The Bad Seed Page #8

for the Classic Crime Club.

Not half as good as the papers

they used to publish by Richard Bravo.

- Ha, ha.

- That old dodo?

No, he's written himself out

and talked himself out.

Now he just hobbles around the country,

working for a second-rate news service.

I took time out because I wanted to see

my long-lost daughter.

- Mm. Ha, ha.

- Ha, ha.

Mm.

- Where's my granddaughter?

- Oh, she's upstairs having dinner, Daddy.

- She'll be down in a few minutes.

- That's fine.

Oh. Sit down, huh?

Say, any reason I can't have

one of those wicked-looking mixtures...

- ...Mr. Tasker's consuming?

- Oh, Daddy, I'm sorry.

You're about ready

for another one too, aren't you?

Haven't you ever considered coming back

into the criminology racket?

There's been nobody like you

since you left.

Ha, ha. Well, all compliments aside...

...my last books didn't sell

as well as my earlier ones...

...and the war came along,

and now I write filler.

You've written some things

that will never be forgotten.

Let's hope.

And now your daughter tells me

she's gonna try her hand.

At writing? She can't even spell.

Ha, ha. - Oh.

It gets lonely here with Kenneth away.

I thought I might...

...try a murder-mystery

during the evenings.

Are you encouraging

this energetic competition?

Well, I must admit, I didn't quite know

how to answer her first question.

She was asking me...

...whether criminal children

are always a product of environment.

There's nothing difficult

about that, little one. They are.

Mm, I always thought so too.

- Always.

- Well, I couldn't prove you're wrong...

...of course, sir,

but some fellow criminologists...

...including some behavior scientists,

have begun to make me believe...

...we've all been putting too much emphasis

on environment...

...and too little on heredity.

They cite a type of criminal...

...born with no capacity

for remorse or guilt...

...no feeling of right or wrong...

...born with a kind of brain

that may have been normal in humans...

...50,000 years ago.

Nonsense.

If you encounter a human

without compassion or pity or morals...

...he grew up where these things

weren't encouraged.

Or at birth, he received some pitiable

physical injuries to the brain tissues.

Certainly not inherited.

That's final and absolute for me.

The rest is hogwash.

And with that outburst,

I terminate for a refill.

- Oh, no more ice.

- Oh, Daddy, I'm sorry. It's in the kitchen.

- Would you mind?

- Certainly not.

Do you really mean to say

that nice family surroundings...

...and advantages

could make no difference at all?

Yes. It's as if these children

were born blind permanently...

...and you just couldn't expect

to teach them to see.

Well, would you notice

any brutish expressions on their faces?

Sometimes, but more often,

they present a more convincing picture...

...of virtue than normal folk.

But that's horrible.

It's just that they are bad seeds...

...plain bad from the beginning,

and nothing can change them.

This favorite murderess of yours...

...the one you were telling us about

the other afternoon, is she an instance?

Bessie Denker? Was Bessie a bad seed?

Well, yes, I should say so...

...because when the full story

of her career came out...

...it was realized that she must've started

at the age of 10.

Well, then she started young, huh?

Oh, yes.

Isn't that so, Mr. Bravo?

What so?

We were talking about Bessie Denker.

I know you covered all her trials...

...because I read your famous essay

listing her methods.

I've forgotten

all about those gloomy cases.

Put them out of my mind.

I'm full up with my present prosaic series

on offshore oil.

How did she end?

Sweetheart, you don't wanna probe

into these nonsensical graveyards.

Yes, I do.

Say, Kenneth and I saw the Senators

play the Yankees Sunday.

- And that Mickey Mantle...

- Daddy, please.

Mr. Tasker, would you tell me

the rest of the story?

- Did she ever use violence?

- She ended in mystery.

Just when the authorities

thought they had her dead to rights...

...she disappeared, just vanished.

She had quite a fortune by then.

There was a rumor

that she went to Australia.

A similar beauty turned up in Melbourne.

Her name was Beaulah Demerest.

If it was the same person, she didn't have to

change her initials on her linen and silver.

How could she kill so many

and leave no trace?

Every time she was indicted,

she just took off for parts unknown...

...leaving absolutely no...

Wait a minute.

Wasn't there a child, a little girl?

Never heard of one.

Must be a recent addition to the myth.

There's one more question I'd like to ask.

Wasn't she ever found out here?

Not in this country.

Three juries

looked at that lovely dewy face...

...and heard that melting, cultured voice

and said:

- "She couldn't have done it."

- She wasn't convicted?

- "Not guilty" three times.

- Do you think that she was one of these...

...poor, deformed children,

born without pity?

Did She...?

Did she did she have

an enchanting smile?

Dazzling, from all accounts.

- She was doomed?

- Absolutely.

Doomed to commit murder after murder...

...until somehow or other,

she was found out.

Huh.

She'd have been better off

if she'd died young.

You've been talking tommyrot, Tasker,

and you know it.

Well, on this not-too-merry

but disputed point, I'll take my leave.

It's been a great pleasure, sir.

I've been lecturing, so I'm afraid

I was the only one to enjoy it.

Oh, not at all.

Don't go to any major-league doctor

with that heredity theory.

- They'll shoot it full of holes.

- We'll stay off the subject the next time.

I'll study up on my baseball.

- Good night.

- Good night.

- Good night.

- And again, thank you, Mrs. Penmark.

Good night.

Well, it's nice to be alone again

with my girl.

Are you really planning

to write something?

Oh.

I was just asking questions.

- You saw Kenneth in Washington?

- Yes, he's looking well.

As well as possible

when a fella's hot and sticky and tired...

- ...and most of all, lonesome.

- We had planned to go somewhere...

...this summer, but then this sudden change

of orders came through...

Am I looking too close...

...or is there something heavy

on your mind?

Does something show in my face?

Everything shows in your face.

- It always did.

- Oh, well...

I don't know if I'm worried

about anything now that you're here.

I always felt so safe and comfortable

when you were in the room...

...and you have that same effect now.

To tell you the truth,

you did a magic for me.

I'd always wanted a little girl...

...and you were everything lovely a little

girl could possibly be for her dad.

But, Christine, tell me,

what did you wanna ask me?

Oh.

Let me think a minute.

Would you like another drink?

Yes, I guess I would.

- Can I fix you something?

- No. No, thank you. I don't want any.

Well, speak up, darling.

It's between us, whatever it is.

Well...

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