Best Seller Page #3

- Oh, yes, of course.

Just take all the time you want to.

I'll just make that coffee.

Thank you.

Right there is where it happened.

The old man's bathroom.

The bathroom is a natural place

for an accident, don't you think?

Stay up there, Holly!

Oh, yeah. Very natural.

I came in through the kitchen window.

It was a hot night. The window was open.

I had to hole up until 11 o'clock

when the old man took his bath.

Know what I did?

I took a nap in the guest room.

Just before 11 I got up.

I went down the hallway.

There was a little glass of bourbon

with hot water next to the tub.

The maid had gone to bed.

Poor man made the mistake

of going into business with Madlock.

It was all a matter of patents,

manufacturing licences.

The old man wanted to keep them.

His only sin was he didn't want to be rich.

He liked this street. This house.

A man can be dangerous

when he doesn't care about money.

Well said, Dennis.

Bye.

What a lovely old lady. Can you imagine

letting two strange men into your house

in the middIe of the night in New York

City? That's good old-fashioned trust.

Faith in human nature. That's what made

this country the greatest in the world.

All right. You've been in the house. That

doesn't prove you killed anybody in there.

But you know I did,

don't you, Dennis? Don't you?

Maybe.

Maybe you did.

It`s been here many years...

Ballistics shouid have

something to work with.

An old SpringfieId .30-06.

- Which one was it?

- Danzig and his wife.

Mr and Mrs Phillip H. They were the only

ones that didn't come off like an accident.

January 14th, 1979. What were

you doin' that night, Dennis?

Making love to your wife,

safe and snug in your bed?

They were too, the Danzigs.

Ten seconds later they were dead.

- Why the wife?

- She was his bookkeeper.

She knew more about us

than he did. They were greedy.

Always demanding more.

They deserved what they got, believe me.

You've got to understand, Dennis,

this was the business I was in.

Now, I can nail you with this.

But not Madlock.

The book, Dennis. The book will take care of Madlock.

You never have to

leave a bar alone, Dennis.

I mean, look at these women, huh?

We could leave with any one of them.

That rifle's not gonna

do you any good, Cleve.

The bore was gone.

They fired a round through it to get the

groove markings. The barrel blew apart.

- Madlock.

- Jesus.

Madlock, Madlock.

The conspiracy theory, right?

You can be incredibly stupid at times.

Stupid, naive and unutterably tiresome.

You know that.

Bullshit. I don't believe

that Madlock or anyone else

can get a major metropolitan police

department to destroy evidence.

Forget it.

Where's the waitress?

Hello?

Please.

You don't have a friend

for my kid brother, do you?

I'm afraid he's not your brother's type.

- My mistake.

- She's with me.

I know. She just told me. No offence, OK?

OK. Then beat it.

Yeah. Right. Could I get

a Scotch on the rocks, please?

I didn't say order a drink. I said get lost.

The problem we have here is, that I'm the lover in the family.

You wanna talk to my brother.

He's the fighter. See?

24 straight knockouts. Almost killed

a couple of guys. Just talk to him.

Let him go.

Now sit down and finish your drink.

Put this on my tab.

Thanks, Dennis.

I didn't want you to hurt him.

I could have. You know that, don't you?

Yeah.

May I show you something?

- Excuse me. May I have a cigarette?

- Sure.

This one will be just fine, thanks.

Filthy habit.

Willpower...

...is what distinguishes

the amateur from the professional.

Which are you, Dennis? Hm?

The tender part here.

Nerves close to the surface.

Pain doesn't bother me,

Dennis. I don't let it.

That's what I mean by willpower.

Do you have it, Dennis?

Willpower?

Let's hope so.

I like you, Dennis.

I really do. I like you a lot.

Not enough to sacrefice the book...

- How long have you had this Iittle hobby?

- Since I was 15. I used it to impress girls.

Son of a b*tch.

OK, Cleve, tell me when it hurts.

- Hey, easy!

- Tell me when it hurts! I wanna know!

I'll get a doctor.

It's OK. It's OK. He's my brother.

I just said the wrong thing.

- Well, you guys have got to leave.

- No, I'm sorry.

This happens... this happens all the time.

I just said the wrong thing. Really.

If anything, you better get a doctor for

his hand. Maybe he broke it on my face.

- It's fine.

- OK, let's shake hands. We're even. OK?

Yeah. OK. Why don't you bring us

a couple of Scotches on the rocks, OK?

Keep the change. Thank you.

Now you know why I never

asked you to take a shower with me.

You were bound to find out

sooner or later, I guess.

It didn't hurt. But it did almost kill me.

The part about the peritonitis was true.

I'm not gonna bust you, Cleve.

I'm not gonna bust you.

I'm gonna kill you.

Fair enough, Dennis. Fair enough.

Could I have those drinks, please?

I can`t satisfy her, Dennis.

She wants you.

She likes the way you fight.

She thinks you're cruel.

She wants you to hurt her.

I don't know. There's some

pretty sick people in the world.

Come on, Dennis. Didn't you ever

share a woman with a friend?

You're absolutely right. Absolutely right.

- Come on,. Get dressed. You're going home.

- Wait a goddamn min...

Shut your mouth. Jesus.

You're right. Pain in the ass.

Is this the greatest? Look at this place.

12,000 dollars a day. I was born for this.

This is what I've worked for.

Only in America, Dennis. Only in America.

I wanna meet your family, Cleve.

- Totally out of the question.

- No, we're going home, Cleve.

It's important to the story. It's where it

all began. It's what makes you so lovable.

Please, Dennis. I said no.

Yeah. I bet your mom and dad still live

in the house where you were born.

Am I right, Cleve? Huh?

A little farm someplace? Hm?

Sure. A white picket fence around?

The smell of leaves burning in the fall?

We're gonna make

that place famous, Cleve.

A regular landmark.

Yeah, the place where a vicious,

amoral killer was spawned,

then set loose on the world. Hm?

We're going to Oregon, Cleve.

We're gonna go home.

Do you like to shoot, Mr Meechum?

Quail's in season.

- Actually, no. I don't hunt.

- Dennis doesn't like guns.

A gun's only as good or bad

as the man using it.

I'm like Mr Meechum. Never could

bring myself to kill a living thing.

That's right, Harold.

You'd always eat the chicken, but you'd

leave the killin' to somebody else.

Doc said I wouldn't make it

through last winter.

His mother thought the next time

she'd see him would be at the funeral.

And then when you phoned,

telling us you were coming...

- When did he phone?

- A week ago.

- Said he'd be here in seven days.

- And here he is. Right on time, to the day.

More coffee, Mr Meechum?

Dad, do you have any more of those

cigars? You know, the cheap ones?

No, thanks. I've had enough.

Number three, St Louis. Four, London.

Five, Chicago. Six, Dallas.

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