More Tales of the Black Widowers (13 page)

BOOK: More Tales of the Black Widowers
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Rubin broke in with his beard bristling combatively for the first time that evening. “I don't want to offend any more than you do, Comrade, but I think you've got a bad
case of believing your own propaganda. There's crime, yes, but for the most part the city is peaceful and well off. Have you been mugged, sir? Have you been molested in any way?”

Deryashkin shook his head. “So far, not. I will be honest,

So far I have been treated with all possible courtesy; not least, here. I thank you. For the most part, though, I have been in affluent sections. I have not been where your troubles are.”

Rubin said, “Then how do you know there are troubles except for what you read and hear in unfriendly media?”

“Ah,” said Deryashkin, “but I did venture into park— near the river. There I hear a murder planned. This is not what I read in any newspaper or what I am told by any enemy or ill-wisher of your country. It is the truth. I hear it.”

Rubin, his glasses seeming to concentrate the fury in his eyes into an incandescent glare, pointed a somewhat trembling finger and said, “Look-—”

But Avalon was on his feet and, from his better than six feet, he easily dominated the table. “Gentlemen,” he said in his commanding baritone, “let's stop right here. I have a suggestion to make. Our guest, Tovarisch Deryashkin, seems to think he has heard murder planned openly in the streets. I confess I don't understand what he means by that, but I would suggest we invite him to tell us in detail what he heard and under what circumstances. After all, he could be right and it could be an interesting story.”

Drake nodded his head vigorously. “I take host's privilege and direct that Mr. Deryashkin tell us the story of the planned murder from the beginning and, Manny, you let him tell it.”

Deryashkin said, “I will be glad to tell the story as accurately as I can, for what it is. There are not many details, but that it involves murder there can be no doubt. —Perhaps before I start, more brandy. —Thank you, my friend,” he said amiably to Henry.

Deryashkin sipped at his brandy and said, “It happened late this morning. Zelykov and I—Zelykov is colleague, brilliant man in biology and genetics, held down a bit in day of Lysenko, but excellent. He does not speak English well and I act to interpret for him. Zelykov and I were at the Biology Department at Columbia University for a couple of hours this morning.

“When we left, we were not certain how to follow up the leads we had received. We were not entirely sure about significance of what we have heard or what we should next do. We went down toward the river—Hudson River, which is very polluted, I understand—and we looked across to other shore, which is pretty from distance, but commercialized, I am told, and at highway, which is in between, and not so pretty.

“It was a nice day. Quite cold, but cold days do not frighten a Russian from Tula. We sit and talk in Russian and it is a pleasure to do so. Zelykov has only a few words of English and even for me it is a strain to talk English constantly. It is a great language; I would not be offensive; the language of Shakespeare and your own Mark Twain and Jack London, and I enjoy it. But”—he cocked his head to one side and thrust out his lips—”it is a strain, and it is pleasant to speak one's native language and be fluent.

“But I mention that we are speaking Russian only because it plays a part in the story. You see, two young men, who don't look like hooligans, approach. They have short hair, they are shaved, they look well to do. I am not really paying attention at first. I am aware they are coming but I am interested in what I am saying and I am not really clear that they are going to speak to us till they do. I don't remember exactly what they say, but it was like, 'Do you mind if we sit?'

“Naturally, I don't mind. There is two halves to the bench, with a metal dividing in the middle. On each half is more than enough for two people. Zelykov and I, we are in one half; these two young men can be in the other half. I say, 'Be our guests. You are welcome. Sit down and relax.' Something like that.

“But—and this is the important thing—I have just been speaking Russian to Zelykov, so when the young men asked the question I answered, without thinking, still in Russian. I would have corrected this, but they sat down at once and did not pay more attention to us, so I thought, Well, it is done and what more is necessary to say?

“You see, however”—and here he paused, and tapped his nose with his forefinger—”the significance of this?”

Rubin said at once, “No. I don't”

“They thought we were foreigners.”

“And so you are,” said Rubin.

“Ah,” said Deryashkin, “but foreigners who could not speak English.”

Trumbull interposed, “And how does that matter, Mr. Deryashkin?”

Deryashkin transferred his forefinger to the palm of his left hand, marking each emphasis. “// they think we speak English, they take another bench; but since they say to themselves, 'Aha, we have here foreigners who will not understand us,' they sit right down next to us and talk freely, and of course I listen. I talk to Zelykov, but I listen, too.”

Halsted, staring at his empty brandy glass, said, “Why did you listen? Did they seem suspicious?”

“To me, yes,” said Deryashkin. “They are students, since we are near Columbia University and they carry books. I know, of course, that the American student body is very activist and, in some cases, destructive.”

Rubin interrupted hotly, “Three years ago. Not now.”

“Of course,” said Deryashkin genially, “you defend. I do not criticize. I understand that many students were motivated by hostility to war, and this I understand. Any humane idealist would be in favor of peace. Yet it is undeniable that under cover of idealism there are undesirable elements too. Besides, we are sitting in a park. It is empty and there is not someone we can count on for help if the students are armed and hostile. Also, it is well known that in New York bystanders do not interfere when a criminal action is taking place.

“I do not actually think we are in immediate danger, but it would be foolhardy to let attention wander. I keep aware of the hooligans and, without looking at them, I listen a bit.”

Rubin said, “Why do you call them hooligans? They haven't done anything so far except to take a seat; and they asked permission politely before they did that much.”

“The politeness,” said Deryashkin, “cannot be given too much credit. That was only to check what it was we were. And I call them hooligans because that is what they were. What they were talking about was a plan for murder.”

There was a distinct air of incredulity about the table as Deryashkin paused at this point for effect. Finally Avalon asked, “Are you sure of that, Mr. Deryashkin?”

“Quite sure. They used the word 'murder.' They used it several times. I did not hear all that they said clearly. They were talking in low voices—a natural precaution. I was also talking, as was Zelykov.”

Rubin leaned back in his chair. “So you caught only scraps of conversation. You can't be sure there was anything wrong with it.”

“I heard the word 'murder,' Mr. Rubin,” said Deryashkin seriously. “I heard it several times. You know English better than I do, I'm sure, but you tell me if there is any word in the English language that is like 'murder.' If they say 'mother' I can hear the difference. I can pronounce the English
th
and I can hear it, so I do not put a d where it does not belong. I hear the initial letter m clearly, so it is not —uh—girder, let us say, which I think is word for steel beams in building construction. I hear 'murder.' What else does one talk about but killing if one speaks of murder?”

Gonzalo said, 'They could be using the word in a colloquial expression. If they were discussing an upcoming football game with another college, they could say, 'We'll murder the bums!'“

Deryashkin said, “They are talking too seriously for that, my dear sir. It is not a football game they discuss. It is low tones, serious, very serious, and there is also to be taken into account what else they said.”

“Well, what else did they say?” asked Trumbull.

“There was something about 'lying in the shadows,' which is something you don't do for football games. They would lie in the shadows waiting to trap someone, catch them by surprise, murder them.”

“Did they say all that?” demanded Rubin.

“No, no. This is my interpretation.” Deryashkin frowned. *They also said something about tying them up. 'Tie them up in the dark.' That they did say. I remember distinctly. There was also talk about a signal.”

“What signal?” asked Avalon.

“A ring of a bell. That I heard too. It is, I think, a well-organized conspiracy. They will lie in wait at night; there will be a signal when the right person is there or when the coast is clear; one ring of some kind; then they tie up the victim or victims and murder them.

“There is no question about this in my mind,” Deryashkin continued. “One hooligan is doing all the talking at first— as though he is reciting the plan—and when he is finished the other one says, 'Right! You have it perfect! We'll go over some of the other things, but you'll make it.' And he warned him against talking.”

“Against talking?” said Rubin.

“Several times it was mentioned. About talking. By both of them. Very seriously.”

Rubin said, “You mean they sat down next to two strangers, talked their heads off, and warned each other against talking?”

Deryashkin said rather tightly, “I said several times they assumed we could not speak English.”

Trumbull said, “Look, Manny, let's not make a fight out of this. Maybe Mr. Deryashkin has something here. There are radical splinter groups among the student bodies of America. There have been buildings blown up.”

“There have been no cold-blooded murders planned and carried out,” said Rubin.

“Always a first time for everything,” said Avalon, frowning, and clearly concerned.

Trumbull said, “Well, Mr. Deryashkin, did you do anything?”

“Do anything?” Deryashkin looked puzzled. “To hold them, you mean? It was not so easy. I am listening, trying to understand, learn as much as possible, without showing that I am listening. If they see I am listening, they will see we understand and will stop talking. We might even be in danger. So I don't look at them while I am listening and suddenly it is silent and they are walking away.”

“You didn't go after them?” asked Drake.

Deryashkin shook his head emphatically. “If they are hooligans, they are armed. It is well known that handguns are sold freely in America and that it is very common for young people to carry arms. They are young and look strong, and I am myself nearly fifty and am a man of peace. A war veteran, but a man of peace. As for Zelykov, he has a bad chest and on him I cannot count. If the hooligans leave, let them leave.”

“Did you report anything to the police?” asked Halsted.

“I? Of what use? What evidence have I? What can I say? I see right now that you are all skeptical and you are intelligent men who know my position and see that I am a man of responsibility, a scientific man. Yet you are skeptical. What would the policeman know but that I have heard these scattered things? And I am a Soviet citizen. Is it possible a policeman would accept the word of a Russian foreigner against American young men? And I would not wish to be involved in what could become a large scandal that would affect my career and perhaps embarrass my country. So I say nothing. I do nothing. Can you suggest anything to say or do?”

“Well, no,” said Avalon deliberately, “but if we wake up one of these mornings and discover that murder has been done and that some group of college students are responsible, we would not exactly feel well. / would not.”

“Nor I,” said Trumbull, “but I see Mr. Deryashkin's position. On the basis of what he's told us, he would certainly have a hard time interesting a hard-boiled police sergeant. —Unless we had some hard evidence. Have you any idea what the students looked like, Mr. Deryashkin?”

“Not at all. I saw them for a moment as they approached. After that I did not look at them, merely listened. When they left, it was only their backs I saw. I noticed nothing unusual.”

“You could not possibly identify them, then?”

“Under no conditions. I have thought about it. I said to myself, if the school authorities were to show me pictures of every young man who attended Columbia University, I could not tell which were the two who had sat on the bench.”

“Did you notice their clothes?” asked Gonzalo.

“It was cold, so they wear coats,” said Deryashkin. “Gray coats, I think. I did not really notice.”

“Gray coats,” muttered Rubin.

“Did they wear anything unusual?” said Gonzalo. “Funny hats, mittens, checked scarves?”

“Are you going to identify them that way?” said Rubin. “*You mean you're thinking of going to the police and they'll say, 'That must be Mittens Garfinkel, well-known hooligan. Always wears mittens.' “

Gonzalo said patiently, “Any information—”

But Deryashkin interposed. “Please, gentlemen, I noticed nothing of that kind. I cannot give any help in clothing.”

Halsted said, “How about your companion, Mr.—uh—”

“Zelykov.”

“How about Mr. Zelykov?” Halsted's soft voice seemed thoughtful. “If he noticed anything—”

“No, he never looked at them. He was discussing genes and DNA He didn't even know they were there.”

BOOK: More Tales of the Black Widowers
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