“What for?”
“The police say he tried to strangle an officer.”
“Did he?”
“Probably.”
“They’ll put him away.”
“No, they will not. Do you want to come in?”
“Thank you. How will you stop them?”
She didn’t reply, her eyes lingering on his.
“You have something on them?” he said.
“What do you think?”
“Sorry way to run a railroad,” he said.
“I see, you subscribe to a higher morality?”
“No, I don’t have any moral authority in anything,” he replied.
He looked at the rows of books on her living room shelves, the ornate furniture, the thick drapes, a big brass clock on the mantel, a log burning in the fireplace. Her home was a study in stability, the kind that was personal and seemed to have no antecedent and was not cultural or inherited. He rubbed his hand on his mouth. He would have cut off his fingers with tin snips for a drink. “I hung up on you because you hurt my feelings. The truth is, I’m short on friends, and I fear that my ineptitude is going to get my boy killed.”
“What do you plan to do, Mr. Holland?”
“Take it to them. Under a black flag.”
“Try to listen to me. Arnold Beckman wants the cup. He won’t rest until he gets his hands on it. You have to use your wits. Odysseus used his intelligence to defeat his enemies. You have to do the same.”
“I should put a Trojan horse in Beckman’s backyard?”
“Don’t mock me.”
“What if I told him I’d give him the cup? What if I told him he could have me with it?”
“He would take the cup and then kill you. I suspect he would not do it all at once, either.”
“You’re preaching to the choir.”
“And you’d put yourself in his power anyway?”
“If it would get my boy back. Ishmael could be released to you. You’re a good diplomat. You could work it out.”
“You know better, Mr. Holland.”
“That cup was supposedly used by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper. If that’s the case, why aren’t I getting any he’p from Upstairs? What am I supposed to do?”
“I’m going to meet my attorney at the jail, then take Andre to a hospital. Do you want to come?”
“No, I have to find Ishmael’s mother.”
“Let me ask you a personal question. When this is over, do you plan to be around?”
“Around where?”