— But Mister Eigen who…
— Bitch.
— Yes but I mean who, who’s that man in there staring at me and that, that Chinese girl sitting on the box with the…
— Well who the hell is she! She came in from Hong Kong with a shipment of sweaters for that company of yours no return ticket no papers she can’t even speak English, Immigration’s sending somebody up to take her in as an illegal alien I mean do you know what’s been going on here Bast? U S marshals postal inspectors IRS agents arguing jurisdiction over every scrap of paper I haven’t been able to take anything of mine out till right now, valuable manuscripts all over the place just lucky as hell they didn’t all go up in smoke these God damn matchbooks of yours dumped everyplace look at them! Five summonses from the fire department they brought in the public health people took one look in the refrigerator and…
— Yes but, well they’re not really mine the matches I mean, they…
— They’ve got this God damn J R thing all over them same company you’ve been working for isn’t it? He’s been calling here too hardly hear him look get the corner of this box here will you? Just push it past the tub there, sounded like he said he had a cold couldn’t meet you but he got some school to mail you a check you expected asked if you’re mad and what the hell happened to you no wait, push it a little further so I can tape it closed can you? Lawyers reporters executive placement agencies civil liberties union some drunk general somebody trying to reach you I mean do you know what’s been going on here Bast? Indian legal aid fund, some God damn television talk show civil beautification committee in some town where you painted their water tower want you at their award banquet? Somebody named Crawley who keeps calling and the phone company, I mean do you know this God damn phone bill’s over eleven thousand dollars?
— No but wait, wait this Mister Crawley was it about a check he…
— Just said some slides he lent you sounds affronted as hell you haven’t returned them look hand me that folder on the tub, finally found it stuffed under some boxes I’m not going to look no the one with stains all over it listen, where you going from here are you in a hurry?
— Well, no well no place exactly no I just came up to see if my…
— Fine then look there’s something you can do, can you just get Freddie where he’s supposed to go as soon as I get this call? There was an ad in the paper his sister’s been looking for him for Christ knows how long I’ve got an attorney checking the details how, I’m just waiting for him to call me back I’d do it myself but I’m waiting for this messenger service to, help me get this box up here will you?
— Well yes but I mean who’s, is that Freddie in there on the…
— Yes he’s fine look there’s nothing to worry about, once we got the bulb out of that lamp flickering on and off in there he thought it was his mother sending him messages, just hold this closed while I tie it can you? Been fine ever since they shot the God damn radio didn’t even bother him when the Jones boys had a fire in their clubhouse down there, the only thing that’s upset him was the drowned cat they found in the tub when they came in to turn off the water look, can you pull that box out while I hold back these film cans? This pain I’ve been getting it starts here and goes right down to my knee I don’t want to make it any worse.
— Well yes but, I mean Freddie where did he come from who…
— Pull it out a little further can you? Jack brought him in here out of the rain one day knew him in boarding school, he’s been here ever since can you hand me that roll of tape? They found a practice golf course someplace it’s laid out all over those books and boxes in there, Jack’s been teaching him golf eating these freeze-dried chicken Marengos drinking that God damn grape drink I just want to get him back safe to his family before Jack starts wait, just hold this down so I can tape it closed and, who…
— Yes but where’s Mister Gib…
— Ello…?
— Good God, who…
— Is Mister Grinspan ere? General Motor ave buy im a…
— He’s not no but come in, come…
— I ave a busy schedule. Wen e’s ere?
— Look he’s not here he’s gone he’s dead but come in, I…
— E’s dead? That’s not nice no, I don do that. Goodbye…
— Good, God where did she come from…
— I don’t know but I mean what happened to Mister Gryn…
— Too much damn trouble Jack just fixed up a nice obituary on him and look, hand me that box on the tub maybe we can get these into it, Britannica finally caught up with him worked his way through up there selling them for twenty dollars a set Jack had us taking turns on his exams to get him through with a summa they’ve been after him for twenty years finally just more God damn trouble than he was worth, Edison Company finds the meter bypass wants him on fraud the IRS shows up with his track winnings list as long as your arm some old woman after him for a concentration camp reunion, even had the Connecticut State Highway Department building a road they stumbled on a family grave wait look out, let me get the phone maybe the call I’ve been, hello…? Yes, yes fine… fine yes there’s somebody here now who can bring him right down, did she say whether… Sitting in there peaceful as can be look there wasn’t any violence just grabbed the inspector’s gun when they broke off the Minuet in G for an aspirin commercial fired it down there till the thing finally… that’s what I mean once he’s in his sister’s custody yes, he… Right now yes somebody here who can bring him right down, hold on a minute. Look can you take Freddie down there right now? Somplace in the Seventies…
— Well yes well as soon as I see if there’s a letter for me I…
— Look back there in Appletons’, GRIN-LOC Volume three Jack said he’d put some there. Hello? Fine yes, just picking up his mail here and they can get started, now what… I’ll tell him that yes now what about this matter I called you on earlier, the… to sue him and this Walldecker too yes, look this is the way I reconstruct it. I gave a copy of my play to this young man Gall to read just to read, instead he sold it to this company Angels West for fifteen hundred dollars worth of their stock and they sold it to Angels East for a hundred thousand in stock that showed up as a ninety-eight thousand five hundred dollar profit on their books, when the… because no they’re both Walldecker that’s the point, Angels East and Angels West are both Walldecker and when he… No but it was produced that’s the God damn point! ran for three days it was sold out and the backers suddenly stepped in and closed it without any explan… Wait no what do you mean a misdemeanor, they… No for defamation punitive damages anything you can think of all of them yes, the backers all of them and listen there’s something else, I… No, no this is an ad in today’s paper for a concert by some rock group called Baby Jeeter and the Three Wide Men, I… no it’s Jeeter, Jeeter and I want an injunction to make them stop using that name I don’t know how the hell they… Because they have no right to it’s mine! I… it’s not registered in my name no but it’s, look it has personal associations it’s mine and my son’s and I won’t let it be dragged through the… who my son? Look God damn it he’s four years old how could he have a rock group he can’t even… the same one yes David the only one I have that reminds me yes, when am I supposed to get these Letters of Guardianship I thought… No record of what…? No, no I sent the estate a check for sixty-eight dollars the next morning, if there’s no record of one from Mister Gibbs he probably never sent it he’s, look I’d better just give it to you myself God knows when he’ll be able to, he’s got the IRS after him on some stock he gave his ex-wife in a settlement when she… didn’t have any idea no he thought it might be worth a few hundred a few thousand, it was just a token severance he got from some small family company he’d worked for once, turned out they’d been putting all their earnings back into the company ever since. When he handed it over in this alimony settlement the IRS stepped in and figured his long-term capital gains tax around twenty-eight thousand dollars he’s never seen a God damn penny of the… yes I know it but… He’s here yes but he can’t come to the phone, he’s… Look it wouldn’t do any good anyhow! I just had to lend him twenty dollars to buy his daughter a pair of boots when he sees her this afternoon he can’t even… Yes of course I’m aware you’re attorney of record for the estate Mister Beamish but… in granite yes I know it was expen… I know she’s upset yes I don’t blame her either, we talked about it at breakfast this morn… what letter, from Arlington? No, no just that piece in the paper that called the epitaph a desecration to all who fought and lie buried in these hallowed… Well they can’t prosecute him for that can they? He was named an executor in the will he says he was just carrying out what Schramm would have… All right look I’ll talk to her again this evening, I think we can straighten it out before you leave for… what on that tobacco stock? I think she’s decided to hold onto the whole thing yes, of course she’s delighted at the remarkable recovery it made I’ll talk to you tomorrow then, good… I wrote it down yes thanks for taking care of it, goodbye. Bast? find your mail?