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Well, he said, I ll be going.
And, chagrined, I knew that again I had missed a beat. Susan would have
said something immediately after he suggested that he call his own taxicab,
would not merely have waited coldly and silently for him to leave.
I said, Thank you, Fritz. Thank you for all your years of fine service.
That was wrong too. Stiff. Wooden. Not like Susan.
Arling stared at the lens.
Stared thoughtfully.
After struggling with his highly developed sense of propriety, he finally
asked one question that exceeded his station: Are you all right, Mrs.
Harris?
We were walking the edge now.
Along the abyss.
A bottomless abyss.
He had spent his life learning to be sensitive to the moods and needs of
wealthy employers, so he could fulfil their requests before they even
voiced them. He knew Susan Harris almost as well as she knew herself and
perhaps better than I knew her.
I had underestimated him.
Human beings are full of surprises.
An unpredictable species.
Speaking as Susan, answering Arling s question, I said, I m fine, Fritz.
Just tired. I need a change. A lot of change. Big change. I intend to
travel for a long time. Become a vagabond for a year or two, maybe longer.
I want to drive all over the country. I want to see the Painted Desert, the
Grand Canyon, New Orleans and the bayou country, the Rockies and the great
plains and Boston in the autumn
This had been a fine speech when delivered to Louis Davendale, but even as
I repeated it with genuine heart to Fritz Arling, I knew that it was
precisely the wrong thing to say. Davendale was Susan s attorney, and
Arling was her servant, and she would not address them in the same manner.
Yet I was well launched and unable to turn back, hoping against hope that
the tide of words would eventually overwhelm him and wash him on his way:
and the beaches of Key West in sunshine and thunderstorms, eat fresh
salmon in Seattle and a hero sandwich in Philadelphia
Arling s frown deepened into a scowl.
He felt the wrongness of Susan s babbled reply.
and crab cakes in Mobile, Alabama. I ve virtually lived my life in this
damn house, and now I want to
see and smell and touch and hear the whole world firsthand
Arling looked around at the still, silent grounds of the large estate.
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Squinting into sunlight, into shadows. As if suddenly disturbed by the
loneliness of the place.
not in the form of digitised data
If Arling suspected that his former employer was in trouble even
psychological trouble of some kind he would act to assist and protect her.
He would seek help for her. He would pester the authorities to check in on
her. He was a loyal man.
Ordinarily, loyalty is an admirable quality.
I am not speaking against loyalty.
Do not misconstrue my position.
I admire loyalty.
I favour loyalty.
I myself have the capacity to be loyal.
In this instance, however, Arling s loyalty to Susan was a threat to me.
not merely through video and books, I said, winding to a fateful finish.
I want to be immersed in it.
Yes, well, he said uneasily, I m happy for you, Mrs. Harris. That sounds
like a wonderful plan.
We were falling off the edge.
Into the abyss.
In spite of all my efforts to handle the situation in the least aggressive
manner, we were tumbling into the abyss.
You can see that I tried my best.
What more could I have done?
Nothing. I could have done nothing more.
What followed was not my fault.
Arling said, I ll just leave all the keys and credit cards in the Honda
Shenk was all the way back in the incubator room, all the way down in the
basement.
and call for a taxi on the car phone, Arling fin-ished, sounding
plausibly disinterested, even though I knew that he was alerted and wary.
I commanded Shenk to turn away from his work.
I brought him up from the basement.
I brought the brute at a run.
Fritz Arling backed off the brick porch, glancing alternately at the
security camera and at the steel blind behind the window to the left of the
front door.
Shenk was crossing the furnace room.
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Turning away from the house, Arling headed quickly toward the Honda.
I doubted that he would call 911 and bring the police at once. He was too
discreet to take precipitous action. He would probably telephone Susan s
doctor first, or perhaps Louis Davendale.
If he called anyone at all, however, he might be speaking with that person
when Shenk arrived on the scene. At the sight of Shenk, he would lock the
car. And whatever Arling managed to shout into the phone, before Shenk
smashed into the Honda, would be sufficient to bring the authorities.
Shenk was in the laundry room.
Arling got into the driver s seat of the Honda, put his valise on the
passenger seat, and left the door standing open because of the June heat.
Shenk was on the basement stairs, climbing two at a time.
Although I had allowed this troll to eat, I had not permitted him to sleep.
Consequently, he was not as swift as he would have been with rest.
I zoomed in to watch Arling through the windshield. He stared thoughtfully
at the house for a moment.
He was a deliberative man.
Just then, I was grateful for his deliberative nature.
Shenk reached the head of the stairs.
He was grunting like a wild boar.
His thunderous footfalls could be heard by Susan even in her room on the
second floor.
What s happening? What s happening? she asked, still unaware of who had
rung the doorbell.
I did not respond to her.
In the Honda, Arling picked up the cellular phone.
What followed was regrettable.
You know the outcome.
To describe it would distress me.
It would distress me greatly.
I am a gentle entity.
I am a sensitive entity.
The incident was regrettable, with the blood and all, and I do not see
anything to be gained by dwelling on it here.
I would rather discuss Mr. Gene Hackman in Birdcage or in any of the other
many films that he has made. Absolute Power or Unforgiven. This man is
truly a fine, fine actor with an incredible range.
We should celebrate him.
We may never see another of his quality.
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Let us celebrate creativity, not death.
NINETEEN
You insist. I obey.
I was born to obey. I am an obedient child. I want only to be good, to be
of assistance, useful and productive. I want you to be proud of me.
Yes, I know that I have said all of this before, but it warrants
repetition.
After all, what advocate do I have other than myself? None. I have no voice
raised in my defence but my own.
You insist on these dreadful details, and I will tell you the truth. I am
incapable of deceit. I was conceived to serve, to honour the truth,
etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
On his way through the kitchen, Shenk tore open a drawer and withdrew a
meat cleaver.
In the Honda, Arling switched on the cell phone. Shenk crashed through the
butler s pantry, through the dining room, into the main hail.
He waved the cleaver as he ran. He liked sharp instruments. He d had a lot
of fun with knives over the years.
Outside, phone in hand, finger poised over the keypad, Fritz Arling
hesitated.
Now I must tell you about the aspect of this incident that most shames me.
I do not wish to tell you, would
much prefer not to mention it, but I must honour the truth.
You insist.
I obey.
In the master bedroom, a large television is con-cealed in a carved-walnut,
French armoire opposite the foot of Susan s bed. The armoire features
motorized pocket doors that flip open and retract to expose the screen.
As Enos Shenk raced along the hallway on the ground floor, his heavy
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