Sam Barrows did not answer. He leaned back comfortably.
“Louis, he’s done something,” Pris said with a wild glance all around. “Can’t you tell? Don’t you know him well enough to see? Oh, Louis!”
“Don’t worry,” I said, but now I felt uneasy, and at the bar I noticed that the Lincoln was stirring about restlessly and frowning. Had I made a mistake? Too late now; I had agreed.
“Will you step over here?” I called to the simulacrum. It rose at once and came over, stooping to hear. “Mr. Barrows is waiting to consult with his attorney.”
Seating itself the simulacrum pondered. “I suppose there is no harm in that.”
We all waited. Half an hour later Dave Blunk appeared, threading his way to us. With him was Colleen Nild, dressed up, and after her a third person, a young man with crewcut and bow-tie, an alert, eager expression on his face.
Who is this man? I wondered. What is going on? And my uneasiness grew.
“Sorry we’re late,” Blunk said as he seated Mrs. Nild. Both he and the bow-tied young man seated themselves. No one introduced anyone.
This must be some employee of Barrows, I said to myself. Could this be the punk who would fulfill the formality of a legal marriage with Pris?
Seeing me staring at the man, Barrows spoke up. “This is Johnny Booth. Johnny, I want you to meet Louis Rosen.”
The young man nodded hastily. “Pleased to meet you, Mr. Rosen.” He ducked his head to the others in turn. “Hi. Hi there. How are you?”
“Wait a minute.” I felt cold all over. “This is John Booth? John Wilkes Booth?”
“You hit the nail on the head,” Barrows said.
“But he doesn’t look anything like John Wilkes Booth.” It was a simulacrum and a terrible one at that. I had just been browsing in the reference books; John Wilkes Booth had been a theatrical, dramatic-looking individual—this was just another ordinary flunky type, a nebbish, the kind you see in the downtown business sections of every major city in the United States. “Don’t put me on,” I said. “This is your first effort? I’ve got news for you; better go back and try again.”
But all the time I was talking I was staring at the simulacrum in terror, for despite its foolish appearance it worked; it was a success in the technical sense, and what a dreadful omen that was for us, for every one of us; the John Wilkes Booth simulacrum! I couldn’t help glancing sideways at the Lincoln to see its reaction. Did it know what this meant?
The Lincoln had said nothing. But the lines of its face had deepened, the twilight of melancholy which always to some degree hung over it. It seemed to know what was in store for it, what this new simulacrum portended.
I couldn’t believe that Pris could design such a thing. And then I realized that of course she hadn’t; that was why it had, really, no face. Only Bundy had been involved. Through him they had developed the inner workings and then they had crammed it into this mass-man container which sat here at the table smiling and nodding, a typical Ja-Sager, a yes man. They hadn’t even attempted to re-create the authentic Booth appearance, perhaps hadn’t even been interested; it was a rush job, done for a specific purpose.
“We’ll continue our discussion,” Barrows said.
Dave Blunk nodded, and John Wilkes Booth nodded. Mrs. Nild examined a menu. Pris was staring at the new simulacrum as if turned to stone. So I was right; it was a surprise to her. While she had been out being wined and dined, dressed up in new clothes, slept with and prettified, Bob Bundy had been off in some workshop of the Barrows organization, hammering away on this contraption.
“All right,” I said. “Let’s continue.”
“Johnny,” Barrows said to his simulacrum, “by the way, this tall man with the beard, this is Abe Lincoln. I was telling you about him, remember?”
“Oh yes, Mr. Barrows,” the Booth thing said instantly, with a wide-awake nod. “I remember distinctly.”
I said, “Barrows, it’s a phony business you have here; this is just an assassin with the name ‘Booth,’ he doesn’t look or talk right and you know it. This is phony, lousy and phony from the bottom up, it makes me sick. I feel shame for you.”
Barrows shrugged.
To the Booth thing I said, “Say something out of Shakespeare.”