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.I had Donna pull his file and call his parents.There are going to be enough other problems to take care of."Most of the time Dennis was astonished at Steinberg's efficiency.Tonight he was appalled by it.So it was with relief that he finally found Robin, who handed him a glass of scotch neat, which he downed in one searing gulp.Then they said nothing, and merely stood with their arms around each other for several minutes.At last the troopers came out the door to the auditorium, and Trooper Pierce announced that everyone was free to go.As the guests filed out, Dan Munro came up to Dennis and Robin, who had been joined by Steinberg."They've got just about everything they need, Mr.Hamilton," Munro said."The boys took the body out the backstage door.The rope didn't break.It was released at the pin somehow.There'll have to be a hearing, but since no one else was back there at the time of the accident, they'll probably call it death by misadventure, which basically means we won't ever know what happened." Munro cleared his throat."As a formality, I'd like to fingerprint anyone who wasn't in the audience at the time of the accident — that means you, your wife, and Mr.Wynn.The lab may get some latent prints from the wooden pin.Would any of you have had cause to touch it?""My wife and I, no.But Curt probably would have at some point.Though when people work the rail, they generally use gloves.""All right.I'll send Davis over to do the printing tomorrow.I'm sure you folks don't need any more of this tonight.In the morning around ten okay?" Dennis nodded."Thanks for your cooperation, and I'm very sorry about your friend." Munro started toward the door and turned back."Oh, by the way — you can go ahead and have the stage.cleaned up if you like.We've got our photographs and everything else we need.Goodnight.""Cleaned up.” Steinberg mused."Lovely conceit."Robin whirled on him."Oh, John, shut up! Just shut the hell up!" She stormed off across the lobby toward the elevator to the suites above.Steinberg blushed, just a bit."I'm sorry, Dennis, if I seem to be rather callous about all this.I do not like death, and therefore, I try to make fun of it as often as I can.Sometimes, I regret to say, with less than acute timing.Would you extend my apologies to your wife?""Sure.""In the meantime, I'll check with Curt and make certain the storm troops will be here to.rectify the situation on stage.No trace will remain by morning, believe me." Steinberg folded his arms and looked down at the carpet."And believe me also when I say that I liked that young man very much.As much as I regret his passing.You go up to bed now.Curt and I will see to things down here."The lobby was almost empty.Only Steinberg, Dennis, and Curt remained.Dennis moved toward the elevator at the far end of the lobby, but instead of pushing the button, he glanced in the direction of the others.Seeing that their attention was occupied, he stepped to the door of the theatre, pushed it open, and entered.The lights were still on, and Dennis walked gently, as if afraid of being heard, across the inner lobby until he could see the stage.The curtain had been pulled back to its former position high up in the flies, and was no longer visible, but he could see the dark stain on the stage floor, and his lips went tight with the memory of what had caused it.Then, out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something move in the shadows of the stage right wing, and felt fear bolt through him, remembering for the first time what Ally Terrazin had told him in the lobby — a presence, she had said.Dennis had never been superstitious, but Tommy's death had shaken him terribly, and he realized that his unease had made him susceptible to those vestiges of irrational fear that remained in the human mind from the dark times before history.Susceptible.That was the word, wasn't it? That explained it all, explained why he had seen something move where there was nothing living.He looked again, but all was still.Just as he was about to turn around and go upstairs to bed, he saw the movement again, felt the fear like a knife, and then was embraced by blessed relief as he saw that it was only the cat, that damned bitch of a cat that hated him all other times, and had terrified him now.Cristina.He would never forget her name, just as he would never forget the vicious way she had sunk her teeth into the fleshy part of his hand the first time he had tried to pet her.Dennis had kept cats as pets in the past, and they usually liked him, but it seemed as though Cristina had instantly abhorred him.In fact, she loathed everyone but Abe Kipp, the older of the two custodians whose sole domain was the Venetian Theatre and environs, and only because he had raised her from a kitten and fed her every day.Dennis watched her now as she regally stepped onto the stage like a diva in a curtain call, stretched luxuriously, and padded silently over to the spot where Tommy had died.She sat, curled her tail around her, and gazed down at the damp stain on the wooden stage floor.Then, having come to some feral conclusion, she uncoiled her tail, lowered her head, and began, ever so daintily, to lick the sodden boards [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]