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| I | , (Eveline by James Joyce) | X | |
| II | , (The Smile by Ray Bradbury) | X | |
| III | , (Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl) | X |
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| I | , (Eveline by James Joyce) | IX/X |
Eveline by James Joyce
SHE sat at the window watching the evening invade the avenue. Her head was leaned against the window curtains and in her nostrils was the odour of dusty cretonne. She was tired.
Few people passed. The man out of the last house passed on his way home; she heard his footsteps clacking along the concrete pavement and afterwards crunching on the cinder path before the new red houses. One time there used to be a field there in which they used to play every evening with other people's children. Then a man from Belfast bought the field and built houses in it -- not like their little brown houses but bright brick houses with shining roofs. The children of the avenue used to play together in that field -- the Devines, the Waters, the Dunns, little Keogh the cripple, she and her brothers and sisters. Ernest, however, never played: he was too grown up. Her father used often to hunt them in out of the field with his blackthorn stick; but usually little Keogh used to keep nix and call out when he saw her father coming. Still they seemed to have been rather happy then. Her father was not so bad then; and besides, her mother was alive. That was a long time ago; she and her brothers and sisters were all grown up her mother was dead. Tizzie Dunn was dead, too, and the Waters had gone back to England. Everything changes. Now she was going to go away like the others, to leave her home.
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Home! She looked round the room, reviewing all its familiar objects which she had dusted once a week for so many years, wondering where on earth all the dust came from. Perhaps she would never see again those familiar objects from which she had never dreamed of being divided. And yet during all those years she had never found out the name of the priest whose yellowing photograph hung on the wall above the broken harmonium beside the coloured print of the promises made to Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque. He had been a school friend of her father. Whenever he showed the photograph to a visitor her father used to pass it with a casual word:
"He is in Melbourne now."
She had consented to go away, to leave her home. Was that wise? She tried to weigh each side of the question. In her home anyway she had shelter and food; she had those whom she had known all her life about her. O course she had to work hard, both in the house and at business. What would they say of her in the Stores when they found out that she had run away with a fellow? Say she was a fool, perhaps; and her place would be filled up by advertisement. Miss Gavan would be glad. She had always had an edge on her, especially whenever there were people listening.
"Miss Hill, don't you see these ladies are waiting?"
"Look lively, Miss Hill, please."
She would not cry many tears at leaving the Stores.
But in her new home, in a distant unknown country, it would not be like that. Then she would be married -- she, Eveline. People would treat her with respect then. She would not be treated as her mother had been. Even now, though she was over nineteen, she sometimes felt herself in danger of her father's violence. She knew it was that that had given her the palpitations. When they were growing up he had never gone for her like he used to go for Harry and Ernest, because she was a girl but latterly he had begun to threaten her and say what he would do to her only for her dead mother's sake. And no she had nobody to protect her. Ernest was dead and Harry, who was in the church decorating business, was nearly always down somewhere in the country. Besides, the invariable squabble for money on Saturday nights had begun to weary her unspeakably. She always gave her entire wages -- seven shillings -- and Harry always sent up what he could but the trouble was to get any money from her father. He said she used to squander the money, that she had no head, that he wasn't going to give her his hard-earned money to throw about the streets, and much more, for he was usually fairly bad on Saturday night. In the end he would give her the money and ask her had she any intention of buying Sunday's dinner. Then she had to rush out as quickly as she could and do her marketing, holding her black leather purse tightly in her hand as she elbowed her way through the crowds and returning home late under her load of provisions. She had hard work to keep the house together and to see that the two young children who had been left to hr charge went to school regularly and got their meals regularly. It was hard work -- a hard life -- but now that she was about to leave it she did not find it a wholly undesirable life.
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She was about to explore another life with Frank. Frank was very kind, manly, open-hearted. She was to go away with him by the night-boat to be his wife and to live with him in Buenos Ayres where he had a home waiting for her. How well she remembered the first time she had seen him; he was lodging in a house on the main road where she used to visit. It seemed a few weeks ago. He was standing at the gate, his peaked cap pushed back on his head and his hair tumbled forward over a face of bronze. Then they had come to know each other. He used to meet her outside the Stores every evening and see her home. He took her to see The Bohemian Girl and she felt elated as she sat in an unaccustomed part of the theatre with him. He was awfully fond of music and sang a little. People knew that they were courting and, when he sang about the lass that loves a sailor, she always felt pleasantly confused. He used to call her Poppens out of fun. First of all it had been an excitement for her to have a fellow and then she had begun to like him. He had tales of distant countries. He had started as a deck boy at a pound a month on a ship of the Allan Line going out to Canada. He told her the names of the ships he had been on and the names of the different services. He had sailed through the Straits of Magellan and he told her stories of the terrible Patagonians. He had fallen on his feet in Buenos Ayres, he said, and had come over to the old country just for a holiday. Of course, her father had found out the affair and had forbidden her to have anything to say to him.
"I know these sailor chaps," he said.
One day he had quarrelled with Frank and after that she had to meet her lover secretly.
The evening deepened in the avenue. The white of two letters in her lap grew indistinct. One was to Harry; the other was to her father. Ernest had been her favourite but she liked Harry too. Her father was becoming old lately, she noticed; he would miss her. Sometimes he could be very nice. Not long before, when she had been laid up for a day, he had read her out a ghost story and made toast for her at the fire. Another day, when their mother was alive, they had all gone for a picnic to the Hill of Howth. She remembered her father putting on her mothers bonnet to make the children laugh.
Her time was running out but she continued to sit by the window, leaning her head against the window curtain, inhaling the odour of dusty cretonne. Down far in the avenue she could hear a street organ playing. She knew the air Strange that it should come that very night to remind her of the promise to her mother, her promise to keep the home together as long as she could. She remembered the last night of her mother's illness; she was again in the close dark room at the other side of the hall and outside she heard a melancholy air of Italy. The organ-player had been ordered to go away and given sixpence. She remembered her father strutting back into the sickroom saying:
"Damned Italians! coming over here!"
As she mused the pitiful vision of her mother's life laid its spell on the very quick of her being -- that life of commonplace sacrifices closing in final craziness. She trembled as she heard again her mother's voice saying constantly with foolish insistence:
"Derevaun Seraun! Derevaun Seraun!"
She stood up in a sudden impulse of terror. Escape! She must escape! Frank would save her. He would give her life, perhaps love, too. But she wanted to live. Why should she be unhappy? She had a right to happiness. Frank would take her in his arms, fold her in his arms. He would save her.
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She stood among the swaying crowd in the station at the North Wall. He held her hand and she knew that he was speaking to her, saying something about the passage over and over again. The station was full of soldiers with brown baggages. Through the wide doors of the sheds she caught a glimpse of the black mass of the boat, lying in beside the quay wall, with illumined portholes. She answered nothing. She felt her cheek pale and cold and, out of a maze of distress, she prayed to God to direct her, to show her what was her duty. The boat blew a long mournful whistle into the mist. If she went, tomorrow she would be on the sea with Frank, steaming towards Buenos Ayres. Their passage had been booked. Could she still draw back after all he had done for her? Her distress awoke a nausea in her body and she kept moving her lips in silent fervent prayer.
A bell clanged upon her heart. She felt him seize her hand:
"Come!"
All the seas of the world tumbled about her heart. He was drawing her into them: he would drown her. She gripped with both hands at the iron railing.
"Come!"
No! No! No! It was impossible. Her hands clutched the iron in frenzy. Amid the seas she sent a cry of anguish.
"Eveline! Evvy!"
He rushed beyond the barrier and called to her to follow. He was shouted at to go on but he still called to her. She set her white face to him, passive, like a helpless animal. Her eyes gave him no sign of love or farewell or recognition.
The Smile by Ray Bradbury
In the town square the queue had formed at five in the morning, while cocks were crowing far out in the rimed country and there were no fires. All about, among the ruined buildings, bits of mist had clung at first, but now with the new light of seven oclock it was beginning to disperse. Down the road, in twos and threes, more people were gathering in for the day of marketing the day of festival.
The small bay stood immediately behind two men who had been talking loudly in the clear air, and all of the sounds they made seemed twice as loud because of the cold. The small boy stamped his feet and blew on his red, chapped hands, and looked up at the soiled gunny-sack clothing of the men, and down the long line of men and women ahead.
Here, boy, whatre you doing out so early? said the man behind him.
Got my place in line, I have, said the boy.
Whynt you run off, give your place to someone who appreciates?
Leave the boy alone, said the man ahead, suddenly turning.
I was joking. The man behind put his hand on the boys head. The boy shook it away coldly. I just thought it strange, a boy out of bed so early.
This boys an appreciator of arts, Ill have you know, said the boys defender, a man named Grigsby, Whats your name, lad?
Tom.
Tom here is going to spit clean and true, right, Tom?
I sure am!
Laughter passed down the line.
A man was selling cracked cups of hot coffee up ahead. Tom looked and saw the little hot fire and the brew bubbling in a rusty pan. It wasnt really coffee. It was made from some berry that grew on the meadowlands beyond town, and it sold a penny a cup to warm their stomachs; but not many were buying, not many had the wealth.
Tom stared ahead to the place where the line ended, beyond a bombed-out stone wall.
They say she smiles, said the boy.
Aye, she does, said Grigsby.
They say shes made of oil and canvas.
True. And thats what makes me think shes not the original one. The original, now, Ive heard, was painted on wood a long time ago.
They say shes four centuries old.
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Maybe more. No one knows what year this is, to be sure.
Its 2061
Thats what they say, boy, yes. Liars. Could be 3,000 or 5,000, for all we know. Things were in a fearful mess there for a while. All we got now is bits and pieces.
They shuffled along the cold stones of the street.
How much longer before we see her? asked Tom, uneasily.
Just a few more minutes. They got her set up with four brass poles and a velvet rope to keep folks back. Now mind, no rocks, Tom; they dont allow rocks thrown at her.
Yes, sir.
The sun rose higher in the heavens, bringing heat which made the men shed their grimy coats and greasy hats.
Whyre we all here in line? asked Tom, at last. Whyre we all here to spit?
Grigsby did not glance clown at him, but judged the sun. Well, Tom, theres lots of reasons.2 He reached absently for a pocket that was long gone, for a cigarette that wasnt there. Tom had seen the gesture a million times. Tom, it has to do with hate. Hate for everything in the Past. I ask you, Tom, how did we get in such a state, cities all junk, roads like jigsaws from bombs and half the cornfields glowing with radio-activity at night? Aint that a lousy stew, I ask you?
Yes, sir, I guess so.
Its this way, Tom. You hate whatever it was that got you all knocked down and ruined. Thats human nature. Unthinking, maybe, but human nature anyway.
Theres hardly nobody or nothing we dont hate, said Tom.
Right! The whole blooming caboodle3 of the people in Past who run the world. So here we are on a Thursday morning with our guts plastered to our spines, cold, live in caves and such, dont smoke, dont drink, dont nothing except have our festivals, Tom, our festivals.
And Tom thought of the festivals in the past few years. The year they tore up all the books in the square and burned them and everyone was drunk and laughing. And the festival of science a month ago when they dragged in the last motor-car and picked lots and each lucky man who won was allowed one smash of a sledge-hammer at the car.
'Do I remember that, Tom? Do I remember? Why, I got smash the front window, you hear? My God, it made a lovely sound! Crash!
Tom could hear the glass falling in glittering heaps.
And Bill Henderson, he got to bash the engine. Oh, he did a smart job of it, with great efficiency. Wham!
But the best of all, recalled Grigsby, there was the time they smashed a factory that was still trying to turn out aeroplanes.
Lord, did we feel good blowing it up! said Grigsby. And then we found that newspaper plant and the munitions depot. and exploded them together. Do you understand, Tom?
Tom puzzled over it. I guess.
It was high noon. Now the odors of the ruined city stank on the hot air and things crawled among the tumbled buildings.
Wont it ever come back, mister?
What, civilization? Nobody wants it. Not me! I could stand a bit of it, said the man behind another n. There were a few spots of beauty in it.
Dont worry your heads, shouted Grigsby. Theres no room for that, either.
Ah, said the man behind the man. Someonell come along some day with imagination and patch it up. Mark my words. someone with a heart.
No, said Grigsby.
I say yes. Someone with a soul for pretty things. Might give us back a kind of limited sort of civilization, the kind we could live in in peace.
First thing you know theres war!
But maybe next time itd be different,
At last they stood in the main square. A man on horseback was riding from the distance into the town. He had a peace of paper in his hand. In the centre of the square was the roped-off area. Tom, Grigsby, and the others were collecting their spittle and moving forward moving forward prepared and ready, eyes wide. Tom felt his heart beating very strongly and excitedly, and the earth was hot under his bare feet.
Here we go, Tom, let fly!
Four policemen stood at the corners of the roped area, four men with bits of yellow twine on their wrists to show thcir authority over other men. They were there to prevent rocks being hurled.
This way, said Grigsby at the last moment, everyone. feels hes had his chance at her, you see, Tom? Go on, now!
Tom stood before the painting and looked at it for a it for a long time.
Tom, spit!
His mouth was dry.
Get on, Tom! Move!
But, said Tom, slowly, shes beautiful.
Here, Ill spit for you! Grigsby spat and the missile flew in the sunlight. The woman in the portrait smiled serenely, secretly, at Tom, and he looked back at her, his heart beating, a kind of music in his ears. Shes beautiful, he said.
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The line fell silent. One moment they were berating Tom for not moving forward, now they were turning to the man on horseback.
What do they call it, sir? asked Tom, quietly.
The picture? 'Mona Lisa', Tom, I think. Yes, the 'Mona Lisa'.
I have an announcement, said the man on horseback. The authorities have decreed that as of high noon today tin portrait in the square is to be given over into the hands of the populace there, so they may participate in the destruction of
Tom hadnt even time to scream before the crowd bore him, shouting and pummelling about, stampeding toward the portrait. There was a sharp ripping sound. The police ran to escape. The crowd was in full cry, their hands like so man, hungry birds pecking away at the portrait. Tom felt himself thrust almost through the broken thing. Reaching out in blind imitation of the others, he snatched a scrap of oily canvas, yanked, felt the canvas give, then fell, was kicked, sent rolling to the outer rim of the mob. Bloody, his clothing torn, watched old women chew pieces of canvas, men break the frame, kick the ragged cloth, and rip it into confetti.
Only Tom stood apart, silent in the moving square. He looked down at his hand. It clutched the piece of canvas close his chest, hidden.
Hey there, Tom! cried Grigsby.
Without a word, sobbing, Tom ran. He ran out and the down bomb-pitted road, into a field, across a shallow stream, not looking back, his hand clenched tightly, tucked under his coat.
At sunset he reached the small village and passed on through. By nine oclock he came to the ruined farm dwelling. Around back, in the part that still remained upright, he heard the sounds of sleeping, the family his mother, father, and brother. He slipped quickly, silently, through the small door and lay down, panting.
Tom? called his mother in the dark.
Yes.
Whereve you been? snapped his father. Ill beat you the morning.
Someone kicked him. His brother, who had been left behind to work their little patch of ground.
Go to sleep, cried his mother, faintly.
Another kick.
Tom lay getting his breath. All was quiet. His hand was pushed to his chest, tight, tight. He lay for half an hour this way, eyes closed.
Then he felt something, and it was a cold white light. Th moon rose very high and the little square of light crept slowly over Toms body. Then, and only then, did his hand relax. Slowly, carefully, listening to those who slept about him, Tom drew his hand forth. He hesitated, sucked in his breath, and then, waiting, opened his hand and uncrumpled the fragment of painted canvas.
All the world was asleep in the moonlight.
And there on his hand was the Smile.
He looked at it in the white illumination from the midnight sky. And he thought, over to himself, quietly, the Smile, the lovely Smile.
An hour later he could still see it, even after he had folded it carefully and hidden it. He shut his eyes and the Smile was there in the darkness. And it was still there, warm and gentle, when he went to sleep and the world was silent and the moon sailed up and then down the cold sky towards morning.
Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl
The room was warm and clean, the curtains drawn, the two table lamps alight-hers and the one by the empty chair opposite. On the sideboard behind her, two tall glasses, soda water, whiskey. Fresh ice cubes in the Thermos bucket.
Mary Maloney was waiting for her husband to come him from work.
Now and again she would glance up at the clock, but without anxiety, merely to please herself with the thought that each minute gone by made it nearer the time when he would come. There was a slow smiling air about her, and about everything she did. The drop of a head as she bent over her sewing was curiously tranquil. Her skin -for this was her sixth month with child-had acquired a wonderful translucent quality, the mouth was soft, and the eyes, with their new placid look, seemed larger darker than before. When the clock said ten minutes to five, she began to listen, and a few moments later, punctually as always, she heard the tires on the gravel outside, and the car door slamming, the footsteps passing the window, the key turning in the lock. She laid aside her sewing, stood up, and went forward to kiss him as he came in.
Hullo darling, she said.
Hullo darling, he answered.
She took his coat and hung it in the closer. Then she walked over and made the drinks, a strongish one for him, a weak one for herself; and soon she was back again in her chair with the sewing, and he in the other, opposite, holding the tall glass with both hands, rocking it so the ice cubes tinkled against the side.
For her, this was always a blissful time of day. She knew he didnt want to speak much until the first drink was finished, and she, on her side, was content to sit quietly, enjoying his company after the long hours alone in the house. She loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man, and to feel-almost as a sunbather feels the sun-that warm male glow that came out of him to her when they were alone together. She loved him for the way he sat loosely in a chair, for the way he came in a door, or moved slowly across the room with long strides. She loved intent, far look in his eyes when they rested in her, the funny shape of the mouth, and especially the way he remained silent about his tiredness, sitting still with himself until the whiskey had taken some of it away.
Tired darling?
Yes, he said. Im tired, And as he spoke, he did an unusual thing. He lifted his glass and drained it in one swallow although there was still half of it, at least half of it left.. She wasnt really watching him, but she knew what he had done because she heard the ice cubes falling back against the bottom of the empty glass when he lowered his arm. He paused a moment, leaning forward in the chair, then he got up and went slowly over to fetch himself another.
Ill get it! she cried, jumping up.
Sit down, he said.
When he came back, she noticed that the new drink was dark amber with the quantity of whiskey in it.
Darling, shall I get your slippers?
No.
She watched him as he began to sip the dark yellow drink, and she could see little oily swirls in the liquid because it was so strong.
I think its a shame, she said, that when a policeman gets to be as senior as you, they keep him walking about on his feet all day long.
He didnt answer, so she bent her head again and went on with her sewing; bet each time he lifted the drink to his lips, she heard the ice cubes clinking against the side of the glass.
Darling, she said. Would you like me to get you some cheese? I havent made any supper because its Thursday.
No, he said.
If youre too tired to eat out, she went on, its still not too late. Theres plenty of meat and stuff in the freezer, and you can have it right here and not even move out of the chair.
Her eyes waited on him for an answer, a smile, a little nod, but he made no sign.
Anyway, she went on, Ill get you some cheese and crackers first.
I dont want it, he said.
She moved uneasily in her chair, the large eyes still watching his face. But you must eat! Ill fix it anyway, and then you can have it or not, as you like.
She stood up and placed her sewing on the table by the lamp.
Sit down, he said. Just for a minute, sit down.
It wasnt till then that she began to get frightened.
Go on, he said. Sit down.
She lowered herself back slowly into the chair, watching him all the time with those large, bewildered eyes. He had finished the second drink and was staring down into the glass, frowning.
Listen, he said. Ive got something to tell you.
What is it, darling? Whats the matter?
He had now become absolutely motionless, and he kept his head down so that the light from the lamp beside him fell across the upper part of his face, leaving the chin and mouth in shadow. She noticed there was a little muscle moving near the corner of his left eye.
This is going to be a bit of a shock to you, Im afraid, he said. But Ive thought about it a good deal and Ive decided the only thing to do is tell you right away. I hope you wont blame me too much.
And he told her. It didnt take long, four or five minutes at most, and she say very still through it all, watching him with a kind of dazed horror as he went further and further away from her with each word.
So there it is, he added. And I know its kind of a bad time to be telling you, bet there simply wasnt any other way. Of course Ill give you money and see youre looked after. But there neednt really be any fuss. I hope not anyway. It wouldnt be very good for my job.
Her first instinct was not to believe any of it, to reject it all. It occurred to her that perhaps he hadnt even spoken, that she herself had imagined the whole thing. Maybe, if she went about her business and acted as though she hadnt been listening, then later, when she sort of woke up again, she might find none of it had ever happened.
Ill get the supper, she managed to whisper, and this time he didnt stop her.
When she walked across the room she couldnt feel her feet touching the floor. She couldnt feel anything at all- except a slight nausea and a desire to vomit. Everything was automatic now-down the steps to the cellar, the light switch, the deep freeze, the hand inside the cabinet taking hold of the first object it met. She lifted it out, and looked at it. It was wrapped in paper, so she took off the paper and looked at it again.
A leg of lamb.
All right then, they would have lamb for supper. She carried it upstairs, holding the thin bone-end of it with both her hands, and as she went through the living-room, she saw him standing over by the window with his back to her, and she stopped.
For Gods sake, he said, hearing her, but not turning round. Dont make supper for me. Im going out.
At that point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head.
She might just as well have hit him with a steel club.
She stepped back a pace, waiting, and the funny thing was that he remained standing there for at least four or five seconds, gently swaying. Then he crashed to the carpet. The violence of the crash, the noise, the small table overturning, helped bring her out of he shock. She came out slowly, feeling cold and surprised, and she stood for a while blinking at the body, still holding the ridiculous piece of meat tight with both hands.
All right, she told herself. So Ive killed him.
It was extraordinary, now, how clear her mind became all of a sudden. She began thinking very fast. As the wife of a detective, she knew quite well what the penalty would be. That was fine. It made no difference to her. In fact, it would be a relief. On the other hand, what about the child? What were the laws about murderers with unborn children? Did they kill then both-mother and child? Or did they wait until the tenth month? What did they do?
Mary Maloney didnt know. And she certainly wasnt prepared to take a chance.
She carried the meat into the kitchen, placed it in a pan, turned the oven on high, and shoved t inside. Then she washed her hands and ran upstairs to the bedroom. She sat down before the mirror, tidied her hair, touched up her lops and face. She tried a smile. It came out rather peculiar. She tried again.
Hullo Sam, she said brightly, aloud.
The voice sounded peculiar too.
I want some potatoes please, Sam. Yes, and I think a can of peas.
That was better. Both the smile and the voice were coming out better now. She rehearsed it several times more. Then she ran downstairs, took her coat, went out the back door, down the garden, into the street.
It wasnt six oclock yet and the lights were still on in the grocery shop.
Hullo Sam, she said brightly, smiling at the man behind the counter.
Why, good evening, Mrs. Maloney. Howre you?
I want some potatoes please, Sam. Yes, and I think a can of peas.
The man turned and reached up behind him on the shelf for the peas.
Patricks decided hes tired and doesnt want to eat out tonight, she told him. We usually go out Thursdays, you know, and now hes caught me without any vegetables in the house.
Then how about meat, Mrs. Maloney?
No, Ive got meat, thanks. I got a nice leg of lamb from the freezer.
Oh.
I dont know much like cooking it frozen, Sam, but Im taking a chance on it this time. You think itll be all right?
Personally, the grocer said, I dont believe it makes any difference. You want these Idaho potatoes?
Oh yes, thatll be fine. Two of those.
Anything else? The grocer cocked his head on one side, looking at her pleasantly. How about afterwards? What you going to give him for afterwards?
Well-what would you suggest, Sam?
The man glanced around his shop. How about a nice big slice of cheesecake? I know he likes that.
Perfect, she said. He loves it.
And when it was all wrapped and she had paid, she put on her brightest smile and said, Thank you, Sam. Goodnight.
Goodnight, Mrs. Maloney. And thank you.
And now, she told herself as she hurried back, all she was doing now, she was returning home to her husband and he was waiting for his supper; and she must cook it good, and make it as tasty as possible because the poor man was tired; and if, when she entered the house, she happened to find anything unusual, or tragic, or terrible, then naturally it would be a shock and shed become frantic with grief and horror. Mind you, she wasnt expecting to find anything. She was just going home with the vegetables. Mrs. Patrick Maloney going home with the vegetables on Thursday evening to cook supper for her husband.
Thats the way, she told herself. Do everything right and natural. Keep things absolutely natural and therell be no need for any acting at all.
Therefore, when she entered the kitchen by the back door, she was humming a little tune to herself and smiling.
Patrick! she called. How are you, darling?
She put the parcel down on the table and went through into the living room; and when she saw him lying there on the floor with his legs doubled up and one arm twisted back underneath his body, it really was rather a shock. All the old love and longing for him welled up inside her, and she ran over to him, knelt down beside him, and began to cry her heart out. It was easy. No acting was necessary.
A few minutes later she got up and went to the phone. She know the number of the police station, and when the man at the other end answered, she cried to him, Quick! Come quick! Patricks dead!
Whos speaking?
Mrs. Maloney. Mrs. Patrick Maloney.
You mean Patrick Maloneys dead?
I think so, she sobbed. Hes lying on the floor and I think hes dead.
Be right over, the man said.
The car came very quickly, and when she opened the front door, two policeman walked in. She know them both-she know nearly all the man at that precinct-and she fell right into a chair, then went over to join the other one, who was called OMalley, kneeling by the body.
Is he dead? she cried.
Im afraid he is. What happened?
Briefly, she told her story about going out to the grocer and coming back to find him on the floor. While she was talking, crying and talking, Noonan discovered a small patch of congealed blood on the dead mans head. He showed it to OMalley who got up at once and hurried to the phone.
Soon, other men began to come into the house. First a doctor, then two detectives, one of whom she know by name. Later, a police photographer arrived and took pictures, and a man who know about fingerprints. There was a great deal of whispering and muttering beside the corpse, and the detectives kept asking her a lot of questions. But they always treated her kindly. She told her story again, this time right from the beginning, when Patrick had come in, and she was sewing, and he was tired, so tired he hadnt wanted to go out for supper. She told how shed put the meat in the oven-its there now, cooking- and how shed slopped out to the grocer for vegetables, and come back to find him lying on the floor.
Which grocer? one of the detectives asked.
She told him, and he turned and whispered something to the other detective who immediately went outside into the street.
In fifteen minutes he was back with a page of notes, and there was more whispering, and through her sobbing she heard a few of the whispered phrases-...acted quite normal...very cheerful...wanted to give him a good supperpeas...cheesecake...impossible that she...
After a while, the photographer and the doctor departed and two other men came in and took the corpse away on a stretcher. Then the fingerprint man went away. The two detectives remained, and so did the two policeman. They were exceptionally nice to her, and Jack Noonan asked if she wouldnt rather go somewhere else, to her sisters house perhaps, or to his own wife who would take care of her and put her up for the night.
No, she said. She didnt feel she could move even a yard at the moment. Would they mind awfully of she stayed just where she was until she felt better. She didnt feel too good at the moment, she really didnt.
Then hadnt she better lie down on the bed? Jack Noonan asked.
No, she said. Shed like to stay right where she was, in this chair. A little later, perhaps, when she felt better, she would move.
So they left her there while they went about their business, searching the house. Occasionally on of the detectives asked her another question. Sometimes Jack Noonan spoke at her gently as he passed by. Her husband, he told her, had been killed by a blow on the back of the head administered with a heavy blunt instrument, almost certainly a large piece of metal. They were looking for the weapon. The murderer may have taken it with him, but on the other hand he may have thrown it away or hidden it somewhere on the premises.
Its the old story, he said. Get the weapon, and youve got the man.
Later, one of the detectives came up and sat beside her. Did she know, he asked, of anything in the house that couldve been used as the weapon? Would she mind having a look around to see if anything was missing-a very big spanner, for example, or a heavy metal vase.
They didnt have any heavy metal vases, she said.
Or a big spanner?
She didnt think they had a big spanner. But there might be some things like that in the garage.
The search went on. She knew that there were other policemen in the garden all around the house. She could hear their footsteps on the gravel outside, and sometimes she saw a flash of a torch through a chink in the curtains. It began to get late, nearly nine she noticed by the clock on the mantle. The four men searching the rooms seemed to be growing weary, a trifle exasperated.
Jack, she said, the next tome Sergeant Noonan went by. Would you mind giving me a drink?
Sure Ill give you a drink. You mean this whiskey?
Yes please. But just a small one. It might make me feel better.
He handed her the glass.
Why dont you have one yourself, she said. You must be awfully tired. Please do. Youve been very good to me.
Well, he answered. Its not strictly allowed, but I might take just a drop to keep me going.
One by one the others came in and were persuaded to take a little nip of whiskey. They stood around rather awkwardly with the drinks in their hands, uncomfortable in her presence, trying to say consoling things to her. Sergeant Noonan wandered into the kitchen, come out quickly and said, Look, Mrs. Maloney. You know that oven of yours is still on, and the meat still inside.
Oh dear me! she cried. So it is!
I better turn it off for you, hadnt I?
Will you do that, Jack. Thank you so much.
When the sergeant returned the second time, she looked at him with her large, dark tearful eyes. Jack Noonan, she said.
Yes?
Would you do me a small favor-you and these others?
We can try, Mrs. Maloney.
Well, she said. Here you all are, and good friends of dear Patricks too, and helping to catch the man who killed him. You must be terrible hungry by now because its long past your suppertime, and I know Patrick would never forgive me, God bless his soul, if I allowed you to remain in his house without offering you decent hospitality. Why dont you eat up that lamb thats in the oven. Itll be cooked just right by now.
Wouldnt dream of it, Sergeant Noonan said.
Please, she begged. Please eat it. Personally I couldnt tough a thing, certainly not whats been in the house when he was here. But its all right for you. Itd be a favor to me if youd eat it up. Then you can go on with your work again afterwards.
There was a good deal of hesitating among the four policemen, but they were clearly hungry, and in the end they were persuaded to go into the kitchen and help themselves. The woman stayed where she was, listening to them speaking among themselves, their voices thick and sloppy because their mouths were full of meat.
Have some more, Charlie?
No. Better not finish it.
She wants us to finish it. She said so. Be doing her a favor.
Okay then. Give me some more.
Thats the hell of a big club the gut mustve used to hit poor Patrick, one of them was saying. The doc says his skull was smashed all to pieces just like from a sledgehammer.
Thats why it ought to be easy to find.
Exactly what I say.
Whoever done it, theyre not going to be carrying a thing like that around with them longer than they need.
One of them belched.
Personally, I think its right here on the premises.
Probably right under our very noses. What you think, Jack?
And in the other room, Mary Maloney began to giggle.
