«Cut it out! Just cut it out!» Cardone clenched and reclenched his fists.
Osterman climbed out of the water and approached Joe. His hands hung loosely at his sides. «Cool it, Joe. Please… Cool it.»
«Zurichchchch!» The scream from Joe Cardone could be heard for miles, thought Tanner. It was happening! He’d said it!
«What do you mean, Joe?» Tremayne took a halting step toward Cardone.
«Zurich! That’s what I mean!»
«It’s a city in Switzerland! So what the hell else?» Osterman stood facing Cardone; he wasn’t about to give quarter. «You say what you mean!»
«No!» Tremayne took Osterman by the shoulder.
«Don’t talk to me,» yelled Cardone. «You’re the one who …»
«Stop it! All of you!» Betty stood on the concrete deck at the end of the pool. Tanner would never have believed such strength could come from Cardone’s wife.
But there it was. The three men parted from one another, as chastised dogs. The women looked up at Betty, and then Leila and Ginny walked away while Ali stood immobile, uncomprehending.
Betty continued, reverting now to the soft, suburban housewife she seemed to be. «You’re all behaving childishly and I know it’s time for Joe to go home.»
«I… I think we all can have a nightcap, Betty,» said Tanner. «How about it?»
«Make Joe’s light,» answered Betty with a smile.
«No other way,» said Bernie.
«I’ll get them.» Tanner started back towards the door. «Everyone in?»
«Wait a minute, Johnny!» It was Cardone, a wide grin on his face. «I’m the naughty boy so let me help. Also, I gotta go to the bathroom.»
Tanner went into the kitchen ahead of Cardone. He was confused, bewildered. He had expected that when Joe screamed the name «Zurich» it would all be over. Zurich was the key that should have triggered the collapse. Yet it did not happen.
Instead, the opposite occurred.
A control was imposed; imposed by the most unlikely source imaginable, Betty Cardone.
Suddenly, from behind him came a crash. Tremayne was standing in the doorway, looking at the fallen Cardone.
«Well. A mountain of Princeton muscle just passed out!… Let’s get him into my car. I’m chauffeur tonight.»
Passed out? Tanner didn’t believe it. Cardone was drunk, yes. But he was nowhere near collapsing.
20
The three men dressed quickly and manhandled the lurching, incoherent Cardone into the front seat of Tremayne’s car. Betty and Ginny were in the back. Tanner kept watching Joe’s face, especially the eyes, for any signs of pretense. He could see none. And yet there was something false, he thought; there was too much precision in Cardone’s exaggerated movements. Was Joe using silence to test the others, he wondered?
Or were his own observations being warped by the progressive tension?
«Damn it!» exclaimed Tremayne. «I left my jacket inside.»
«I’ll bring it to the Club in the morning,» said John. «We’re scheduled for eleven.»
«No, I’d better get it. I left some notes in the pocket; I may need them… Wait here with Bernie. I’ll be back in a second.»
Dick ran inside and he grabbed his jacket from a hallway chair. He looked at Leila Osterman, who was polishing the top of a table in the living room.
«If I get these rings now maybe the Tanners’ll have some furniture left,» she said.
«Where’s Ali?»
«In the kitchen.» Leila continued rubbing the table top.
As Tremayne entered the kitchen, Alice was filling the dishwasher.
«Ali?»
«Oh!… Dick. Joe all right?»
«Joe’s fine… How’s John?»
«Isn’t he out there with you?»
«I’m in here.»
«It’s late; I’m too tired for jokes.»
«I couldn’t feel less like joking… We’ve been good friends, Ali. You and Johnny mean a lot to us, to Ginny and me.»
«We feel the same; you know that.»
«I thought I did. I really believed it … Listen to me…» Tremayne’s face was flushed; he swallowed repeatedly, unable to control the pronounced twitch over his left eye. «Don’t make judgments. Don’t let John make … editorial judgments that hurt people unless he understands why they do what they do.»
«I don’t understand what you’re—»
«That’s very important,» interrupted Tremayne. «He should try to understand. That’s one mistake I never commit in court. I always try to understand.»
Alice recognized the threat. «I suggest that you say whatever it is you’re saying to him.»
«I did and he wouldn’t answer me. That’s why I’m saying it to you… Remember, Ali. No one’s ever completely what he seems. Only some of us are more resourceful. Remember that!»
Tremayne turned and left; a second later Ali heard the front door close. As she looked at the empty doorway, she was aware of someone else nearby. There was the unmistakable sound of a quiet footstep. Someone had walked through the dining room and was standing in her pantry, around the corner, out of sight. She walked slowly, silently to the arch. As she turned into the small narrow room she saw Leila standing motionless against the wall, staring straight ahead.
Leila had been listening to the conversation in the kitchen. She gasped when she saw Ali, then laughed with no trace of humor. She knew she’d been caught.
«I came for another cloth.» She held up a dust-rag and went back inside the dining room without speaking further.
Alice stood in the center of the pantry wondering what dreadful thing was happening to all of them. Something was affecting the lives of everyone in the house.
They lay in bed; Ali on her back, John on his left side away from her. The Ostermans were across the hall in the guest room. It was the first time they’d been alone together all night.
Alice knew her husband was exhausted but she couldn’t postpone the question—or was it a statement—any longer.
«There’s some trouble between you and Dick and Joe, isn’t there?»
Tanner rolled over; he looked up at the ceiling, almost relieved. He knew the question was coming and he had rehearsed his answer. It was another lie; he was getting used to the lies. But there was so little time left—Fassett had guaranteed that. He began slowly, trying to speak off-handedly.
«You’re too damned smart.»
«I am?» She shifted to her side and looked at her husband.
«It’s nasty, but it’ll pass. You remember my telling you about the stock business Jim Loomis was peddling on the train?»
«Yes. You didn’t want Janet to go over for lunch … to the Loomis’, I mean.»
«That’s right … Well, Joe and Dick jumped in with Loomis. I told them not to.»
«Why?»
«I checked on it.»
«What?»
«I checked on it … We’ve got a few thousand lying around drawing five percent. I figured why not? So I called Andy Harrison—he’s head of Legal at Standard, you met him last Easter. He made inquiries.»
«What did he find out?»
«The whole thing smells. It’s a boilerplate operation. It’s rotten.»
«Is it illegal?»
«Probably will be by next week… Harrison suggested we do a feature on it. Make a hell of a show. I told that to Joe and Dick.»
«Oh, my God! That you’d do a program on it?»
«Don’t worry. We’re booked for months. There’s no priority here. And even if we did, I’d tell them. They could get out in time.»
Ali heard Cardone and Tremayne again: «Did you speak to him? What did he say?» «Don’t let Johnny make judgments…» They had been panicked and now she understood why. «Joe and Dick are worried sick, you know that, don’t you?»