The officer stuck his head in the waiting room again. "Pardon me.
Inspector Acrington? The District Attorney would like to see you."
"Surely."
After he had left, I sat there for a minute or two, just thinking.
Then Brownlee came back from his conference with the D.A. and sat
down beside me.
"I met your noble friend heading for the D.A.'s office," he said with
a smile. "He said that any man who was as determined to find a better
method in order to replace a merely workable method is a remarkable
man and therefore worth studying under. I just told him I agreed with
him."
"Thanks," I said. "Thanks a lot."
Because Brownlee knows why I'm looking for a cure to replace the
stopgap. Brownlee knows why I gave up smoking three years ago, why I
don't have any matches or lighters in the house, why I keep the
ashtrays for guests only, and why, for that reason, I don't have many
guests. Brownlee knows why there are only electric stoves in my
apartment--never gas.
Brownlee knows why my son quivers and turns his head away from a match
flame. Brownlee knows why he had to put the _geas_ on Stevie.
And I even think Brownlee suspects that I concealed some of the
evidence in the fire that killed Stevie's mother--my wife.
Yes, I'm looking for a cure. But until then, I'll be thankful for the
stopgap.
* * * * *