Stone Junction (20 page)

‘Dolly Varden.’

‘I can show you my buckshot cherry if you don’t believe it. And don’t just stand there, come over and give this ol’ frame a squeeze – I need all the young action I can get.’

As he hugged her, he realized she was the first person he’d seen since his mother’s death who’d known her while alive. ‘My mother’s dead, you know,’ he said as evenly as he could.

‘Yes, I know. It made me sad in a real simple way. It’s also the reason I’m here. I’m acting as a go-between.’

‘Between who?’

‘AMO and Shamus Malloy.’

Daniel shook his head. ‘I’m a little dumb tonight. You’ll have to explain.’

‘Volta put the word out that you claimed your mother’s death was not an accident, that she had yelled for you to run before the bomb exploded, and that you wanted the names of Shamus’s accomplices since they might be responsible. When Shamus finally heard, he called Volta and said he wouldn’t give him the names until he was satisfied that you really had heard your mother scream for you to run. Obviously, Shamus thought it might be a ploy on Volta’s part to either extract privileged information or to keep Shamus feeling miserable. Volta suggested a go-between. They agreed on me.’

Daniel said, ‘You can tell Shamus it’s true, and that we’d appreciate the names of the others involved.’

‘So you don’t think it was an accident?’

‘It may have been. I don’t know. She yelled and then the bomb exploded – the same second. My gut feeling is that somebody killed her.’

‘Any ideas?’

‘No. That’s why Volta and I want the names of the others.’

‘I’ll tell Shamus personally.’

‘Where is he?’

‘Daniel,’ Dolly chided, ‘that’s confidential.’

‘Well,
how
is he?’

‘Torn up – he loved Annalee.’

Trembling, Daniel said, ‘So did I. Tell him if I didn’t do it and he didn’t do it, we should talk to the other three people involved, the bomb-maker for sure.’

‘Shamus asked me to warn you that Volta is a very strong and cunning man who didn’t want the theft to occur.’

‘Do
you
think Volta had anything to do with it?’

‘Personally? No. But he is a powerful and perceptive man.’

Daniel rubbed his eyes. ‘Dolly, do you mind if I ask your opinion on an entirely unrelated matter?’

‘Hell, I’d be honored.’

Dolly listened as he explained his problem. When he finished, she said, ‘So you can only make love with the
same
woman once – if I got it right?’

‘You do.’

‘Well, you best make it good.’

Dolly left the next morning with Charmaine after assuring Daniel that if and when Shamus provided the names, Volta would contact him.

At about the same time, seventy miles upriver, Jade Lavelle and Annie Sawyer waited for Mommy to return from her morning dip in the Rouge. They met her on the trail. Her short silver hair was still wet from her swim. She listened as they explained Daniel’s problem, her clear hazel eyes shifting from one speaker to the other.

Mommy’s response was swift and definite. ‘Don’t get involved with him. He’s going in a different direction.’

Annie and Jade were startled. Mommy seldom spoke so directly or emphatically.

As they thanked her and turned to leave, Mommy added, her voice much softer, ‘I know – oh, how I know – they
are
attractive.’

Over the next month, as the harvest was cured, clipped, and distributed, Daniel tried to follow Dolly’s advice. But he was still limited, for whatever reason, to one orgasm with each woman. All the Commies soon knew of Mommy’s comment, and those who hadn’t slept with him hurried to do so. By Thanksgiving, he’d just about run out of Commie lovers.

Fishing for steelhead, Daniel nearly leapt in the river when Volta appeared behind him and said, ‘Any luck?’

‘None,’ Daniel said.

‘Well, here’s some. We’re fairly certain we know who killed your mother. The man who made the bomb, Gideon Nobel.’

‘Why?’ was all Daniel could say.

‘He was in love with her, had been for years.’

‘It doesn’t sound right,’ Daniel said. ‘For one thing, I’m sure she never mentioned him.’ He began to reel in.

‘That’s part of the reason – the feeling wasn’t mutual.’

Daniel started to say something, but Volta held up his hands. ‘Let me apologize for the cheap drama – it’s an old show-business habit. Let’s go on up to the house and I’ll start from the beginning. That is, if you’re done fishing.’

They walked back to the ranch house and sat in the living room. Volta began, ‘Dolly contacted Shamus, gave him your assurance that your mother had shouted a warning just before the bomb exploded, and Shamus, after considering it for a few weeks, sent the names of the other people involved.’ He handed Daniel a piece of paper. Daniel recognized Shamus’s scrawl.

Carl Fuller – driver

Olaf Ekblad – inside

Gideon Nobel – bomb

‘What does
inside
mean?’ Daniel asked.

‘Going inside with Shamus, for the actual theft. As soon as I received the names – I’ve been in Mexico – I put some of our best people on them, and they’ve found out quite a bit in the short time they’ve had.

‘Carl “The Throttle” Fuller is an old wheelman, a real pro. We found him in Minneapolis without any trouble. He claims all he knew of the setup was his end – procuring the cars, arranging the switches, times and places for picking up the others. He didn’t know about the diversionary bomb, and never met anyone else involved except Shamus.

‘Basically the same story for Olaf Ekblad – absolutely trustworthy, no nerves, and he could have written the manuals for most alarm systems. In fact, AMO has used his services in the past and we’ve found him utterly reliable. He knew a diversion was planned, but not what or who was involved.’

Daniel interrupted. ‘But this Gideon Nobel did?’

‘Listen for a moment. Gideon Nobel met your mother when she was sixteen or seventeen – it was in San Francisco, during one of her visits.’

‘I was too young then,’ Daniel said, disappointed. ‘I won’t be able to remember.’

‘They met in North Beach and he fell in love. For over a year they were occasional lovers – much too occasional for Gideon. Your mother, it seems, was something of a street legend at the time, showing up for a few days a month and then disappearing. At any rate, their affair is still remembered. Gideon was evidently captivated; your mother, less so. She went out with other men, and there were a few public scenes that leave little doubt of his jealousy and anger.

‘Gideon was a highly regarded sculptor then, at least among the avant-garde. His most memorable work is a set of twenty-four pieces sharing the central image of Mickey Mouse. In fact, it’s called
Mickey
Mouse Time in America
, and pieces of the set still exist.

‘While there may be aesthetic arguments about the value of his sculptures, there’s none about the artistry of his bombs. Expert workmanship. Untraceable connections for the explosives. The highest-quality components. Excellent safety features. And
no
mistakes that anybody ever heard about. Gideon also had a certain panache in his demolitions, always using a Mickey Mouse clock – sort of his signature, even though he replaced the clock mechanisms with more sophisticated timers.

‘Now this is important: Gideon, unbeknownst to Shamus, lived less than four blocks away from Shamus in Richmond. It is easily conceivable that he saw your mother and Shamus together, or even that Shamus told him about her – though Shamus denies that anyone but you and he knew of your mother’s involvement. It is possible that Gideon deduced your mother would be delivering the bomb. He knew that it was merely for diversion, which meant that it would present a very low risk for whoever delivered it, yet would require someone completely trustworthy – in short, a perfect job for Shamus’s lover.

‘At this point it gets a bit trickier. Shamus swears that Gideon didn’t know that the bomb was diversionary to a plutonium theft. However, Gideon knew something of Shamus’s history, and no doubt sensed his current obsession with fissionable materials – Gideon was not without wit, and obsessions
are
difficult to conceal. So it’s likely Gideon figured out what Shamus was after. There is evidence Gideon had reservations about his association with the heist, as he indirectly confided to certain friends days before the planned attempt – mentioning that he was involved in something that he regretted, fearing it would bring a great deal of scrutiny to his activities. It also seems Gideon had a particular antipathy to nuclear devices, considering them beyond the scale of intelligent control. Not unlike Shamus’s position, really, but with the crucial difference that Gideon believed they are so poisonous to the soul that you can’t mess with them without contamination, whatever your motives.

‘So. Between jealous revenge and a growing fear about his probable involvement in the theft of nuclear materials, Gideon decided to alter the bomb in some way – perhaps so that it would detonate moments after it was armed, or perhaps by a remote device.’ Daniel started to say something but Volta anticipated him. ‘So why did your mother know something was amiss in time to yell a warning to you? I’m not sure, but maybe it was something she felt when she armed the bomb or – and I wouldn’t discount this as a possibility – she remembered Gideon’s obsession with the Mickey Mouse image, probably knew he made bombs, did know a Mickey Mouse clock had been used in the one she was carrying, and came up with enough doubts and dangers to warn you.’

Daniel was shaking his head.

‘I know,’ Volta said, ‘the latter is fairly thin conjecture.’

‘Yes, it is – but more than that, it was the way she yelled for me to run. It wasn’t like there
might
be danger; it was immediate, urgent.’

Volta sighed. ‘I know. But by your own description she was extremely nervous, enough so that a vague connection might have become an urgent truth.’

‘What does Gideon say to all this speculation?’

‘Nothing. Nor will he. He was killed in a car wreck less than a year later – hit head-on by a drunk driver, who is now serving an eight-year term for second degree murder.’

Daniel said, ‘Circumstance, conjecture, a convenient death – it sounds awfully loose.’

‘I can’t disagree. But how would you like to check it out yourself? Investigative work is excellent training. Besides, you must be ready to come out of the hills for some bright lights and big city. It’s up to you, of course.’

‘I would like that,’ Daniel said. ‘I want some direct information.’

‘Done. I’ll set up a money drop for you in the city to support your investigation. You take care of the rest – lodging, food, and so forth. You’ll be on your own, but I’ll give you a number to contract me if you’re so inclined. I might be able to coordinate information and leads, and perhaps offer some instructions – suggestions, really.’

‘Why not give them to me now?’

Volta smiled faintly. ‘Because I’m not sure what they are. Things have been moving very fast lately.’

‘I noticed,’ Daniel said. He was just about to ask Volta’s opinion on his sexual problem when he heard Mott railing at Pissgums down in the barn.

‘I must leave within the hour,’ Volta said, getting to his feet, ‘and first I must talk to Mott and Charmaine.’

‘What do you have to talk to her about?’

Volta arched an eyebrow. ‘Business. She needs some supplies and new equipment for her lab.’

‘What does she make in that lab of hers anyway?’

‘She doesn’t always tell me, and I never ask.’

‘You just supply the materials and equipment on faith, right?’

‘Exactly. The same basis on which we provide your training. Please call and check in when you get to the city.’

Daniel left the Rocking On a week later, three jars of chili and a quarter pound of trainwreck weed in his pack, farewell gifts from Mott. Charmaine was gone for the month, so he left her a good-bye note thanking her for her help. He promised Mott he’d call if he ran across any new drugs or happened to hear about a vintage bazooka for sale.

Transcription: Telephone Call Between

Volta and Daniel

DANIEL: Hey, this is Daniel. I just went by the drop and there’s only a hundred dollars.

VOLTA: We’re not a
rich
organization, Daniel.

DANIEL: A hundred dollars won’t even pay
rent
. This is
San
Francisco
.

VOLTA: I understand. It’s a dismal situation. But frankly, the finances are in shambles. Our accountant fell in love with her secretary. There’s a hundred-dollar limit on all nonessential outlays.

DANIEL: And checking out my mother’s death is nonessential?

VOLTA: Since it’s already been done to some degree by others – who were paid
eight
hundred dollars – it’s difficult to justify financially. And people besides myself are involved in these determinations.

DANIEL: Am I supposed to sleep in the park?

VOLTA: It’s been done to good effect.

DANIEL: I get it – part of the training.

VOLTA: Not specifically, no. We do, of course, assume that any of our students has the wit to survive in an affluent society.

DANIEL: What if I need to bribe someone for information?

VOLTA: Bribery is the failure of persuasion. And you’re certainly not being trained to acquire information that could simply be bought.

DANIEL: All right. A hundred a week is good enough.

VOLTA: A
month
.

DANIEL: You’re kidding. I’d rather devote my attention to investigating my mother’s death than finding out what garbage cans in which alleys are the best to eat from.

VOLTA: Perhaps you’ll find attention sharpened by necessity.

DANIEL: I thought I was supposed to get twenty percent of the truck farm profits?

VOLTA: You are. A hundred dollars a month for fourteen months is fourteen hundred dollars.

DANIEL:
Fourteen hundred!
It should be more like fourteen
thousand!

VOLTA: Daniel, you’ve confused
gross
with
profit
. Gross is total income. Profit is the gross minus operating expenses, which include everything from land payments and taxes – it is three thousand acres, remember – down to kerosene for the lamps. It also includes ceremonial expenses, like burning hundred-dollar bills, and instructional salaries – Wild Bill’s, for instance. Plus, of course, the five percent dues you’re supposed to pay as an AMO member. We assume your honor, so take it out at this end to save the tedious and entropic transactions of sending it to you only to have you return it. It makes life easier for our accountants.