"Talks." She shrugged as if the topic no longer interested her. "Karen is lovely."
"Yes," Becker agreed. "She is. She's lovely."
"Does that help?"
"Pardon me?"
"Does that help, having her lovely?… Does being lovely make you love her more? Better? Longer?"
Becker chuckled nervously, feeling very much out of his depth. It was not the sort of conversation he had expected to have with Kom's wife.
"It doesn't hurt," he said. "But I don't love her because she's attractive. That's why I was attracted to her in the first place, I suppose. Her being pretty. She's still pretty, prettier even, I think, but that's because I love her. But I love her for different reasons."
"But you love her. Never mind, you'd say yes to me no matter what you felt."
"I probably would," Becker agreed. "But fortunately, I can say it honestly. I do love her."
Tovah shrugged again as if bored to be discussing the obvious. "Why wouldn't you? Why wouldn't anyone?"
"I'm sure there are those who don't, human nature being as perverse as it is." She looked away from him, draining her wineglass. "Perverse," she said, amused by his understatement. "You are really very beautiful,"
Becker said, smiling. "You might not feel that way, but you are."
She leveled her gaze at him again. "I don't like charming men, I don't trust them." Becker laughed. "You're safe with me then."
"I know," she said. Kom and Karen returned, Kom looking as pleased and bouncy as a puppy.
"I've asked Stanley to help us out with the cut marks on the bones in the Johnny Appleseed case," Karen said her expression betraying nothing.
"Happy to help," Kom enthused. "I'm at your service, John. You just let me know when and where."
"Now you're joining the FBI?" Tovah asked. I'll m just helping out."
"Last year he was talking about being a volunteer fireman," Tovah said, in the patronizing tone normally used with children. "This one is always looking for something else to do."
Kom smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "I get enthusiastic about things," he said. He turned to Becker and held his hands palms upward, displaying his befuddled innocence. "I have a lot of energy."
"Never marry a doctor," Tovah said to Karen, as if she were in imminent danger of doing so. "Don't believe what they tell you about them, they make the worst husbands. They're never around, they've been so coddled by their mothers and everyone else all their lives they're spoiled rotten, they think if they get through medical school, that will pass for a life, people will think they're people and they can stop trying."
"Tovah…" Kom said gently.
"And they're so bored. I've never known a doctor who wasn't bored out of his mind. They all want to be something else. They want to write books and they want to discuss their pension plans; what they don't want to do is what they're doing, which is assembly line work, looking at the same ailments all day long, as many as they can cram into office hours, all year long, the rest of their lives. Unless they can figure a way out, get to make a movie or join the FBI or some crazy thing."
"I'm not joining…" Kom grinned helplessly at Karen and Becker.
"Tovah gets a little..
"Do you think they become doctors because they want to be healers? None I've met. Certainly none of Stanley's colleagues and so-called friends.
They become doctors because their mothers wanted them to. If they can't be doctors, they become dentists, or pharmacists, all to please Mom.
'You should see these men around their mothers. Pullease."
"Well," said Karen after a very long pause, "I think we'd better be going."
At the door Kom pumped Becker's hand enthusiastically. Becker thought that if the man had a tail he would be wagging it. Kom shook Karen's hand and then kissed her on the cheek.
"Thank you," he said softly to Karen. "Thank you so much."
Tovah stood behind her husband, watching the departure with an expression of profound indifference.
"Wow," said Becker, as soon as they had reached the sanctuary of their car.
"They're still watching us," Karen said. She waved at Kom, who stood within the circle of the porch light, waggling his fingers at them.
"Sweet mother-of-pearl," said Becker. "What a couple. "
"She seemed a little..
"Didn't she though. Living proof that money doesn't buy happiness. And what's with all those jewels for a little sit-down lobster gorge?"
"You don't know? She does that for him.' "For him? I thought women dressed for other women."
"Some of the time. Not tonight. She was wearing all that for him. To show off his wealth. Some of these people are like Bedouins, they have the women wear everything they possess."
"If she was doing that for him, it was the only thing she did for him. I don't think Stanley is her favorite boy."
Karen patted his hand. "John, you know a lot of things amazingly well.
Women may not be among them."
"I grant you that a certain basic mystery remains. Let me just say that she doesn't talk as if she likes her husband very much."
"On the contrary, I'd say she talks as if he doesn't spend enough time with her. If she didn't love him why would she care if he spends time with her?"
"Made up like that, I'd guess she's trying to keep anyone from spending any time with her. Or is she painting herself like that to please him too?"
"No, she does that to spite him," Karen said.
"I should have known."
"He wants her to be beautiful so he can display her as a trophy as well as the diamonds, but she does everything she can not to be… Do you think she's pretty?"
"if she let herself be, I suppose. Not as pretty as you though."
"I love a cheerful liar," said Karen. "She's absolutely gorgeous. As even a guy hopelessly in love-such as yourself-can plainly see."
"I only have eyes for you."
"Smart man," she said.
"So how does a dweeb like Stanley get a woman like that? Just money and position, a title before her name, that kind of thing?"
"He's not so bad-looking."
"He's not as attractive as she is."
"Depends on your point of view. He has such mournful eyes."
"I didn't notice.
"You wouldn't. Take my word for it, he has very expressive eyes."
"What were you two talking about in the other room?"
Karen said, "We talked about you, mostly. He likes you-a lot."
"He told you that?"
"Who should he tell, you? You'd have the same horrified reaction you're having now, only worse. He's lonely, I think. He wants a male friend.
Not much different from you, actually."
"I'm not lonely."
"You could use a male friend other than Tee. You and Tee are too much alike to do each other any good. You admit you never really talk anymore."
"I don't think I need Stanley Kom, thanks for asking."
"He's not gay, if that's what you're worried about."
"I wasn't, but how do you know? Marriage isn't proof of anything these days."
"A woman can tell by the way a man looks at her. Believe me, he's heterosexual. Don't confuse soft with gay. You probably don't like him because you couldn't knock him down without feeling like a bully."
"What, I judge my friends by whether or not I can knock them down? The man reminds me of an overgrown puppy, bouncing around with eagerness, slobbering on things."
"I thought you liked dogs."
"I like them as dogs, not as friends."
"Well, he likes you. You can do with it what you like. But that's why I asked him to take another look at Johnny's bones."
"Yeah, I wanted to ask you-what's that about? We have our own experts.
Tee only used him originally because we wanted some quick answers and Kom's local."
"We can still use our own people," Karen said. "I thought it would be nice to let him take part. It would mean a lot to him. He's eager to help and it will give you two a chance to get to know each other."