Blackburn

Wayne peered at Blackburn. "You look young to have a son in college, Mr. Talbot."

Blackburn decided that the salesman had been there long enough. "The boy's my stepson," he said. "And, really, my wife is the one you want to talk to, since the encyclopedia would be for her kid. She's away right now, but she'll be back in a few weeks. You could talk to her then."

Wayne remained seated. "I'll be happy to do that, Mr. Talbot," he said. "But as long as I'm here now, I'd like to show you the many features the Encyclopedia Europus has to offer. Then, when your wife returns, you can fill her in." He reached into the black bag and pulled out a thick, oversized volume bound in brown leather.

"I don't think-" Blackburn began.

Wayne interrupted. "This is Volume Fourteen, Lalo to Montpar. This volume alone contains seven hundred and eighty-seven entries on nine hundred and twelve pages and weighs two kilograms, or four point four pounds. It includes six hundred and three photographs and illustrations, two hundred and sixty-two in full color. Like each of the other twenty-eight volumes, it includes its own index-and that's in addition to the comprehensive index, which is a separate volume. This binding is full leather, but we also offer simulated leather, buckram, simulated buckram, and Carthaginian cork."

"How much?" Blackburn asked. He had become curious.

Wayne stood and carried Lalo to Montpar across the room to Blackburn. "Just feel that leather, sir. And the paper's acid-free. It'll last for centuries."

"I don't think my stepson will need it that long," Blackburn said.

"No, but his children and their children will, Mr. Talbot."

"Won't it be out of date by then?"

The salesman shook his head. "Europus publishes its yearbook every February, so your encyclopedia can stay perpetually current."

Blackburn was beginning to think that maybe this encyclopedia was something the Talbots could use. On the other hand, if they wouldn't even pay a man for painting their house, they wouldn't spend much money on a set of books. It would have to be a bargain.

"How much?" Blackburn asked again.

Wayne placed Lalo to Montpar in Blackburn's lap. It fell open to an illustration of the lymphatic system. "Far less than you would think, Mr. Talbot. Europus has an easy monthly payment plan."

Blackburn stared up at Wayne's eyes. "How. Much. For. The. Least. Expensive. Set."

"Your monthly payments would only be-"

Blackburn shut the volume and stood. "Total price," he said. He was becoming irritated.

"Two thousand eight hundred and twelve dollars. But when you consider-"

"My wife will never agree to that," Blackburn said. "I'm sorry." He held out the volume with both hands. He expected Wayne to take it and leave.

Wayne did neither. Instead, he tilted his head and gave Blackburn a sly look. "How old are you, Mr. Talbot?"

Blackburn was taken aback, but he saw no reason not to answer. "I'm twenty-one."

Wayne chuckled. "Smart. Very smart."

Blackburn didn't know what the salesman was talking about. "Excuse me?"

"Not that I blame you," Wayne said. "If I could find a nice older woman with a few bucks-"

"Please take your book," Blackburn said.

Wayne held up his hands. "Hey, I'm not putting you down. You're the smartest guy I've run into all day."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome," Wayne said. "So. Two thousand eight hundred is going to be too much for your wife. I trust your judgment on that. Hey, if you don't know what she'll spend, who does? Just tell me what you think she will spend."

Blackburn considered. How much would the encyclopedia be worth to the Talbots? "Maybe a thousand," he said.

The salesman laughed. "Is Talbot a Jewish name?"

Blackburn considered. "No. It's a werewolf name."

"Just kidding," Wayne said. "But look, you're going to have to make an offer I can take to the company without them pissing on my shoes." He leaned in close. "Then maybe you can sell me something too, you know?"

"Beg pardon?"

"Come on." Wayne's voice lowered. "A young guy like you? With an older lady? With nothing else to do all day? What do you deal-smoke or snort?"

Blackburn smiled. He was beginning to understand. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and his hair was a little long. That made him a gigolo and a drug dealer. He thought twenty-eight hundred dollars was too much money for an encyclopedia, so that made him a Jew.

"Let's you and me do some business," Wayne said. "If you can get your old lady to spring for the leatherbound, four thousand five hundred, I can bounce five hundred back to you. Free money, no taxes. She gets an encyclopedia for her college boy, you get some untraceable working capital, I get my commission. Everybody's happy. How about it?"

Blackburn hefted Lalo to Montpar. It was good and heavy. Solid.

"Not good enough?" Wayne said. "Okay, so how about this: I go into a lot of people's houses. These houses contain expensive items. Sometimes I leave a house and happen to find something small but valuable in my pocket. Other times I notice how bigger things might be taken away. Perhaps you could use such information."

Blackburn was appalled. "You steal from the people you sell to?" Blackburn himself sometimes stole when he had no other choice, but he never did so under false pretenses.

Wayne shrugged. "I'd call it putting knowledge to work. Hey, that's the whole concept behind the Encyclopedia Europus in the first place."

Blackburn nodded. "I understand," he said. He raised Lalo to Montpar and clubbed the salesman over the head.

Wayne staggered backward. "Hey!" he yelled. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Putting knowledge to work," Blackburn said, and went after him.

Blackburn tried to drive Wayne out the front door, but Wayne went into the kitchen instead. Blackburn got in five more blows, and then Wayne found a filleting knife in a magnetic rack. The salesman stood with his back against the refrigerator and held the knife as if to stab Blackburn in the chest. Blackburn raised his encyclopedia volume and pressed the attack.

The knife struck the book, glanced downward, and speared into Wayne's upper left thigh. It went in deep.

"Shit," Wayne said. He slid down the refrigerator to the floor. He tried to pull out the knife and failed. Soon there was a great deal of blood. It surged out around the blade. The floor thumped.

"Oh, shut up down there," Blackburn said.

"Help me," Wayne said.

Blackburn squatted beside him. "I think you hit the femoral artery."

"Please."

Blackburn sighed. "All right. Close your eyes."

Wayne closed his eyes. Blackburn went into the living room to retrieve the Python from under the chair cushion, then changed his mind. Why waste a cartridge? They were hard to come by. He looked at the encyclopedia volume in his hands. The filleting knife had sliced the leather on the back cover, but the board underneath was intact. It really was a well-made book.

Blackburn returned to the kitchen. Wayne was still alive, but the puddle of blood on the linoleum was growing. Blackburn stepped around it and knelt beside Wayne's head. He placed the spine of the book on the salesman's throat and pushed down. Wayne's eyes opened wide. His tongue stuck out. Then Lalo to Montpar crushed his trachea, and he was dead. Blackburn took the car keys from the body, cleaned up the mess as well as he could, and waited for night.