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slim found himself back in his room.
he put the rapidly warming ice cold coke down on the little table beside the bed, and lay down on the bed.
now what? it was not like he had never been in weird situations before, especially where the general was involved. so if the clerk’s not so young young wife was mixed up in this, and he found her smiling face waiting for him at the general’s tomorrow, so be it.
he would just have to see what happened, the way he always did.
the paperback book, i ask of you the truth, was still sitting on top of the little table . slim took a swig of the coke, and picked up the book and started reading it.
even though he did not like books that started at the beginning. he preferred the bible, where you could just open it up and start reading.
*
“come in, mister o’rourke,” the professor said, waving johnny into the apartment.
the apartment looked pretty big, but it was hard to tell, as it was lit by a single lamp. the professor sat down in an easy chair, and motioned johnny into another one.
the sounds of the new york night drifted up from forty stories below.
“drink, mister o’rourke?”
“you can have one if you want, i would just as soon get down to business.”
“so would i.” the professor leaned back in his chair.
johnny didn’t like the professor’s looks, but times were starting to get tough, and he needed a job and he couldn’t be choosy.
he was not disposed think well of professors in the first place, but this guy reminded him of a certain type of officer he had encountered in the war - the kind who sat cozy and warm in headquarters - maybe even with a nice long legged wac to take dictation - and smoked their pipes and dreamed up “missions” for guys like johnny - “missions” that never worked out like they did on paper and that the men in the field had to make what they could of and try to survive…
the professor was talking and johnny pulled his mind back to the present… who knew, maybe this character had not even been in the war…
“this is a job,” the professor announced, “probably different from any you have ever undertaken.” he eyed johnny carefully, as if expecting some kind of surprised response.
“what is it?” johnny asked.
“all i want,” the professor continued, “is for you to find out one thing for me. find out whether one thing happened or did not. either way, you do not have to do anything. except report back to me. you do not have to arrest anybody - “
“i am a private operative, sir, i have no power to arrest anybody.”
“yes, of course. perhaps i should have said, you will have no cause to report anybody to the authorities, who would then make an arrest. is that more clear?”
“sure.”
“you will not have to kill anybody, you will not have to beat anybody up.”
“sir, i would never engage in such activities. i am a law-abiding citizen, with a license from the state of new york to conduct investigations. and, besides, i hate violence.”
“i am very happy to hear that.” the professor leaned back and put his fingertips together. “i estimate that the investigation should take you no more than a month. what is your rate for a month’s services?”
johnny named a price, and the professor agreed to it at once. maybe this won’t be such a bad deal, johnny thought.
there was a book on a little table beside the easy chair the professor was sitting in and he picked it up and showed it to johnny.
the title was “operation raven” and the author’s name was reginald warren.
“have you ever heard of this book?” the professor asked.
“i can’t say that i have.”
the professor laughed. “i would not think so. not many have. have you ever heard of operation raven, or of the estimable captain reginald warren?”
“no.”
“good. then you will start from scratch, with an open mind.”
“i always have an open mind, sir, when i start something.”
“excellent. then let me get right to the point.”
you do that, johnny thought, but he just nodded.
just then the doorbell rang.
9. down this road
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