'I've got Haven to follow up,' was what he said, and quaffed the rest of his Heineken Dark in three long swallows. 'Everything starts there. The kid disappears in Haven, the woman dies in Haven, Rhodes and Gabbons are coming back from Haven. Dugan commits suicide. Why? Because he loved the McCausland woman, he says. The McCausland woman from Haven.'
'Don't forget lovable old Gramps,' Bright said. 'He's running around saying his grandson's disappearance was a conspiracy. I kept expecting him to start whispering about Fu Manchu and white slavery.'
'So what is it?' Leandro asked dramatically. 'What's going on in Haven?'
'It is the insidious doctor,' Bright said. His beer arrived. He no longer wanted it. He only wanted to get out of here. Bringing up loveable old Gramps had been a mistake. Thinking about loveable old Gramps made him feel a trifle uneasy. Gramps was obviously off his rocker, but there had been something about his eyes ...
'What?'
Dr Fu Manchu. If you see Nayland Smith hanging around, I think you've got the story of the century.' Bright leaned forward and whispered hoarsely: 'White slavery. Remember who you heard it from when you get the call from the New York Times.'
'I don't think that's very funny, David.'
An eighty-four-year-old twerp, Bright thought again. Imagine it.
'Or, here's one,' Bright said. 'Little green men. The invasion of earth is already underway, see, only no one knows it. And - TA-DA! No One Will Believe This Heroic Young News-Hawk! Robert Redford Stars as John Leandro in This Nail-Biting Saga of - '
The bartender wandered down and said, 'You want to turn it down?'
Leandro got up, his face stiff. He dropped three dollar bills on the bar. 'Your sense of humor is adolescent, David.'
'Or try this,' Bright said dreamily. 'It's both Fu Manchu and green men from space. An alliance formed in hell. And no one knows but you, Johnny. Klaatu barada nictu!'
'Well, I don't care if Reynault lets me follow it up or not,' Leandro said, and Bright saw that he might have twanged Johnny's strings just a little too hard; the twerp was furious. 'My vacation starts next Friday. I may just go down to Haven. Follow it up on my own time.'
'Sure,' Bright said, excited. He knew he should let up- pretty soon Leandro was probably going to try to punch him in the mouth - but the guy just kept giving him openings. 'Sure, that's gotta be part of it! Redford wouldn't take the part unless he could go it alone. The Lone Wolf! Klaatu barada nictu! Wow! Just remember to wear your special watch when you go down there.'
'What watch?' Leandro asked, his face still angry. Oh, he was pissed, all right, but he kept leading with his chin just the same.
'You know, the one that sends out an ultrasonic signal that only Superman can hear when you pull out the stem,' Bright said, demonstrating with his own watch (and spilling a fair amount of beer into his crotch). 'It goes zeeeeeeeee - '
'I don't care what Peter Reynault thinks, and I don't care how many stupid jokes you make,' Leandro said. 'You both just might get a big surprise.'
He started out, then turned back.
'And for the record, I think you're a cynical shithead with no imagination.'
Having delivered this valedictory, Johnny Leandro turned on his heel and stalked grandly out.
Bright lifted his glass and tipped it toward the bartender. 'Let's drink to the cynical shitheads of the world,' he said. 'We have no imagination, but we're remarkably resistant to twerpism.'
'Whatever you say,' the bartender said. He believed he had seen it all before ... but then, he had never tended bar in Haven.
6
Tuesday, August 2nd:
There were six of them who met late that afternoon in Newt Berringer's office. It was going on five P.m., but the clock in the tower - a tower that looked real but which a bird could easily have flown through, if there had been any birds left in Haven Village - still read five past three. All six had spent some time in Bobbi's shed; Adley McKeen was the most recent addition to their number. The others included Newt, Dick Allison, Kyle, Hazel, and Frank Spruce.
They discussed the few things they had to discuss without talking aloud.
Frank Spruce asked how Bobbi was.
Still alive, Newt responded; no one knew any more. She might come out of the shed again. More likely she would not. Either way, they would know when it happened.