much money in it. They’ll freeze out these country boys. It wont be long, neither.
How much money do you think he has?
The Moss boy?
Yes.
Hard to say. Could be in the millions. Well, not too many millions. He carried it out of there on foot.
Did you want some coffee?
Yes I would.
She rose and went to the sideboard and unplugged the percolator and brought it to the table and poured his cup and sat down again. Just dont come home dead some evenin, she said. I wont put up with it.
I better not do it then.
Do you think he’ll send for her?
Bell stirred his coffee. He sat holding the steaming spoon above the cup, then he laid it in the saucer. I dont know, he said. I know he’d be a damn fool if he didnt.
The office was on the seventeenth floor with a view over the skyline of Houston and the open lowlands to the ship channel and the bayou beyond. Colonies of silver tanks. Gas flares, pale in the day. When Wells showed up the man told him to come in and told him to shut the door. He didnt even turn around. He could see Wells in the glass. Wells shut the door and stood with his hands crossed before him at the wrist. The way a funeral director might stand.
The man finally turned and looked at him. You know Anton Chigurh by sight, is that correct?
Yessir, that’s correct.
When did you last see him?
November twenty-eighth of last year.
How do you happen to remember the date?
I dont happen to remember it. I remember dates. Numbers.
The man nodded. He was standing behind his desk. The desk was of polished stainless steel and walnut and there wasnt anything on it. Not a picture or a piece of paper. Nothing.
We got a loose cannon here. And we’re missing product and we’re out a bunch of money.
Yessir. I understand that.
You understand that.
Yessir.
That’s good. I’m glad I’ve got your attention.
Yessir. You have my attention.
The man unlocked a drawer in the desk and took out a steel box and unlocked that and took out a card and closed the box and locked it and put it away again. He held up the card between two fingers and looked at Wells and Wells stepped forward and took it.
You pay your own expenses if I remember correctly.
Yessir.
This account will only give up twelve hundred dollars in any twenty-four hour period. That’s up from a thousand.
Yessir.
How well do you know Chigurh.
Well enough.
That’s not an answer.
What do you want to know?
The man tapped his knuckles on the desk. He looked up. I’d just like to know your opinion of him. In general. The invincible Mr Chigurh.
Nobody’s invincible.
Somebody is.
Why do you say that?
Somewhere in the world is the most invincible man. Just as somewhere is the most vulnerable.
That’s a belief that you have?
No. It’s called statistics. Just how dangerous is he?
Wells shrugged. Compared to what? The bubonic plague? He’s bad enough that you called me. He’s a psychopathic killer but so what? There’s plenty of them around.
He was in a shoot-out at Eagle Pass yesterday.
A shoot-out?
A shoot-out. People dead in the streets. You dont read the papers.
No sir, I dont.
He studied Wells. You’ve led something of a charmed life, havent you Mr Wells?
In all honesty I cant say that charm has had a whole lot to do with it.
Yes, the man said. What else.
I guess that’s it. Were these Pablo’s men?
Yes.
You’re sure.
Not in the sense that you mean. But reasonably sure. They werent ours. He killed two other men a couple of days before and those two did happen to be ours. Along with the three at that colossal goatfuck a few days before that. All right?
All right. I guess that will do it.
Good hunting, as we used to say. Once upon a time. In the long ago.
Thank you sir. Can I ask you something?
Sure.
I couldnt come back up in that elevator, could I?
Not to this floor. Why?
I was just interested. Security. Always interesting.
It recodes itself after every trip. A randomly generated five digit number. It doesnt print out anywhere. I dial a number and it reads the code back over the phone. I give it to you and you punch it in. Does that answer your question?
Nice.
Yes.
I counted the floors from the street.
And?
There’s a floor missing.
I’ll have to look into it.
Wells smiled.
You can see yourself out? the man said.
Yes.
All right.
One other thing.
What is that.
I wondered if I could get my parking ticket validated.
The man cocked his head slightly. This is