Phil turned around. Jack and Cookie were just coming in from the hall.
"Fine sort of wife you turned out to be," Jack informed Juno, striding
toward her with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. "Can't leave
you ten minutes but you start pulling some dumb trick." With circles
under his eyes and a day's growth of beard, the black-sweatered little
wrestler did a fair job of looking outraged and dejected. But Cookie,
automatically imitating his hero, could produce only an expression like
that of a blonde baby about to cry.
"Getting sneaky, too," Jack observed. "Spying on me."
"Underhanded," Cookie commented.
"Underhanded?" Juno banged the silver inlaid table so hard that it
jumped and she had to grab at her glass and the bottle. "Why, you two
stinkers are so permanently underhanded you couldn't play no game but
softball."
"Also, I don't like the company you keep," Jack continued. "The Ikeless
Joe was bad enough," he said, giving Phil the barest glance before
going on to da Silva, "but where between here and Pluto did you ever
pick up this silly greaser who can't even talk English?"
"This corny gigolo," Cookie added witheringly.
Dion, who until this moment had seemed merely interested, put down his
glass and frowned at Jack. "No like you," he asserted. "You want kick
in face, trample?"
Phil winced, visualizing it in the full, rich details.
"Do you know who you're talking to?" Cookie demanded of Dion.
"Don't brawl, boys," Mary called from the alcove, "at least until I've
finished this ticklish part." She was putting some finishing touches
on Moe Brimstine's face under the magnifier. "Then I think I'd like to
watch you tramp around, Dion man."
"Don't anybody worry," Jack said sadly. "I'm not looking for a fight
even if I was handed one. I'm too downhearted about this innocent,
thoughtless, uneducated wife of mine."
"Uneducated?" she exploded. "After being married to you all these
years? You got so many rotten ideas you're a whole university. Well,
I've graduated. And shut up, now, 'cause I got to tell Phil here where
he can find Moe Brimstine and maybe Billig and his cat."
Jack whirled toward her. "Juno, you don't know what you're saying. You
don't know what you'd be doing. Just come upstairs a minute and I'll
explain the whole deal."
"Come upstairs!" Juno mocked. "Tell that to the green farm girls trying
to break into the wrestling racket. Now look here, Phil. Brimstine...."
"Juno!" Jack yelled, "I didn't want to tell you in front of everybody,
but there's a million dollars riding on this deal for me and you, if
Billig pulls out of his trouble. Which he can do, so long as he has the
green cat to trade to the government. And look, Juno, Billig's lost
all his bodyguards and power and everything--he's got to depend on
Brimstine and me and Cookie."
Juno stared at him. For a second or two there was silence. Then
Sacheverell coughed delicately.
"Jack," he said unhurriedly, "I am convinced that you have a deep
appreciation of spiritual values. Your aura may flicker and dim, but in
the end it always glows out bright and clear. Yesterday you gave up ten
thousand dollars Moe Brimstine would have given you for the Green One,
just in order that we might worship him properly and help him change
the world. Now if you were willing to do that...."
"I know, I know," Jack snarled at him impatiently, "but this time it's
really big money."
Sacheverell looked up at the ceiling, as if he were silently telling
some god just how evil a world it was.
"I was flattered by you and Mary for a while," Jack went on. "I liked
your style and I fell for some of your wild ideas. I played along with
you to the tune of ten thousand dollars, though I won't say I wasn't
going to steal the green cat back and sell it to Brimstine after you'd
had your fun with it. But tuck your aura up over your ears and get this
through your head: this time it's really big money."
Sacheverell said, "Mary, remind me to burn our black sweaters tomorrow
morning."
From the look on Juno's face, Phil could tell that Jack had finally
done something to please her.
But he had done it rather too late. The satisfaction washed out of
Juno's face and only the grimness was left as she said to him, "That
million was just for you, Jack, or for you and Cookie until half a
minute ago. Another thing, Billig isn't going to pull out of this--and
if he did he's the kind of man who kills the people who save him. But
even if you got your million, I wouldn't take any part of it. Don't
get the idea that anybody, including that crazy green cat, has made
me go soft. It's just that I wouldn't ever accept anything from you,
Jack--not ever again." Without a pause she turned to Phil and said,
"Brimstine's behind the counter in the Bug-Eyed Bar in All Pleasures
Amusement Park. I'll take you to the exact spot."
At that moment, when everyone was watching Juno, a cool, scornful voice
spoke from the dining room: "And we'll be coming along."
Phil's head followed the others around. Standing in front of Lucky's
altar, his bulging forehead wrinkled with unsmiling amusement, was
Carstairs. To his left stood Llewellyn, eyes gleaming in his impassive
black face. To Carstairs' right lounged Buck, yawning but watchful.
Phil got the feeling that the hep-thugs were trying to look like the
muzzles of the weapons they held with casual proficiency. Close beside
Buck and a little behind him stood Mitzie Romadka.
Carstairs said, "We've been finding out some things about this green
cat ourselves." He could talk very softly because there wasn't any
noise in the room. "We think it would be a lot more desirable if we
were the ones who sold the cat to Uncle Sammy. You people are going to
help us get the cat. Incidentally, clown," he addressed Phil, "your
little girl friend here was responsible for our locating you people.
Isn't that so, Mitz?"
But Mitzie said nothing. To Phil, she looked remarkably pale,
tight-lipped and miserable for a girl enjoying a revenge.
"Yes," Carstairs continued, "she came whimpering to us a little while
ago, asking us to kidnap you or something silly like that. Can you
imagine, clown, your girl friend was stupid enough to think we'd be
pleased at her and even do something for her, after we'd kicked her
out of the gang and she'd skunked on us to Billig? Youthful illusions
die hard. Well, instead of that she did something for us. After a
little persuasion she told us all she knows about the green cat and you
people, also some addresses--including this one."
And now Phil saw that Mitzie was looking at him agitatedly and trying
to speak, but couldn't get her mouth open. He realized her mouth must
be taped shut with some transparent, non-reflecting material. Buck
noticed and twisted her wrist while thoughtfully watching her face.
Carstairs concluded, "There's not much more to say. You and you and
you"--and he stabbed a gun muzzle at Jack, Cookie and Sacheverell--"are
staying here with my friend Llewellyn. Dear little Mitz will stay here
too--that's partly in case you get any funny ideas, clown. The rest of
you are coming along with Buck and me on a thrill-packed trip to All
Pleasures. According to what Mitz tells us, you all may have useful
angles on catching this cat for us. Transportation's out in front."
Juno got up with a sullen shrug. Dion for once was very quiet. Phil
found himself wondering whether or not Opperly and Dytie had avoided
the hep-thugs.
Mary Akeley took the dolls depicting Moe Brimstine and Dr. Romadka, put
them in a big handbag, caught up a bolero jacket, and calmly announced,
"Well, I'm ready."