Might be one of those part-Indian people or something; you know how you see those guys in movies. Real black hair, not much grey. Probably about my age or so, at least; maybe a little older. Keeps himself in good shape. Looks like he's always doing something, doesn't want you getting in his way."
"Not a guy you'd pick to mess with," Merrion said.
"No," Brody said, 'definitely not. I believe what you said about him being a violent person. The guy definitely looks it. Of course I'm not the kind of guy that likes to go around, you know, picking fights with people. But if I was that kind of guy, I wouldn't pick one with this Lowell character. Not if I wanted to win it. He looks like he'd be mean, someone got him going."
"Yeah," Merrion said. "Well anyway, basically what I wonder if you'd do for me here is get your passkey and come back to fourteen with me and let me in, so that I can see if my friend Janet's in there decided she's not coming to the door today, got her curlers in or something."
Brody looked worried. "I dunno," he said. "I dunno if I should do that. See, you may not know this, but since you trust guys had this whole thing changed around and so forth, eight, ten years ago? Brought the new management in? Well, since they came in here and I hadda start reporting to them, Valley Better, they hadda different way of doing things. They put in different rules. So, you may not know this, but they've gotten very strict about that kind of thing. Lettin' people into the apartments I mean, except vacant ones we're showing. They don't want it done.
"Basically what they're now telling us is: "We don't want this going on, here, anymore, so stop doing it. And don't be calling up alia time and asking is it all right. Because the answer is: "It's not."
They're very clear on this. And as you know, this job and all, it means a lot to me and I don't want to lose it. Give them any reason to decide I'm too much trouble so they're getting rid of me."
Merrion took one step forward so that about eighteen inches of space at the threshold remained between him and Brody. He spoke pleasantly, in a low voice. "Steve, you work for Valley Better Residences, Inc. And Valley Better works for me, all right? So we understand each other here, I am one of the people who own Fourmen's Realty Trust. Fourmen's Realty owns this building, understand that, Steve? Valley Better just runs it for us, collects the rents, pays the taxes, and hires you to work for us.
"Most of the time we are pretty smart people," Merrion said, 'if I do say so myself. Except sometimes. Sometimes we do something fairly stupid, as even we have to admit. After we've cleaned up the mess we made because we acted stupid instead of smart.
"Steve, this morning's one of those times, for me. This morning I did something stupid and created a minor problem for myself. Now I want you to help me get out of it. That way I wont have to spend the whole rest of the day thinking how stupid I was this morning."
Brody looked extremely worried. "What did you do, Mister Merrion?" he said.
Merrion heaved a great sigh. "I parked my car across the street. Then I waited until all the other cars behind me at the light, all of them went by, and I got out and shut the door and locked it. I looked both ways, and then when I was sure the coast was clear — after maybe I'd let eight, nine cars go by, in both directions I came across the street and in through the front door. Let it close behind me. Then I climbed the stairs up to the third floor and I knocked on the door of apartment fourteen, where Janet LeClerc lives. As I've already told you, I knocked twice. She didn't answer. So then I came down and knocked on your door, but unlike Janet, you came to your door. And then everything that came after that, all the rest of it you know."
Brody's rumpled face displayed real pain. "Mister Merrion," he said,
"I don't understand. I have to tell you that."
"Understand what?" Merrion said. "Tell me what you don't: understand. Maybe I can help you out."
"What you did stupid," Brody said. "What did you do that made i the big mess you now want me to get you out of?" '{"I already told you," Merrion said. "I stood beside my car after I parked it. I don't know exactly how long I stood there but it was certainly long enough to give Janet time enough to glance out of her window and spot me. She may not recognize my car, but she's certainly seen enough of me to recognize me on sight. And I stupidly gave her the time to do it before I made it into the building.
"So she probably knows I'm here. And since she doesn't want to see me or talk to me, she didn't come to the door. Instead when I knocked she ignored me. It didn't occur to her to turn off the TV, she isn't very smart, but this morning it looks to me as though I've been a little dumber'n she has. I alerted her to the fact that the next person who banged on her door was going to be me. So that's the mess I want you to get me out of. Come upstairs with me now and use your passkey to let me into her place. So I can do what I came here to do, which is see what the hell's going on."
"You don't think I'll get in trouble?" Brody said.
"I'm sure you wont," Merrion said. "I'm an officer of the court acting in the course of official business, my official duties, the supervision of a defendant who has charges pending before the court in which I happen to be the chief magistrate. And in the second place, in addition to that, I am also a beneficial shareholder of a property interest in this building, to a part of which I am directing you as an employee of its management agency to admit me, in order that I may enter upon and inspect the premises. Thereof.
"That satisfy you, Steve? I got at least two heavy-duty rights to get into that apartment. Either one of them oughta do nicely."
"Okay, then," Brody said, stepping forward and pulling the door shut behind him, 'but it's purely on your say-so I'm doin' this. I'm still not sure about it."
"Don't worry," Merrion said. "Nothing'll happen to you. I can almost guarantee it. Something may happen to me, everything doesn't turn out to be the way I hope, up there… but that's nothing that needs to concern you. All you need to do is make sure you got your right key with you now the one that'll open her door?"
Brody nodded, patting the snap-ring at his belt. "Gotter right here," he said "With me, all times. Never can tell when you'll need to go in.
Somebody's locked themselves out, or someone else locked them out, any hour day or night, and the first they do's come lookin' for you, let them back in. Found that out myself at the very beginning, three or four times all it took. The simplest way's the only way: carry it with you, all times. Save yourself all of that grief."
Merrion let him by and then followed him up the four flights of stairs leading to the third floor. He remembered Larry Lane denouncing the increasing difficulty of climbing them as his cancer worsened and weakened him. "Takes me about twenty minutes, make it up this place.
Have to stop and rest five times, once on the landing, second floor, and halfway up each flight. And it's all my fault.
"We're building the place," he said, "Fiddle told us we should bite the bullet, invest in an elevator. Then wed get older, quieter tenants, be able, charge higher rent than we could with just the stairs. Four grand more I think he said it would've cost us. I was against it: too much money. Got the others to turn him down. "Nothing doing," I said,
"no unnecessary features. If we can get along without it, then it must be we don't need it. Whatever it'd cost would be therefore too much dough." Now here I am, livin' in the place. Wasn't banking on that when I said "no elevator." Don't like that decision at all."
Ten feet along the landing from the top of the staircase they stopped at the door with the 14 on it. They could hear an announcer promise joyfully that "Good Morning, America' would 'be right back after these few brief announcements from your local stations, so please, don't you dare go away."