Somebody else by the same name, Luckman said. Another Robert Arctor. How many Robert Arctors do you think there are, Barris? He nudged Barris. Could the Cal Tech computers tell us that? And cross-file all the Jim Barrises too while theyre doing it?
To himself, Bob Arctor thought, How many Bob Arctors are there? A weird and fucked-up thought. Two that I can think of, he thought. The one called Fred, who will be watching the other one, called Bob. The same person. Or is it? Is Fred actually the same as Bob? Does anybody know? I would know, if anyone did, because Im the only person in the world that knows that Fred is Bob Arctor. But, he thought, who am I? Which of them is me?
When they rolled to a stop in the driveway, parked, and walked warily toward the front door, they found Barriss note and the door unlocked, but when they cautiously opened the door everything appeared as it had been when they left.
Barriss suspicions surfaced instantly. Ah, he murmured, entering. He swiftly reached to the top of the bookshelf by the door and brought down his .22 pistol, which he gripped as the other men moved about. The animals approached them as usual, clamoring to be fed.
Well, Barris, Luckman said, I can see youre right. There definitely was someone here, because you seeyou see, too, dont you, Bob?the scrupulous covering-over of all the signs they would have otherwise left testifies to their He farted then, in disgust, and wandered into the kitchen to look in the refrigerator for a can of beer. Barris, he said, youre fucked.
Still moving about alertly with his gun, Barris ignored him as he sought to discover telltale traces. Arctor, watching, thought, Maybe he will. They may have left some. And he thought, Strange how paranoia can link up with reality now and then, briefly. Under very specialized conditions, such as today. Next thing, Barris will be reasoning that I lured everyone out of the house deliberately to permit secret intruders to accomplish their thing here. And later on he will discern why and who and everything else, and in fact maybe he already has. Had a while ago, in fact; long-enough ago to initiate sabotage and destruct actions on the cephscope, car, and God knows what else. Maybe when I turn on the garage light the house will burn down. But the main thing is, did the bugging crew arrive and get all the monitors in and finish up? He would not know until he talked to Hank and Hank gave him a proof-positive layout of the monitors and where their storage drums could be serviced. And whatever additional information the bugging crews boss, plus other experts involved in this operation, wanted to dump on him. In their concerted play against Bob Arctor, the suspect.
Look at this! Barris said. He bent over an ashtray on the coffee table. Come here! he called sharply to both of them, and both men responded.
Reaching down, Arctor felt heat rising from the ashtray.
A still-hot cigarette butt, Luckman said, marveling. It sure is.
Jesus, Arctor thought. They did screw up. One of the crew smoked and then reflexively put the butt here. So they must just have gone. The ashtray, as always, overflowed; the crewman probably assumed no one would notice the addition, and in another few moments it would have cooled.
Wait a second, Luckman said, examining the ashtray. He fished out, from among the tobacco butts, a roach. This is whats hot, this roach. They lit a joint while they were here. But what did they do? What the hell did they do? He scowled and peered about, angry and baffled. Bob, fuck itBarris, was right. There was somebody here! This roach is still hot, and you can smell it if you hold it He held it under Arctors nose. Yeah, its still burning a little down inside. Probably a seed. They didnt manicure it too good before they rolled it.
That roach, Barris said, equally grim, may not have been left here by accident. This evidence may not be a slip-up.
What now? Arctor said, wondering what kind of police bugging crew would have a member who smoked a joint in front of the others while on the job.
Maybe they were here specifically to plant dope in this house, Barris said. Setting us up, then phone in a tip later Maybe theres dope hidden like this in the phone, for example, and the wall outlets. Were going to have to go through the whole house and get it absolutely clean before they phone the tip in. And weve probably got only hours.
You check the wall sockets, Luckman said. Ill take the phone apart.
Wait, Barris said, holding up his hand. If they see us scrambling around just before the raid
What raid? Arctor said.
If were running frantically around flushing dope, Barris said, then we cant allege, even though its true, that we didnt know the dope was there. Theyll catch us actually holding it. And maybe that, too, is part of their plan.
Aw shit, Luckman said in disgust. He threw himself down on the couch. Shit shit shit. We cant do anything. Theres probably dope hidden in a thousand places well never find. Weve had it. He glared up at Arctor in baffled fury. Weve had it!
Arctor said to Barris, What about your electronic cassette thing rigged to the front door? He had forgotten about it. So had Barris, evidently. Luckman, too.
Yes, this should be extremely informational at this point, Barris said. He knelt down by the couch, reached underneath, grunted, then hauled forth a small plastic cassette tape recorder. This should tell us a great deal, he began, and then his face sank. Well, it probably wouldnt ultimately have proven that important. He pulled out the power plug from the back and set the cassette down on the coffee table. We know the main factthat they did enter during our absence. That was its main task.
Silence.
Ill bet I can guess, Arctor said.
Barris said, The first thing they did when they entered was switch it to the off position. I left it set to on, but looknow its turned to off. So although I
It didnt record? Luckman said, disappointed.
They made their move swiftly, Barris said. Before so much as an inch of tape passed through the recording head. This, by the way, is a neat little job, a Sony. It has a separate head for playback, erase and record and the Dolby noisereduction system. I got it cheap. At a swap meet. And its never given me any trouble.
Arctor said, Mandatory soul time.
Absolutely, Barris agreed as he seated himself in a chair and leaned back, removing his shades. At this point we have no other recourse in view of their evasive tactics. You know, Bob, there is one thing you could do, although it would take time.
Sell the house and move out, Arctor said.
Barris nodded.
But hell, Luckman protested. This is our home.
What are houses like this in this area worth now? Barris asked, hands behind his head. On the market? I wonder, too, what interest rates are up to. Maybe you could make a considerable profit, Bob. On the other hand, you might have to take a loss on a quick sale. But, Bob, my God, youre up against professionals.
Do you know a good realtor? Luckman asked both of them.
Arctor said, What reason should we give for selling? They always ask.
Yeah, we cant tell the realtor the truth, Luckman agreed. We could say He pondered as he moodily drank his beer. I cant think of a reason. Barris, whats a reason, a shuck we could give?
Arctor said, Well just say flat-out theres narcotics planted all over the house and since we dont know where it is we decided to move out and let the new owner get busted instead of us.
No, Barris disagreed, I dont think we can afford to be up front like that. Id suggest you say, Bob, you say that you got a job transfer.