'Salem's Lot(127)

He listened to the story told by his son and the village abbé sipping a cup of coffee and prompting them with lucid questions at points where the thread of narration became tangled or unclear. His calmness increased, it seemed, in direct ratio to the story's grotesqueries and to his wife June's growing agitation. When they had finished it was almost five minutes of seven. Henry Petrie spoke his verdict in four calm, considered syllables.

'Impossible.'

Mark sighed and looked at Callahan and said, 'I told you.' He had told him, as they drove over from the rectory in Callahan's old car.

'Henry, don't you think we - '

'Wait.'

That and his hand held up (almost casually) stilled her at once. She sat down and put her arm around Mark, pulling him slightly away from Callahan's side. The boy submitted.

Henry Petrie looked at Father Callahan pleasantly. 'Let's see if we can't work this delusion or whatever it is out like two reasonable men.'

'That may be impossible,' Callahan said with equal pleasantness, 'but we'll certainly try. We are here, Mr Petrie, specifically because Barlow has threatened you and your wife.'

'Did you actually pound a stake through that girl's body this afternoon?'

'I did not. Mr Mears did.'

'Is the corpse still there?'

'They threw it in the river.'

'If that much is true,' Petrie said, 'you have involved my son in a crime. Are you aware of that?'

'I am. It was necessary. Mr Petrie, if you'll simply call Matt -Burke's hospital room - '

'Oh, I'm sure your witnesses will back you up,' Petrie said, still smiling that faint, maddening smile. 'That's one of the fascinating things about this lunacy. May I see the letter this Barlow left you?'

Callahan cursed mentally. 'Dr Cody has it.' He added as an afterthought: 'We really ought to ride over to the Cumberland Hospital. If you talk to - '

Petrie was shaking his head.

'Let's talk a little more first. I'm sure your witnesses are reliable, as I've indicated. Dr Cody is our family physician, and we all like him very much. I've also been given to understand that Matthew Burke is above reproach . . . as a teacher, at least.'

'But in spite of that?' Callahan asked.

'Father Callahan, let me put it to you. If a dozen reliable witnesses told you that a giant ladybug had lumbered through the town park at high noon singing "Sweet Ad?eline' and waving a Confederate flag, would you believe it?'

'If I was sure the witnesses were reliable, and if I was sure they weren't joking, I would be far down the road to belief, yes.'

Still with the faint smile, Petrie said, 'That is where we differ.'

'Your mind is closed,' Callahan said.

'No - simply made up.'

'It amounts to the same thing. Tell me, in the company you work for do they approve of executives making de?cisions on the basis of internal beliefs rather than external facts? That's not logic, Petrie; that's cant.'

Petrie stopped smiling and stood up. 'Your story is disturbing, I'll grant you that. You've involved my son in something deranged, possibly dangerous. You'll all be lucky if you don't stand in court for it. I'm going to call your people and talk to them. Then I think we had all better go to Mr Burke's hospital room and discuss the matter further.'

'How good of you to bend a principle,' Callahan said dryly.

Petrie went into the living room and picked up the telephone. There was no answering open hum; the line was bare and silent. Frowning slightly, he jiggled the cut-off buttons. No response. He set the phone in its cradle and went back to the kitchen.  

'The phone seems to be out of order,' he said.

He saw the instant look of fearful understanding that passed between Callahan and his son, and was irritated by it.

'I can assure you,' he said a little more sharply than he had intended, 'that the Jerusalem's Lot telephone service needs no vampires to disrupt it.'

The lights went out.

19

Jimmy ran back to Matt's room.

'The line's out at the Petrie house. I think he's there. Goddamn, we were so stupid - '

Ben got off the bed. Matt's face seemed to squeeze and crumple. 'You see how he works?' he muttered. 'How smoothly? If only we had another hour of daylight, we could . . . but we don't. It's done.'

'We have to go out there,' Jimmy said.

'No! You must not! For fear of your lives and mine, you must not.'

'But they - '

'They are on their own! What is happening - or has happened - will be done by the time you get out there!'

They stood near the door, indecisive.

Matt struggled, gathered his strength, and spoke to them quietly but with force.

'His ego is great, and his pride is great. These might be flaws we can put to our use. But his mind is also great, and we must respect it and allow for it. You showed me his letter - he speaks of chess. I've no doubt he's a superb player, Don't you realize that he could have done his work at that house without cutting the telephone line? He did it because he wants you to know one of white's pieces is in check! He understands forces, and he understands that it becomes easier to conquer if the forces are split and in confusion. You gave him the first move by default because you forgot that - the original group was split in two. If you go haring off to the Petries' house, the group is split in three. I'm alone and bedridden; easy game in spite of crosses and books and incantations. All he needs to do is send one of his almost-Undead here to kill me with a gun or a knife. And that leaves only you and Ben, rushing pell-mell through the night to your own doom. Then 'sa?lem's Lot is his. Don't you see it?'