The policeman moved one step inside the house where I could see him
again. He said in a flat voice, "I have a warrant for your arrest."
* * * * *
There was only one light on in the house, in the front room. From the
shadows at the rear I watched them both. The policeman had a hard mask
for a face, no more human than a Losel. Mr. Kutsov was determined and I
had the feeling that he had forgotten my presence.
"To jail again? For my book?" He shook his head. "No."
"It be nothing to do with any book I know of, Kutsov. It be known that
you be an Anti-Redemptionist. So come along." He grasped Mr. Kutsov's
arm.
Mr. Kutsov shook loose. "No. I won't go to jail again. It be no crime
to be against stupidity. I won't go."
The policeman said, "You be coming whether you want to or not. You be
under arrest."
Mr. Kutsov's voice had never shown his age before, but it shook now.
"Get out of my house!"
A sense of coming destruction grew on me as I saw the policeman lift
his gun from its holster and say, "You be coming if I have to shoot."
Mr. Kutsov swung his fist at the policeman and missed and, as though
the man could afford to let nothing pass without retaliation, he swung
the barrel of his pistol dully against the side of Mr. Kutsov's head.
It rocked Mr. Kutsov, but he didn't fall. He raised his fist again. The
policeman struck once more and waited but Mr. Kutsov still didn't fall.
Instead, he swung again, and for the first time he landed, a blow that
bounced weakly off the man's shoulder. Almost inevitably, it seemed,
the policeman raised his pistol and fired directly at Mr. Kutsov, and
then again, and as the second report rang Mr. Kutsov slid to the floor.
The silence was loud and gaunt. The policeman stood looking down at him
and said, "Old fool!" under his breath. Then he came to himself and
looked around. Then he picked a candlestick off the table and dropped
it with a thud by Mr. Kutsov's empty outstretched hand.
The noise was a release for me and I moved for the first time. The
policeman grunted and looked up and we stared at each other. Then
again, slowly, he raised his gun and pointed it at me.
I heard a snickering sound and the three reports rang out, one
following another. The policeman stood for a moment, balanced himself
and then, like a crumpled sheet of paper, he fell to the floor. I
didn't even look at Jimmy behind me. I started to cry and I went to Mr.
Kutsov, passing by the policeman without even looking at him. As I bent
down beside him, his eyes opened and he looked at me.
I couldn't stop crying. I held his head and cried. "I'm sorry," I said.
"I'm sorry."
He smiled and said faintly, but clearly, "It be all right." After a
minute he closed his eyes, and then he died.
After another minute, Jimmy touched my arm and said, "There's nothing
we can do. Let's leave now, Mia, while we still can."
Outside, it was still raining. Standing in the rain I felt deserted.