea. The railroad ran between the sea and the mountains, and I caught the gleam of the tracks from time to time.
There was very little traffic. This northern part of the county was mostly open country. On the ocean side a few oil stations and gas flares broke up the darkness. Inland, the fields sloped up to the rocky flanks of the headless mountains. There were cattle in the fields, as still as stones.
“No!” Langston said in his sleep.
“Wake up, Hank.”
He seemed dazed. “Terrible dream. The three of us were in bed to—” He stopped in mid-sentence, and watched the night rush by.
“Which three of you?”
“My wife and I, and Davy. It was a rotten dream.”
I said after some hesitation: “Are you afraid that Davy might go to your house?”
“The thought did occur to me,” he admitted. “But he wouldn’t do anything to anyone I love.”
He was talking against the darkness. Perhaps I should have left him at home, I
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