‘That I do not know.’
‘We only just arrived,’ I said, impelled to take part.
‘Who was that?’ said the voice.
‘That is my brother,’ said Charlie.
‘So there are two of you, now.’
‘There was always two of us,’ I told her. ‘Since the day I was born there was.’ Neither Charlie nor the woman recognized my joke, and it was in fact as though it had never existed. The voice adopted a peevish tone: ‘Who gave you men permission to enter Mr. Morris’s room?’
‘The door was unlocked,’ Charlie lied.
‘So what if it was? You cannot simply enter another man’s rented quarters and speak into his wall piece.’
‘You have our apologies for that, ma’am. We were to rendezvous here some days ago, only our travels were delayed. As such, we were in a hurry to visit with Morris, and threw caution to the wind.’
‘He made no mention of any rendezvous.’
‘He wouldn’t have.’
‘Hmm,’ said the voice.
Charlie continued: ‘You say he has left with a bearded man. Was this person called Warm? Hermann Warm?’
‘I never asked the man’s name, and he never offered to share it with me.’
‘What color was his beard?’ I asked.
‘Is that the brother again?’
‘Was it a red beard?’ I asked.
‘It was red.’
‘How long has Morris been away?’ said Charlie.
‘Four days today. He paid up until tomorrow morning. When he said he was leaving early I offered him a partial refund but he would not take it. A gentleman, that one.’
‘And he left no word for us?’
‘He did not.’
‘Did he say where he was going?’
‘To the Illuminated River, he told me. He and the red-bearded man had a laugh about it. I do not know why.’
‘You are saying they were laughing together?’
‘They were laughing at the same time. I assumed they were laughing at the same thing. I searched for the river on a map but couldn’t find it.’
‘And Mr. Morris did not appear to be under duress? As though his departure was forced, for example?’
‘It did not seem so.’
Charlie studied this. He said, ‘The friendship is a curiosity to me.’
‘To me, also,’ the voice agreed. ‘I’d thought Mr. Morris didn’t like the man, then all at once they became inseparable, spending every minute together locked away in that room.’
‘And you are certain he left no instruction for us?’
‘I think I would know if he had,’ she answered haughtily.
‘He left nothing behind at all then?’
‘I did not say that.’
Charlie glared into the horn. ‘Ma’am, tell me what he left, if you please.’
I could hear the woman breathing. ‘A book,’ she said finally.
‘What kind of book?’
‘A book he wrote in.’
‘What did he write in the book?’
‘I don’t know. And if I did know, I would not tell you.’
‘Personal writing, is that it?’
‘That’s right. Naturally, just as soon as I understood what it was I closed it up.’
‘What did you learn from your reading?’
‘That the weather was not favorable at the start of his trip to San Francisco. I am embarrassed to have learned that much. I respect the privacy of my lodgers.’
‘Yes.’
‘My lodgers can expect from me the most absolute kind of privacy.’
‘I understand. Can I ask you, where is the book now?’
‘It is with me, in my room.’
‘I would like very much if you would show it to us.’
She paused. ‘That I should not do, I don’t think.’
‘I tell you we are his friends.’
‘Then why did he not leave word for you?’
‘Perhaps he left the book for us.’
‘He forgot the book. I found it tangled in sheets at the foot of his bed. No, he was in a rush to pack and go, always looking over his shoulder. For all I know it was you two he wished to stay ahead of.’
‘You will not show me the book then, is that correct?’
‘I will do right by my guests, is what I will do.’
‘Very well,’ Charlie said. ‘Will you bring us up lunch with ale?’
‘You are staying on with us?’
‘For one night, anyway. This room will do fine.’
‘What if Mr. Morris comes back?’
‘If he left with Warm, as you say, he will not be coming back.’
‘But if he does?’
‘Then you will make a nice profit in champagne, for it will be a happy reunion indeed.’
‘Do you want a hot lunch or cold?’
‘Hot lunch, with ale.’
‘Two full hot lunches?’
‘With ale.’
The woman signed off, and Charlie returned to lie on the bed. I asked him what he made of the situation and he said, ‘I don’t know what to make of it. We will need to get a look at the book, of course.’
‘I don’t believe the woman will share it.’
‘We will see about that,’ he said.
I opened a window and leaned out into the salty air. The hotel was located on a steep incline and I watched a group of Chinese men, in their braids and silk and muddy slippers, pushing an ox up the hill. The ox did not want to go, and they slapped its backside with their hands. Their language was something like a chorus of birds, completely alien and strange, but beautiful for its strangeness. Likely they were only cursing. There came a knock at the door and the stout, lipless hotel woman entered with our lunches, which were tepid, if not actually hot. The ale was cool and delicious and I drank half of it in a single pass. I asked the woman what I had spent with this long sip and she scrutinized the glass. ‘Three dollars,’ she estimated. ‘Both meals together are seventeen.’ It seemed she hoped to be paid at once, and Charlie stood and handed her a double eagle; when she began fishing the change from her pocket, he caught her wrist, telling her to keep it as payment for our rudeness in entering Morris’s room without permission. She kept the money but did not thank him and in fact appeared displeased to be receiving it. When Charlie produced a second double eagle and held this in her direction, her face grew hard.
‘What’s this?’ she asked.
‘For the book.’
‘I have already told you, you cannot have it.’
‘Of course, ma’am, you would keep it; we only wish to look it over awhile.’
‘You will never lay eyes upon it,’ she said. Her hands were red and balled and she was thoroughly insulted. She stomped from the room, in a hurry I suspected to tell some or all of her employees of this latest moral victory, and Charlie and I sat together to eat our lunch. I became sorrowful at the thought of this woman’s fate; to my concerned expression he told me, ‘You can’t say I didn’t try with her,’ and I had to admit it was the truth. The food, I might mention, was unremarkable in every way other than its cost. When the woman returned to collect our plates, Charlie stood to meet her. Her head was high, her expression superior, and she said, ‘Well?’ Charlie did not answer, but dropped to a crouch and buried his fist in her stomach, after which she fell back onto a chair and sat bent over, drooling and coughing and generally struggling to regain her breath and composure. I brought her a glass of water, apologizing and explaining that our need of the book was no trifling matter, and that one way or the other we would have it. Charlie added, ‘We hope no more harm will come to you, ma’am. But understand we will do whatever it takes to get it.’ She was in such a state of muted outrage I did not think she heard the logic in our words, but when I escorted her to her room, she handed over the journal all the same, and without any further episode. I insisted she take the extra double eagle and in the end she did take it, which I like to think lessened the indignity of her catching such a terrific punch, but I do not suppose it did, at least not so very much. Neither Charlie nor I was predisposed to this manner of violence against a physical inferior—‘yellow violence’ some would call it—but it was a warranted necessity, as will be shown in the proceeding pages.