Riordan rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. “You’ve seen the diary, I suppose?”
“No,” Jake remembered just in time that Martin had told him not to mention receiving it.
“Then how do you know there’s no reference to me in it?”
“Lieutenant Martin told me that much. And I’m guessing May’s account is on the torrid side and will drag in dozens of prominent people. That, of course, is what we want.”
“What good will smearing a lot of other people do for me?” Riordan said, impatiently.
“Let me demonstrate by example what I mean,” Jake said. He lit a cigarette and glanced at Sheila. She met his eyes and smiled. “You surprise even me,” she said. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“I’m full of surprises,” Jake said, and turned away from her. “Think back, Riordan, to a certain Congressional investigation last year, in which one of our most glamorous industrialists was on the spot. Remember?”
“Yes,” Riordan said, looking interested. “I remember it.”
“Well, here was the point: The industrialist had built a giant submarine with government money. Some people said the submarine was about as practical as a Rube Goldberg invention. Others said it was all right. The committee wanted to know one way or the other, so they had an investigation. But the damnedest thing happened. The industrialist’s bodyguard got on the stand somehow, and began talking about the gala entertaining that had gone on aboard his boss’ yacht! The result was that a dozen expensive chippies were called to testify, and they gave the public a Roman festival. They told all about champagne breakfasts and midnight bathing parties at which most of the participants wore nothing but drunken smiles.
“This had nothing much to do with the submarine, of course. But who the hell cared about that, when he could listen to a model tell of being pursued up the rigging of a ship by a drunken satyr? The answer is nobody. The submarine was forgotten. The public had a circus; the committee, I think, had its appropriation cut the next session of Congress.
“Do you understand now? We’ll scream for the diary and defy Senator Hampstead and young Prior. We’ll go to Washington and drag with us every name mentioned in May’s diary.”
“A great number of people are going to be hurt,” Sheila said.
“That’s the beauty of it,” Noble said, cheerfully. “You can’t tell who’s good or bad in a deal like this. Everyone is suspected of being a triple-distilled bastard, and that spreads the guilt around. Riordan, your defective barrels won’t have a chance if they’re competing with fornication in the upper classes.”
“It’s okay,” Riordan said, with a grin. “I like it. But how can we get the diary made public?”
“We’ll see to that,” Jake said, and turned to Niccolo. “Dean, get started right away with items to the columns to the effect that the government is going to use May’s diary in its case against Riordan. And follow that with items that Riordan is demanding that the diary be produced so that his accusers can be shown up as the lying bastards they are. Maybe tomorrow we can sell the Trib an editorial on it.”
“You want it pretty strong, eh?” Dean asked. “Outraged citizen fighting the forces of bureaucracy, eh?”
“That’s it.”
Jake turned from Niccolo and saw that Sheila was looking at him evenly. They faced each other without speaking while Niccolo joined Noble and Riordan for a drink.
“Well,” Sheila said, quietly. “You’ve come up with a master stroke. A real gem. They’ll teach this one to kids in public relations classes.”
“It’s been done before.”
“Yes, I’m sure it has. You know, of course, that some innocent people are going to get kicked right in the teeth. And you know who you’re doing it for, and what he is.”
Jake didn’t answer her for a moment. They seemed alone in the room, in a vacuum into which the clatter of glasses and the conversation didn’t penetrate. Somehow he seemed far away from her, and the gulf widened each second he remained silent.
Finally he said, “I know what I’m doing, if that’s what you mean.”
“I wanted to be sure.”
“And you’re sure now?”
“Yes. Goodbye, Jake.”
He watched her walk quickly across the room and out the door; and he knew it was a final exit.
Niccolo came over to him. “One thing, Jake. How do you want me to handle the fact that the diary was sent to you?”
Jake lit a cigarette. “I don’t give much of a damn how you handle that point, Dean,” he said. He drew deeply on his cigarette and was turning away, when the significance of this question hit him squarely. He turned to Dean and said, “How did you know it was sent to me, Dean?”
“What do you mean?” Dean said.
“Which word don’t you understand?” Jake said. “I asked you how you knew the diary was sent to me. No one knew that but Lieutenant Martin. The only other person who knows who received the diary is the person who sent it to me.”
Dean grinned and said, “I’ve got a big mouth, Jake, but don’t let it throw you. I got that information from Toni Ryerson.”
“Where in hell did she get it?”
“Her office adjoins yours, remember? She saw you open the package and I guess she recognized the diary from the descriptions of it in the newspapers. She told me this morning that she thought you’d received the diary. When I heard you say you knew the police had it, I assumed she had made a correct guess.”
“I see,” Jake said. “You startled me for a second. Now what did you want?”
“Well, how shall I handle the fact that the cops have May’s diary, and that you gave it to them? I mean, isn’t that secret information?”
“Just don’t mention it, then,” Jake said. He shrugged and looked directly at Niccolo. “Actually, I don’t care what you do.”
“I don’t get it,” Niccolo said, with a puzzled smile.
“It’s not important,” Jake said. He stared at the door through which Sheila had left and rubbed a hand tiredly across his forehead. What he’d said to Dean surprised him; it hadn’t been deliberate. Yet it expressed perfectly the way he felt about Dean, about Riordan, and about Noble.
The consuming distaste he felt for himself left no room for any interest in anyone else.
He saw himself now as he must have appeared to Sheila; and the view was depressing. The plan he had proposed to Riordan was cheap and ugly; and its execution would require a man of strong stomach and prehensile sensibilities. Himself, in short.
But that was not what nagged him. Business at its best frequently required a dash of knavish skulduggery, and most people played along because they had to, because their livelihood depended on it. But that wasn’t the case with him. He had suggested a shoddy plan of action quickly, instinctively and easily. It just came naturally to him.
Noble came over with a drink in his hand, a wide relieved smile on his face. “We’re in high gear now, Jake. That idea of yours was terrific. I wish I’d thought of it.”
“Yes, I wish you had too,” Jake said.
Noble lowered his voice slightly. “Riordan’s damned pleased.”
“That’s good.” He looked at the door where Sheila had left, and said, almost as an afterthought, “I’m through, Gary. I’m quitting.”
“Quitting?” Noble said. “What do you mean?”
“It’s a simple word. You spell it with a ‘q’ as in ‘queasy.’ ”
“Jake, you’re talking like an ass. You can’t quit now.”
“I’m sorry, Gary. I’m not doing this gracefully, I suppose. But I’m fed up, right to the teeth.”