"Listen, Kevin. Listen carefully to what I am saying. Doc found
a method of time travel. It was almost a purely mathematical,
topographical way divorced from modern physical sciences. He kept it
secret and he wanted to make money with it. He was an idealist--he had
his crusades. How can you make money with time travel?"
I didn't know whether she was asking me, but I didn't know. All I knew
was that I had to help Doc and get some coffee.
"It takes money--money Doc didn't have--to make money," Miss Casey
said, "even if you know what horse will come in and what stock will
prosper. Besides, horse-racing and the stock market weren't a part of
Doc's character. He was a scholar."
Why did she keep using the past tense in reference to Doc? It scared
me. He was lying so still with the left side of his face so twisted. I
needed some coffee.
"He became a book finder. He got rare editions of books and magazines
for his clients in absolutely mint condition. That was all right--until
he started obtaining books that _did not exist_."
* * * * *
I didn't know what all that was supposed to mean. I got to the chair,
snatched up the coffee container, tore it open and gulped down the
soothing liquid.