The Dark Half Page #4

...and why, I'll never know.

(young Thad) Miss Bird said... brightly...

(Stark)

Down here, we call that fool's stuffing.

What do you mean, "down here"?

Endsville, Thad. The place

where all rail service terminates.

(toy squeaks)

You always were the clumsy one,

old Hoss.

Then they can bring the curtain down.

(Stark) I'm not done with you,

cock-knocker.

Remember that.

You don't wanna f*** with me.

Cos when you f*** with me...

...you're f***in' with the best.

Clawson. There's police here to see you.

Clawson? You owe me two weeks' rent.

If these guys are here to take you away,

I want it now!

Let's check it out.

Jesus! (retches)

(Liz) He's back.

(knocking at door) Thad?

- He's back.

- Who's back?

Alan Pangborn.

I wondered if we could all just

sit down and have a cold one.

No.

Yeah. I'll have one.

I have no business bein' here...

...socialisin' with a man who is now

a suspect in not just one murder...

...but two.

- Two?

- Yeah. Your buddy. Frederick Clawson.

- (Liz) God!

- When?

Night before last.

In New York, while you were still there.

Night, uh... night before last.

Night before last, I was at...

You were at a press reception

till about 11 o'clock.

We think Clawson was killed

around nine or ten...

...but it could have been

as late as midnight.

We got another set of fingerprints

out of Clawson's apartment.

Once again, they match yours exactly.

Christ! What is going on, Thad?

Well, I'm surprised you brought beer,

not handcuffs.

- What's keepin' me outta jail?

- Me, I guess.

New York guys think

you should be brought in.

- Why are you lettin' me off the hook?

- I'm not.

You're still very much on the hook, Thad.

And if you killed these people,

I'm gonna pull you in the boat.

I figure you're not goin' anywhere.

Hard for a man like you to hide.

I'm willin' to let you sleep at home

while I work on this some more.

Meanwhile you build a case

to beat my alibis.

I'm not tryin' to beat your alibis

any more than I'm tryin' to prove 'em.

I was so sure it was Clawson.

Well, suppose he killed himself.

- He could make that look like Thad did it.

- The way he died, that's impossible.

Did anybody else know that

you and Clawson were connected?

Clawson got his information from

someone who works for my publisher.

That's all he told me. I don't have a name.

You mentioned the way he was killed.

Yeah. It looked like a, uh,

classic gangland hit.

- Shot?

- No, no. You don't shoot a blabbermouth.

You make him bleed. Make him suffer.

Clawson's tongue was cut out.

He was castrated

and his penis stuffed into his mouth.

That's exactly what I said

I wanted to do to him. I was joking.

I said if I was Alexis Machine,

that's exactly what I would do.

That's a character in one of his books.

Alexis Machine.

It was a joke.

Come on, Alan. Would I admit

that to you if I killed the guy?

There was somethin'

written on the wall at Clawson's.

Written in the victim's blood.

"The sparrows are flying again. "

Does that mean anything to either of you?

- No.

- Thad?

No.

You're sure?

Doesn't mean a th... thing.

(Liz) You're keepin' secrets, Thad.

That's no good. It never was.

Some psychotic out there

has killed two people that we know...

...and has somehow

made it look like you did it.

This guy's obviously out to get you.

I mean, have you considered

that you might be in danger?

That all of us might be next

on this guy's hit list?

Now, come on, Thad. This is not

a good time to be holdin' things back.

No, it's not a good time.

The sparrows are flying again.

It means something to you. What is it?

Oh, Thad. What is goin' on?

There's more.

I wrote those words

and I don't remember doing it.

I was in some kind of... trance.

The tumour I had when I was a boy.

I told you about the headaches it caused.

- Did I ever tell you about the sounds?

- Sounds? No.

People with brain tumours sometimes

have symptoms, sensory precursors.

They smell things, hear things, that

aren't actually there. I used to hear birds.

I've started hearing them again.

Thad, you have to go and see the doctor.

Maybe you have another tumour.

That would explain the sounds.

But what about the rest of it?

Liz, I blanked out

for an entire period of time.

I wrote those words,

and I have no recollection of doing it.

I mean,

what if there are other things I've done?

What if there are other things I've done...

that I can't remember?

Thad! I'm delighted to see that

they haven't incarcerated you.

Sounds like the police have been in touch.

They wanted me to confirm that

you were a man of good character.

I lied, and told them that you were.

- Are you in trouble, Thad?

- I'm in somethin'.

Just a mix-up, I think, but it's got me goin'.

Any way I can help?

There's some weird sh*t goin' on. I could

use some help from an old witch doctor.

- Come, let's talk.

- I can't, Reggie. I'm... scrambled. I...

- Call if you need me.

- I will.

Thanks.

(twittering)

(wings fluttering)

(whispers) Endsville...

...for ever.

Oh! Oh! Oh! No! No!

No! No! No!

Shut up, or I'll have to cut you, sis.

- What do you want?

- What'd I just say?

Now, you're gonna make us

a little telephone call, sissy.

(chuckles) No.

I know what you're thinking.

You're thinking you could brain me with

that thing. Not a very happy thought.

You know what happens to people

who lose their happy thoughts? Hm?

No!

Argh!

They fall out of the sky.

Now...

We're gonna call us Thad Beaumont.

- W... what do I say?

- Oh, you'll think of something.

(Thad) Hi.

We can't come to the phone right now...

...but if you leave your name

and number at the beep...

...we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

Sh.

Tell him who you are

and what's happenin' here.

Do it. Don't make me tell you twice.

Do it, or I'll cut

your f***in' head off with this thing.

Thad! Thad, there's... there's a...

- Say your name.

... man here, there's a bad man here.

- Say your name.

- Miriam.

Please help me! There's a man here.

Please don't let him cut me any more!

(phone rings)

Pangborns... Sure.

Hey, Dad! Phone!

Turn it down a little, son.

- Yeah.

- It's Thad Beaumont.

- A lady in New York needs help fast.

- Go ahead. Shoot.

Miriam Cowley. My agent's ex-wife.

She called here. I wasn't home.

I got a recording on my machine.

And I heard a man's voice.

She said he was threatening to hurt her,

uh, to cut her.

She begged me

not to let him do that again.

I tried to call her back,

but couldn't get through.

- What's the address?

- 109 West 84th.

I was gonna call the New York police.

No, you did the right thing.

I'll call 'em. I can cut through the sh*t.

Give me a break here, son.

- Problem?

- Yep.

- Bad?

- Well, we can hope.

This is Alan Pangborn...

(phone rings)

Yeah? Yeah, hello?

Oh, God.

Miriam's dead.

Alan, I think there might be

some other people that are in danger.

Rick Cowley. I'm sure he's gonna go

after Rick. Now, he lives at 129 East 68th.

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