"Do not tell me, please!" He narrowed his eyes in mock thoughtfulness. "Ah, yes, I remember now. Madrid, 1911, was it not? Alvarado and his Animales. There was considerable debate, I remember, as to which was which."
"And, you, I recall you well, also," said the chinless man. "A human swine-there would have been a novelty! Unfortunately, my pobres perros rebelled at the thought. But-enough! Listen to me carefully, Herr Von Der Veer, and do not interrupt!"
He spoke rapidly for ten minutes, ending with a sharp-soft "Well?" that was a statement rather than a question. Milt took a drink from a brandy bottle before replying.
"Let me see if I understand," he said. "You have aligned your cause, unofficially, with that of the Reich where my father is now resident. And unless I accommodate you in this matter, certain unpleasant things will happen to him. He might possibly find himself in prison, that is right?"
"Regrettably, yes."
"Fine," said Milt. "Beat him well while he is there. Starve him also, if you can. He has such a great fat stomach I doubt that it is possible."
Milt smiled pleasantly. The chinless man blanched. "Monster!" he stammered, then recovered himself. "But there is something else, Herr Max. You are in this country illegally. A word to-"
"Any number of people," said Milt, truthfully, "will swear that I was born here. But why do we dispute, Seсor Alvarado? That so- foolish man who leads your equally preposterous government-"
"Silence!"
"-may be moved by motives of idealism. You may be also. I am not so stupid. I want money. If you want this thing done, you will pay for it. It is as simple as that, and no simpler."
Thus, Milt, who like everyone else in the jewelry trade had begun dabbling in gold when the price went to thirty-five dollars an ounce- -thus, funny-looking little Milt became a large-scale buyer for the Nazi government.
His first move was to build up a group of house-to-house buyers who worked out of his shop. Their purchases, less perhaps an undetectable third, went directly and regularly to the mint, where he built up and still had a reputation as a man above suspicion. His next move was to rent numerous post-office boxes under different names; small boxes, such as individuals rent. Under those names, he inserted small newspaper ads in as many different sections of the country.
There are thousands of such advertisers; little men, often with little knowledge of a highly exacting business. Because they are little, they feel obliged to place money ahead of good will. They grade and weigh "close"-the doubts which always arise are decided in their own favor. Because they lack the necessary training and wit-and despite their petty and pitiful efforts to do the opposite- they make disastrous buys. It is then obligatory, or so they feel, to be still "sharper" to make up for their losses.
The end result of all this is that the little men acquire a bad or at best "uneven" reputation. They buy less and less gold. Usually, in a few months or a few years, they are out of business.
It would be a physical impossibility to check on all these small mail buyers, and the federal authorities see no need to do so. Before gold can be diverted into the black market, it must first be acquired. And the little men just don't buy it, not a fraction of the quantity needed to pay them for the risk… That is, of course, none of them bought it but Milt's little men. Gold poured in on the little men. They bought pounds of it every day.
Milt had expected to get out of the gold traffic when the Nazis had become unable to buy. But the chinless man gave no sign of ceasing operations, and Milt was far too wise to express a desire to quit. Angrily he realized that, in effect, he was jeopardizing his liberty and perhaps his life for nothing. He could never spend his wealth in the United States. He would never be allowed to leave the United States to spend it. He was getting old. Unless he withdrew from the ring soon, it would be too late. The things money bought would have become meaningless.
Mixed with his anger was a kind of apathy, a dread dead feeling that whatever he did mattered little. Even if he could get away… well, what then? How would a man of his age occupy himself in a strange new country? Alone, completely alone, with no one to care whether he lived or died.
He had been unable to deposit his money in a bank and afraid to place it in a safe deposit box; such might attract attention, and what if he should have to leave town in a hurry? So, unobtrusively, he had had a small but excellent safe sunk into the floor beneath his workbench. It could be cracked, of course, as the best of safes can be. But what knob-knocker or juice worker or torch artist would suspect that Milt had anything worth getting?
None did. The idea was laughable. Milt used to laugh, smile a little sadly to himself, as late at night sometimes he examined the stacks upon stacks of large-denomination bills. So much money… for what?
So he had gone on, reasonlessly, because there was nothing else to do, and fate in time had brought Toddy and Elaine Kent to him. Elaine! There was someone like himself, a woman who thought as he did. With someone like her, with her and the money, life would at last be what it should. And why not have her? It was only a question of ridding her of her fool husband, and if she kept on drinking, making trouble-and if that was not enough, if Toddy would not leave her or permit her to leave.
Night after night Milt had brooded over the matter; cursing, thinking in circles, guzzling quart after quart of beer. And, finally, Toddy had stumbled upon the house of the talking dog; and from then on thinking almost ceased to be necessary. Every piece of the puzzle had fallen into place at the touch of Milt's stubby fingers.
True, there had been one slight hitch, a hair-raising moment when all seemed lost. But that was past, now. Nothing remained but the pay-off. There was no longer danger-or very little. Things had not worked out quite as he had planned, but still they had worked out.
The phone rang. Milt answered it, casually, then grinned with malicious pleasure:
"Yes, I did that, Seсor. Something you should have done yourself… Why? Because he was dangerous, a menace to us. At least that was my honest opinion. I have not acted out of venom-as our superiors will most certainly feel that you have… Eh? Oh, you are mistaken, mein Herr. You have but to consult your morning paper-The News. The others did not see fit to carry the item. And if that is not enough for you…
"If you demand stronger proof"-Milt's voice dropped to a wicked caress-"pay me a visit."
18
A chilling, icy, weight enveloped Toddy's head. He tried to move away from it, but couldn't. It kept moving with him. From far away, in a dim fog-muted world, came the sound of voices… A man and a woman, talking, or a woman and two men. The voices came closer, some of them, then lapsed into silence. Something squeezed his left wrist, released it, and regrasped his right arm. The arm moved upward, and a probe dug painfully at the flesh. Then, fire flooded his veins and his heart gave a great bound, and Toddy bounded with it.
Eyes closed, he bounded, staggered, to his feet, and the icy weight clattered from his head. Then he was pressed back, prone, on the bed; and he opened his eyes.