The corpse was the right height, but that was all that was recognizable about it. Tattered pieces of scorched fabric hung about its shoulders and neck, the wire frame of its glasses had melted to the bridge of its nose-the lenses were cracked. It was black all over and gave off an overpowering burnt hamburger stench-hot and oily. And a sickly sweet smell that hung on and kept coming. The corpse's right foot still had flesh on it. Its skin was pearly white. The toes were chubby and looked clean like they had just stepped out of the shower. There was a gun in the corpse's hand pointed at my heart. The brass toothpick was welded to the thing's dental work.
"Bastard!" it hissed, cheeks ripping with the strain.
"Inspector Cane, you don't look well." I had nothing to lose but gray. "You're probably upset."
"Where's the baby?" The eyes in its face were swollen blisters. Cane must have been almost blind.
"Where it belongs."
"It is the son. I must have it." His hand jerked the gun. "The fifth horseman."
"Horseman? This kid hasn't even had his first pony ride." I turned away from him, disgusted. "It is the son of a young woman, who by all rights shouldn't have had him in the first place. The baby is a miracle. But it doesn't deserve the damnation of reverence. Let it be, Cane."
"I'll shoot you in the back, then I'll do the same thing to you that you did to me."
"No, you won't," I sighed. A gun roared, roared again. I turned slowly. Cane's head was gone. His corpse dropped, it made a feeble attempt to rise, and then lay still. It was in such bad condition, I was surprised that it had made it this far. Elmo walked in holding the auto-shotgun. It was pointed at the corpse.
"You all right, Boss?" He kicked the gun away from the body.
"Yes, Elmo, and thanks." I looked at what was left of Cane and then at the mess that covered my desk. "I'm not much in the mood for those fishdogs though." I had seen Elmo drive up while I was looking out through the blinds. "I'll tell you what. Why don't we go down to the bank, cash some checks and have some fun?" I walked over to Elmo, set a hand on his shoulder. "I owe you what friend, a couple of hundred?"
"Twenty-four hundred," he said, stony-faced.
"Twenty-four hundred, then. First we'll go to Dr. Forrester's place. I'll get some stitches, maybe a few painkillers. Yes, we'll cash our checks and take a trip to Vicetown. Maybe go south of the border. I need a rest. I don't know about you." Elmo started smiling and nodding his head. "I have to get out of here."
Elmo gestured to the corpse. "What about the mess?"
We dropped Cane's feebly twitching remains in the Dumpster beside the building. I kept walking with Elmo until we got to the Chrysler. We drove to Forrester's. I collapsed again, and awoke a couple of hours later, stitched and numb. It was still dark. Oddly enough I was still inside Tommy. I waited for his presence, but it was strangely absent. Forrester fed me breakfast. We thanked him and left. Elmo drove us to the bank. I left the majority of my money there, wrote a check for my partner, and withdrew enough to take us to Vicetown and farther if we wanted.
As we headed down the coast, morning was coming on. I was tired and could have used some rest, but for some reason was reluctant to give up possession of Tommy. The little baby's Buddha face kept returning to my mind as the ocean sped past. I wasn't certain, but somewhere out under the angry black clouds, at the edge of it all; I thought I caught a flash of sun.