Bozzaris was standing in the kitchen doorwayby the bowl of macaroni this time, silhouetted by the fluorescent ceiling light, and Sam Glatzer was sitting on the couch, asleep. The room smelled of salsa and corn tortillas.
Lepidopt nodded. âNo, they went straight home. Glatzer received another transmission.â
Malk noticed the tape recorder on the coffee table, among a litter of greasy waxed paper and cardboard cups; apparently the transmission had arrived so suddenly that it had been easier to bring the recorder to Glatzer than to bring Glatzer to the recorder.
âAny locators this time?â
Lepidopt leaned his back against the curtained window and rubbed his eyes. âNo, still no locators.â He lowered his hands. âGlatzerâs gamúr .â
Malk looked again at the old man on the couch. Glatzerâs chin was on his chest, and he wasnât moving at all. The holograph talisman lay on his belt buckle, its cord curled slackly across his shirt.
âOh weh,â Malk said softly. âWas itâ¦stressful?â
âIâll play it back for you. After dark we can drive him to Pershing Square, sit him at one of those chess tables, and then call the police to report a body there. Perishing Square. Poor Sam. Sit down.â
Malk sat down in the chair next to the door, across from the couch.
Lepidopt had apparently rewound the tape to the right place, for when he pushed the play button there was only a moment of silence and then the abrupt beginning of a recording.
Lepidoptâs voice began it, a few syllables ending with ââgo!â Then Malk heard Glatzerâs frail voice: âThe girl, in a house, with cats. Now the Eiffel Towerâno, itâs just a picture of itâa bicycle race, in Franceâsome crazy giggling guy in a gray suit is riding in it, passing everybodyâheâs riding a red bicycle, not any kind of racing bikeâhe won, he broke the tapeââ
Bozzarisâs recorded voice interjected, âPee-weeâs Big Adventure is what that is.â
ââcrowd is carrying him to a lawnââ
âWhat?â said Lepidoptâs voice.
âItâs a movie,â Bozzaris had explained then, âsomebodyâs watching it.â
âItâs a movie, on a TV set,â said Glatzerâs voice. âNow itâs a different movie, one woman playing two rolesâno no, two women playing one roleââ For several seconds the old man was as silent on the tape as he was now on the couch. Malk wished heâd asked for a cigarette before the tape started; he couldnât shake the thought that the tape voice was Glatzer talking live from wherever dead people go.
A hoarse cry shook out of the machine, and then Glatzerâs voice went on breathlessly, âI canât follow her, sheâs falling out of here and now. I almost fell out with herâWait, sheâs backâeverythingâs on fire, up the hall and the TV setârunning through smokeâIâm fine, let me get this!âa manâs voice says, âWas there somebody in the house, at the door?ââ
Malk kept looking at Glatzerâs dead body in its shirt and tie, half expecting gestures to accompany these terse, fragmentary impressions.
From the recorder Glatzerâs voice said, ââI didnât mean to burn Rumbold,â says the little girl.â
The tape recorder was quiet again for a while, though Malk could hear recorded panting. He made himself look away from the body.
Glatzerâs voice went on finally, ââI want to bury Rumbold,â says the girl. âIt was the movieâit wasnât Pee-wee except for the first couple of minutes, then it was a black and white, a silentââuhââShe was a witch!â Nowânow a car is pulling into the driveway, an old guy in it, in a, a green station wagonâheâsâthe girl is holding on to her