"I keep saying to myself," ""Death is a celebration. "" "Dougy." "Morning, Tim." " Your hair." " Yeah." "It went quick." "Chemo must be bad." "Yeah, I quit." "The nausea was a disgrace." "What are your chances, big fella?" "Son, who the fuck can say?" "I handle everything but the middle of the night." "Where's your wife?" "Patty Lareine took off November 1st." "28 days ago, with the chauffeur." "What the hell does Patty Lareine need a chauffeur for?" "She didn't, she just didn't need me." "Quit feeling sorry for yourself." "Any guy that marries a rich dame deserves everything he gets." "Is this your blessing?" "You married the wrong girl, that's all." "Should have married the other one." "The Italian girl, what was her name?" " Madeleine." " You should have married that one." "I thought you liked Patty Lareine." "I liked her guts, but certain dames ought to wear a T-shirt that says," ""Hang around, I'll make a cocksucker out of you. "" " Thanks." " Just a figure of speech." "Nothing personal." "You always worried I'd turn out queer." "Your mother was delicate, she spoiled you a lot." "I worried about you." "I did my three years in the slammer standing up, nobody made me a punk." "Good for you." "I didn't wanna ask." "Should you drink?" "Six months ago they told me to stop or I was dead." "I stopped." "Now the spirits circle around my bed and they tell me to dance." "I tell them, "Tough guys don't dance. "" "They answer me, "Keep dancing. "" "You know, son, my illness makes me think you're all I got." "I don't want to die without you knowing my regard for you." "I haven't even seen you in a year." "That's distance, space." "It means nothing." "But I know when you're having a bad day." "You old bull, if you're not abusing me, you're embarrassing me." "There's something wrong in this house." "Not a thing." " You look a mess." " A fight, a small fight." " Did you win?" " You don't stop, do you?" "There's something going on here, I can feel it." "Look, it was a crazy summer." "An idiotic, crazy summer." "That's my boyfriend." "Oh, boy!" "Oh, God." "Patty." "Great party." "Pipe it down." "Hey, back there." "Cool the stereo." " Thank you, ma'am." " And who are you?" "I'm new here." "Acting Chief of Police, Alvin Luther Regency." "That's one hell of a name." " You got to live up to it, boy." " Yes, ma'am." "Come on in." " On duty." " Bullshit." "Make it off duty." "I was tired of throwing parties for people I didn't care about." "But Patty Lareine had to give parties." "My blood itself was turning mean." "Were you in Vietnam?" "No." "How come I got this feeling you were there?" "I'm an ex-con." "You trying to wake up all the ghosts in Hell Town?" "That's the idea." "Don't let those motherfuckers sleep." "Lady, you sound like a witch." "Well, honey, I am a witch." "Good blondes are." "You're not a real blonde." "My pussy hair was bright gold in high school." "Until I went out and... scorched it with the football team." "I believe you love your wife a great deal." "No more than twice a week." "Madden, you are foul-mouthed." "Drink a bit more of my liquor, why don't you?" "I gotta go." "I was out of line, I apologize." "I misspoke, Officer." "It's not my liquor, it's my wife's." "You're a funny guy." "I like you." "I like your house." "After that party, all through September, October..." "I don't want to talk about it." "At Halloween we gave a séance." " A what?" " A séance." "You're damn right we're going to have a séance." "Why?" "Just tell me why." "Cos those two dead whores keep whispering to me." "Here we go again." "What do they say?" "They say they're too old, baby." "They been dead for 100 years, they do not like that." "I'm gonna bring them back." "It's a full moon." "I know it is." "You know how disturbed you get when it's a full moon." "We are gathered together to ask you two women murdered 100 years ago in Hell Town" "to reach out to us." "If you hear my words, speak to us through our hands now and through our fingertips." "Where are you going?" "To the moon, asshole." " You need your chauffeur on the moon?" " Yes, baby." "I need a big, black chauffeur." "You'll come back." "You always do." "Not this time." "Honey, that séance was my warning." "You and your dumb séance." "My séance?" "It was your idea." "Bolo." "I was her chauffeur once." "Maybe she digs chauffeurs." "Now you watch your mouth." "She wanted me to kill her husband." "She wanted us to live on his money." " Wardley Meeks?" " That's the man." "But you didn't do it." "I couldn't get that heavy shit to flush." "How come she got the money, then?" "Divorce, man." "You make more money from divorce than a drug run." "Figures." "How I hated Patty Lareine's all-superior fuck-you face." "She had been the largest addiction in my life, pure love, pure hate, all squashed up together." "Do you buy coincidence?" "Yeah, I do buy it." "Something bad's about to happen." "Strange things fall into place." " I agree." " You agree?" "On what?" "Something rotten has happened." "Come on, kid, tell me." " You're not ready." " I'm ready." "Level with me." "Last week two people were murdered." " Who did it?" " I don't know." "Have you seen the bodies?" "They're in the cellar." "Part of the bodies." "I didn't do it." "I don't think I did." "But my head's been peculiar lately, I have blackouts." "I hallucinate." "Let's have all of it." "It's been a bad five days." "Five days ago, when I got up, I changed the number in the mirror." "That's what I do every morning, change the number in the mirror." "That morning, Patty Lareine had been gone for 24 days." "Have you ever lived with the foul spirit that comes along when you lose a wife?" "I had an unmistakable premonition." "Something bad was going to happen." "What I didn't know was just how bad the next five days were going to be." "Miss, give me a Chivas Regal." "Lots of diamonds." "Rocks, angel." "Just drinks for now." "The same, miss." "Darling, when an attractive man and woman go on a trip, the fear of disenchantment is always lurking." "Jessica, I'm not bored." "Not bored at all." " Darling, I am." " But remember why we're here." "Is Daddy mad at brand-new red-hot Mama?" "Is Mama being careless?" "I said I wanted to go to this place on the map," "Provincetown, the very tip of the little finger of Massachusetts." "Now it's a matter of waiting, looking at one another, right?" "No action, right?" "That's what you get for trusting a map." "Hear, hear." "Won't you join us?" "As a matter of fact, you may have seen me before." "I made a number of movies." "God, let's not blow that trumpet again." "I'm proud of it." "I made many notable films." "Jessica, must you let all the kittens out of the bag?" "Lonnie, if we can't let it hang out here, where else can we?" "Let it hang out." "I made X-rated films." "Triple X-rated." "Now I'm in real estate, Santa Barbara." "Lovely place." "Fine homes." "Here, there's nothing but shacks." "Some of them are interesting." "They were ferried over from Hell Town." "Hell Town?" "Do tell us about Hell Town." "It folded." "Wouldn't you know." "150 years ago, out there, across the harbor, a mile." "Whores, whalers, pirates." "Pirates?" "In New England?" "On a moonless night, they'd build a beach fire." "Incoming boat would mistake it for the lighthouse and run aground." "And these pirates would plunder it." "Orgies of plunder." "And they floated all that bedlam over here." "In certain houses you can still hear the cries of slaughtered sailors." "He's cute, isn't he, Lonnie?" "Cute." "Tell us a joke." " What makes surgeons happy?" " What?" "To cut people up and get paid for it." "That's happiness." "You look like one of those method actors who plays the killer." " Don't say that." " Why not?" "Because I could kill you." "Would you do that to me?" "I don't know." " I feel demented tonight." " In what way demented?" "I could fuck your woman right in front of you." "Only if the lady agrees." "She'll agree." "Come here, Jessica." "Take a look at this." "Would you let me speak?" "In the name of decency, would you let me speak?" "I woke to the sound of that man crying." "I couldn't remember how the night ended or how I got home." "My memory was lost." "But I had a brand-new tattoo on my arm and no recollection of who put it on me." "I needed to clear my head." " Mr. Madden?" " You got him." "Acting Chief of Police Regency is on the line." "Hello, Tim." "You OK?" "Sure." "Are you sure you're all right?" "I'm hungover." "Would you clean your Jeep?" "Christ." "I had a terrible nosebleed last night." "Well, a couple of your neighbors figured you'd lopped somebody's arm off." "Why don't you get a sample?" "Check my blood type." "Drop over the police station, will you?" "Last night I saw this blonde lady at the end of my high-beams." "You sure Patty Lareine isn't in town?" "No word." "Such a dazzler." "I feel for your loss, buddy." "Couldn't you have told me this on the phone?" "You still have your marijuana patch in Truro woods?" " What do you care?" " I don't." "You know me, I like marijuana." "I like your home-grown, it puts feathers on my ass." "Godly stuff." "You ought to be on TV." "I could reach a good many people." "Reach me." "Why am I here?" "Your stash in Truro." "I don't keep anything in Truro." "Kidding is kidding, I am talking about where you keep your grass." "All right, why are we talking about that?" "I can't tell you everything." "Just want to tickle my stick?" "Look, I've been a state trooper." "They're all right." "They're not your kind but they're all right." "They're not nice about marijuana." "No, they're not." "Move your stash." "Whose head is it?" " Whose head..." " Whose head is it?" "Merwyn Finney from the Widow's Walk." "I hate to bother you like this but I couldn't help noticing you seemed to be getting along with the couple in the lounge the other night." "We had a nice drink together." "The only reason I ask is because their car is still in our parking lot." " How odd." " I was hoping... you might know where they are." " I guess you don't." " I don't." "The name on the credit card is Leonard Pangborn." "You didn't get the lady's name, did you?" "I'm darned if I can remember now." " May I call you if I do?" " Sure." "I'm sorry to disturb your morning." "It's just so peculiar." " Gray's in motion." "It's play action..." " Get gonorrhea, you idiots!" " You're gonna lose your bet today." " I fucking better not lose." "Honey, my folks won't send another check this month." "Beth, do me a favor - drink my piss." "Hit the hole, clap-head!" "Go get 'em!" "Why don't you guys die?" " Why are you here?" " I want to talk about the séance." "Ignore the séance." "Let's get into the deal." "What deal?" "Respect my intelligence, will you?" "I know you're in on it." " I'm here to talk about the séance." " Don't bring it up." "That night was horrendous." "Disruptive." " What did you see in that séance?" " What your wife saw." " How do you know?" " Cos she was screaming with me." "What did you see?" "Patty Lareine dead." "With her head cut off." "I like your tattoos." "I got them in Boston." "Anybody do them around here?" "Boston." "Nobody nearer?" "I do them gratis, for friends." "Did you do this one?" "I did." "Why can't I remember?" "Cos you were too shit-faced!" "I never seen anybody so shit-faced." "You said, "Madeleine, I wronged you." ""I'm gonna put your name on my forehead. "" "I should have put her name on your forehead, I could have fucked you good." "I put it on your arm." "You were out of it." "I don't have to look for him, he's here." "Regency wants you, out at the Widow's Walk." "We're getting close to that two-minute mark and the West Virginia coach looks like he's ready to eat his hat." "Those Mountaineers are no longer in gear." "You get any make on Pangborn as a swish?" "He might wash his hands after making love but I wouldn't call him a swish." "Why?" "Was Lonnie in bad shape?" "Desperate?" "Why are all those police cars out there?" "The Widow's Walk called about an hour ago." "They requested that Pangborn's car be removed from their lot." "I took a look." "Pangborn was inside." " Dead." " Dead?" "My friend, he put himself in the trunk and pulled the trigger." "I don't have a high opinion of your acumen." "You read Pangborn wrong, he was a flaming faggot." "You're certain?" "Hot from the dead man's pocket." ""This time it is not a lovely boy from the Air Force," ""nor a darling little churchman who is hot to trot." ""No, I'm with a woman, Wardley, and it is heaven," ""pure carnal, licky-sucky heaven." ""She tells me no man has ever been better with her." ""You've been down this road before, Wardley." ""Well, may it keep us dear friends even if you are a perfect bitch" ""for sending her and me on this awful job, Love Stuff. "" "I'm just a country boy, Tim." "I'd like to kill homos." "I dig law enforcement, puts the good ones in uniform." "Maybe so." " Who's Wardley?" " I don't recall the name." "Seems I heard that name in passing." " Could that have been from your wife?" " Ask her." " I have regards to you from my wife." " Do I know your wife?" " Madeleine Falco?" " The same gorgeous Italian." "Yes, once in a while she used to take a drink in a place I did some bartending." "She'd just come over from Italy." "I do remember." " A model." "Beautiful." " Thank you." "We have two fine boys." "That's a surprise." "I didn't know that..." " Us." " Very nice." "Tell Madeleine hello." "Bourbon, neat." "You're not gonna believe this but you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." "That leaves me no choice, I have to believe you." "Tomorrow's my day off, how about dinner?" "Tell me, why are you a bartender?" "My father's one." "What do you do?" "I'm a salesgirl in a boutique for now." "Do you listen a lot to your father?" "Hey, goddess, I'm going for dinner, not the diamond ring." "I felt myself in the pull of memory." "That is as strong a pull as a magnetic field." "I went back to New York eight years ago, when I lived with Madeleine in a cold-water flat." "I didn't really know if I was in love or trapped by love." "We were in the season when one marries or one parts." "I read something you wrote." "You're not supposed to look." ""After two years of love," ""Madeleine's ass may be more real to me than her mind. "" "How could you say that?" "I'm not a good enough writer to delineate how I really feel." " You feel wasted on me." " I love you." " Wasted." " I love you." " Love is just one side of the street." " What's the other side?" "Variety." "Your mind is more real to me than your ass." "Tell me the worst, dearest." "I saw something in Screw magazine." "In the personals." ""Young Christian couple seeks outlet weekend with other Christian couple. "" "That made me curious." "And let me guess, you wrote them a letter?" "Here's how they look." "He must have the longest prick in Christendom." " Why?" " There is no other explanation for him." "It's an eight-hour drive to North Carolina." "We take a quick look and we turn around." "We need a trip." " Your gal sure seems to like Big Stoop." " That's cool." " You feel like a faggot?" " More like a masochist." "You're sweet." "Why am I so sweet?" "Cos your mean and nasty-minded," "and so pleasureful." "Kiss me!" "You Yankees got tongues like tallywhackers." "Last night, I had a dream." "Brethren, it was a vision of the end of time." "I saw two women grinding corn." "The bible says there will be two women grinding corn." "Brethren, it's the devil that wants you to say," ""Well, it wouldn't hurt to miss just this one night. "" "It sure didn't." "Brethren, give your hearts to Jesus." "Be joined with him." "Patty Erlene, come to the piano." "Number 256." "You'll make New York by midnight with stops to eat and tinkle." "If you could be whatever you wanted to be, what would it be?" "A writer." "A writer?" "I want to get rid of Big Stoop and be an airline stewardess." "Find a rich guy, marry him." "And then we'll meet again, I'll divorce the rich man, marry you and make you a writer." "You're gonna give me all this for one night?" "You marked me for life." "How could you be so horrible?" "She was laughing at me." "She was laughing and laughing." "She was happy." " Yeah, and you were in misery all night." " You heard?" "I'm glad you heard." " How could you dig Big Stoop?" " Because I'm crazy." "This country's crazy!" " This country's crazy." "I'm crazy!" " Stop it." "Did you speak to the doctor?" "Yes." "Who wants babies?" "I'm sorry." "Got any coke?" "Should you be doing coke?" "Why do I know that you're going to fuck up?" "I'll never get busted." "What are you in for?" "Dealing." "Coke is a bad bust in Florida." "I never should have left New York." "This is my first drink in over three years." "Would you like a quarter for the jukebox?" "Hello, asshole." "Patty Erlene." "I've changed it to Patty Lareine." "You married your rich man." "Sure did." "When I tell you who it is, you're gonna puddle in your pants." "You and Wardley went to school together." "Wardley Meeks III?" "What a wild coincidence." "We been following your sorry career." " Wardley got you this job." " Great job." "I expect to have something better." "Twice a week, three times a week, my husband, Wardley, would slap me around if I wouldn't do drugs with him." "And insult you as well?" "Said I was a cheap redneck." "Our jury's gonna be loaded with rednecks." "Try to get a little more vulnerability into it." "My husband said I was a cheap redneck." "Not so many tears." "Your grief is deep within." "Wardley said I was a... low-class," "no-account redneck." "That's it." "Tell the jury why was Wardley Meeks so friendly to you here in Tampa." "I believe I was his idol at Exeter." " You played football there?" " An athletics scholarship." "When you worked as Patty Lareine's chauffeur," "Wardley Meeks confided in you, therefore?" "Frequently." "Before we try to fine-tune this testimony," "I want to get straight on the facts." "Did Wardley ask you to escort Patty Lareine to a motel so that he could stage a break-in with a private detective?" "That's not exactly true." "I can't put you on the stand saying that!" "Get ready." "They're gonna paint you as an ex-con, a beach bum." "Are you ready to take a beating for Patty Lareine?" "I love her." "Good for you." "God bless you." "You were a perfect son of a bitch in court." "But I don't sit on bad feelings." "What a generous nature you have." "I'm not convinced that you and Patty Lareine will always live in moonlight and roses." " She's a difficult lady, I fear." " She is!" "She will get more and more uncontrollable as she runs out of my moolah." "The settlement she was awarded was a little too large for my taste, but much too small for hers." "Pal, I don't care one way or the other about the money." "I believe you." "Patty Lareine, however, is a study in low greed." "I feel for her future pain, and yours." " You're splendid, Wardley." " Thank you, Tim." "I want you to comprehend me." "I desire Patty Lareine back." "Why?" "That girl is a social creature, true promise." "And you have no idea how quickly she developed under my tutelage." "Patty Lareine and I, together again, would be able to give the finest, craziest, most legendary parties this great American republic has ever seen." "I had slept right here through the night, my memories turning over one by one." "Now I knew what I wanted." "It was to talk to Madeleine." "Your husband says you send regards." " It's Tim." " No, baby." "I get a little lonesome out here but I don't send regards." "Lonesome..." "Don't you have two sons to take care of?" " What?" " Your husband." "He showed me a photograph of two little boys." "I can't have children." "You know that." "They are his brother's kids." " Why would he lie?" " He's a liar." "What's the big news?" "Most cops are." "You don't like him." "He is a cruel, selfish son of a bitch." " I see." " But I like him." "You should not have hung up on me." "I wanna talk." "I'm still in love." "You're such a bad guy." "You really are rotten." "You shouldn't have come." "I can't tell you how funny it felt, Dougy, to be alone in her house." "Living with Madeleine in the old days, we could hear each other's thoughts so clearly that we seemed to be drawing them from the same well." "Now she was with Regency." "Regency, with his machete..." "missing from the wall." "How could you marry Regency?" "How could you marry him?" "I feel so sorry for you, Tim." "Are you that miserable with Patty Lareine?" "I gather she's paying your way." "We have a little agreement." "Whatever I make from my writing goes to her." "Do you write much?" "Maybe you are a bartender after all." " Maybe I am." " You chose Patty Lareine." "I hope you're happy, because I am." "Mr. Regency and I make out five times a night." "That's what I call him, Mr. Five." "Cheers." "I want you to go." "After you read this, don't come running right back." " Promise." " I promise." "Hold it till you're home." "Open it." "Think about it." "Don't ring me." "Don't ask me how I know." "That's six promises." "Mr. Six." "Keep your word." "My husband is having an affair with your wife." "I don't think we should talk about it... unless you're prepared to kill them." "Oh, man!" "Oh God!" "Oh, man!" " Your day is near." " Stoodie, you're out of it tonight." "Gotta move, honey." " Stoodie has lost his mind." " We're all on Space Street." "Don't you believe that you and I are special looney-tunes?" " Why?" " We never fucked each other." "This is Spider." "Meet me at your stash." " Why?" " Don't argue." "Meet me at your stash." "You're being set up." "For what?" "Set up for what?" "Murder." "Murder one." "Get in the car." "We contacted Santa Barbara." "It's a Photostat of the blonde Lonnie associated with." "I'd say that's Jessica." "We don't need you to tell us, pal." "The waitress at the Widow's Walk already confirmed." "You done a lot of work." "Now, what happened with you and the woman?" "I don't remember." "If Pangborn killed himself, somebody drove the vehicle afterward." "The blood on the floor of the trunk coagulated with a ripple." "Go back to your night with Jessica and Lonnie." "Did you bang her?" "I may have." "Can't even remember a screw." "I believe I drove away and left them, after I made love to her in front of Lonnie Pangborn." "That bothers me." "You better hope and pray Jessica doesn't surface as a corpse, because if she does, that little nosebleed on the seat of your Jeep is gonna look like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre." "You've done a lot of thinking." " Let's have a drink." " What?" "Where's my wife?" "Where's my wife?" "Drink hardy." "You're gonna need it." "Seven nights ago, Patty Lareine was in California." " California?" " Santa Barbara." "With this Wardley fellow." "Good bourbon?" "Can't you speak?" "In your office?" "Putting the suspect at ease." "Beautiful." "Seven nights ago, Patty Lareine and Wardley had dinner with Jessica Pond and Lonnie Pangborn at Lonnie's Beach club." "Do you want to know what they talked about?" "A cocaine deal." "Two million-dollar investment, ten million profit." "Wardley was there to put up the cash." "The plan?" "Lonnie and Jessica drive to P-town with the two million dollars and act like they're tourists, until they're contacted by the cocaine supplier." "Who's the supplier?" "Why do you think I'm telling you this story?" "Why?" "Word from my informant says the supplier to the source is you." "Who's your informant?" "Patty Lareine?" "When would I speak with her?" "The word I get form my informant is that you and Patty Lareine are rolling around in the same honey jar." "No evidence." "Evidence is everything." "I'd like to tell you a story about a strange case." "There was this young man." "He'd pick up a girl from time to time, take her to one of those old-fashioned tourist cabins, where he'd take Polaroids of her in the nude." "Click!" "Then he'd kill her, after which - click!" " he'd take a Polaroid of the dead body, after which he would... paste both photographs in an album." "His mother, she - he lived with his mother - she got nosey, broke the little lock on the album, opened it up, took a look and fainted." "But when she came to, she called the authorities and that's when they had him." "Why?" "Evidence." "Why do you tell me this story?" "Because it turns me on." "I'm a law enforcement officer and it turns me on." "Does my story turn you on?" "You didn't tell it well enough." "Wouldn't a good DA like to have you on a witness stand?" "I wanna go now." "I didn't mean to upset you." "Not one bit." "I didn't know what Regency was trying to tell me - or not tell me." "I didn't know what Spider and Wardley were doing in the white Rolls-Royce." "I didn't know anything." "But for the sake of my own sanity" "I had to find out whose head was in the burrow." "Have a heart, man." "I need medical attention." "Your knife is in my dog." "I'm sorry, man." "I got nothing against your dog." "I brought you up here to this room because this is where I cut up Patty's pictures." "I still remember myself doing it." "It scares me." "What if I'm prey to spirits?" "Half the killers in the world make that claim." "Fuck 'em." "Even if it's true, they're just a lightning rod for the bad stuff." " I'm betting you didn't do it." " Have a drink." "Forget the drink." "Someone's trying to hang a murder rap on you." "How were the women killed?" "You study their necks?" "It's my wife, for God's sakes." "I didn't look." "All right, kid." "Look after yourself." "Wash up." "I'll manage the cellar." " The one who's not your wife..." " Jessica." "Machete." "One big stroke." "She was dead already." ".22 hollow tip fired into her mouth." "And Patty?" "Probably a bullet in the heart." "And somebody used a knife to sever the head." " There were no other marks on the head." " Just stop repeating that word." " "Head"?" " It gets to me." " There's no substitute." " Use their names." "You're as sensitive as your mother, may she rest in peace." " Who do you see using a machete?" " Regency." "He's no Chief of Police." "He's gotta be a narc." "And he's gonna try to pin it on you." "I say we deep six the heads." "You got an anchor?" "All right, I'll use it for both of them." "Oh, criminy!" "You look at me and see a crude man." "I look at you and see a sitting duck." "I'll go with you." "It's a burial." "No." "I'll go alone." "I'm just an old guy fishing." "Jessica Pond." "Came in ten days ago." "She flew out two days later for San Francisco, connecting to Santa Barbara." "Anyone accompany her?" "No, but Chief Regency brought her to the airport." ""Take good care of this lady," he said." "Darling, I'm terrified." "He's wearing his Green Beret uniform." "And he keeps his machete in the police car." "He's mutilated my photograph, the one in the living room." "Get out of your house as fast as you can." "Where would I go?" "You come here, you come to me." "I'll try." "I just deep sixed two heads." " You did?" " Yeah, I did." "I had to." "You didn't have the balls." "Right." "Unreasonable, aren't I?" "Well, I love you." "I'm going." "It's getting too rich for my blood." "What are you up to?" "If Regency stops by, keep him happy until I get back." "I'm gonna poke around the police station." "Let's walk on the beach." " I hurt my foot." " Yeah, kicking Stoodie." "But it's all right." "We won't see Stoodie anymore." "In brief, Stoodie is dead and Spider is dead." "How do you know?" "I killed them." "Is it true the pilgrims landed here before they went on to Plymouth?" "Now they've built that wonderful motel, right on the spot." "Only a country as mad as ours could be such a roaring success." " May I ask?" " Please, feel free." " Where are they buried?" " Right where we're going." " Right in Hell Town." " I thought it would be appropriate." "Patty Lareine was always talking about the place." " Why do that?" " Exuberance." "Spider and Stoodie are resting next to the graves of Patty and Jessica." "Should the urge occur, they can all rise and waltz together." "It's a good piece of work." "Anything, Tim." "Did you kill Patty?" "Your desire to know is so powerful." "It is." "By the way, where are the heads?" "The bottom of the sea." "If I should kill you, and I'm not saying I will or I won't - to tell you the truth, I don't even have a clue - but if I should pull this trigger, do you believe you'll go out into that dark dominion better armed" "because your questions have been answered?" " I do." " Good." "So do I." "Don't try to blind me with that sand." " You're a good shot." " Didn't come naturally to me." "Nothing graceful has ever come naturally to me." "D'you think that's unfair?" " Maybe." " It's enough to solicit the devil." "She ever give you a rim job?" "Don't even think about it." "Please don't tease my temper." "My father would strike me without warning." "Can you take the truth?" "Rich people are always lied to." "Try presenting me with the truth." "It did happen in Tampa." "On which occasions?" "When she was trying to convince me to murder you." "This is horrible." "Why didn't you kill me?" "Isn't it insane?" "I couldn't." "I kept remembering your crying, the day we got kicked out of Exeter together." "My, that was one fancy shot." " Thought you were dead?" " For an instant." "Is it a remarkable instant?" "I believe it's the kind of moment where we're able to see what others have done when we weren't there." "Something like that." "I see such odd things when I pull a trigger." "I see Lonnie and Jessica, just as they were last Friday night." "They are fighting." "How they are fighting, after that terrible night you spent with them." "Did you consider my feelings for an instant?" "You are a slut!" "I'm no more of a slut than any faggot." "You let him make love to me." "You didn't even have the balls to use your gun." "You think it's simple?" "Here, go ahead." "You pull the trigger." "I could, you fool." "But you won't." "I won't." "I'm going to disappear." "One can travel far on two million dollars." "Give me the keys to the car." "Not bloody likely, princess." "I am perfectly capable of shooting you." " Give me the keys." " Fuck off!" "I have awful news." "Lonnie's dead." "My God." "What a loss!" "How is he dead?" "He shot himself, standing right next to me." " Where are you?" " I don't know." "Race Point, it's called." "Race Point." " Where is Race Point?" " I don't know!" "Where is that?" "I'm in a parking lot." "Come quick." "I'm so alone." "Pick her up right away." "I must compose myself." "If you don't get down there soon, she could take the money and run off." " Come with me." " No." "No, I will kill her." " How do I get to Race Point?" " At the motel exit, take a right." "It's a few miles down." "I'm so wrong for this kind of imbroglio." "Just go, the first right." "All I could remember was, "Turn right at the motel exit. "" "I had a feeling I would never find Race Point." "She had tricked me." "Now I know whom she called after I left." " Where's Wardley?" " Get in the car." "I'll take you to him." "What about Lonnie?" "He's in the trunk." "We were seen together at the Widow's Walk." "Anyone else there?" "We met a fellow named Tim Madden." "That's of interest." "Let's take Lonnie's car back to the Widow's Walk." "You drive." "Can I trust you to take care of me?" "You put your belief in those two sensational nights we had." "Easy!" "Come on, baby." "Cool, cool down." "We'll dump her first." " Get in the back!" " I don't take orders from white trash." "Get in." "Patty Lareine, get your ass in the car right now." "Now!" "He don't want you, sweetie-pie." "He was using you." " He was using you." " Just keep barking." "Both of you, shut up." "That's the money." "Where's the cocaine?" "That's the money." "Where's the cocaine?" "I call that two million and change." " Where's the cocaine?" " Shut your mouth." " Should be tomorrow." " I don't believe you." "Before I give you this money, I'll turn us all in." " Like hell you will." " Get out of my face." "You did it, you did it, you did it!" "You played with her and you played with me." "It can't be done, Alvin." "No, it can't." "I love you and I'll walk through hell with you." "You're going to." "You are gonna walk right through..." "The bed in my house used to belong to two whores killed in Hell Town one hundred years ago." "They floated the bed across on the water." "Invite those whores into you and me." "Hold your mouth!" "Make money while you sleep." "Buy yourself some whores." "Make money while you sleep!" "Buy yourself some..." "Swallow it!" "You're just a door hanging on one hinge." "Me!" "Alvin Luther Regency, where is Jessica now?" "Shut..." "I crossed a bridge tonight." "Will you cross over with me?" "Wait and see." "Give it to me!" "Hit me on those whores, honey." "We're gonna wax the floor with whores." "What do you want?" "He dared to drop the body on you?" " The arrogance!" " This gives us a grip on the son of a bitch." "I wanna find where he's hiding that woman's head." "It's heavy." "Straight out of the séance." "Why you're so stupid as to trust that guy..." "They're informers." "They're tools." "They dump in their pants if I tell them to." "We're gonna zoom, Patty Lareine." "You and me, we are on a zoom." " I want this two million to become ten." " Wardley has ten." "One potato a man eats, a thousand potatoes he sells, but a billion..." " It corners the market." " Which market?" "Someday..." "I'm gonna run for president." "I wanna work with you." "I'm interested in large operations." "What do you bring to large operations?" "The number one narc in town." "He can put together the product." "Where's my money?" "Who has my money?" "The narc has it." "We can force him to deliver the product." "And you expect me to believe this?" "We control the narc." "He put himself in our hands." "My evaluation of the situation is you will be able to sit on a shit-load of drugs." "And how do you control this narc?" "Give the man a clue, Stoo." "Hold on to your hat, Dixie." "Oh, my God." "I will sit on a mountain of drugs." "I'll be equal to a Renaissance prince." "The Duke of Dixie." "Lonnie is dead, Jessica is dismembered," "Patty Lareine is off on some kind of toot, and I'm about to go into business with you two unspeakable sleazos!" "I know I am out of my mind but I've never felt more alive." "All right!" "Before I left that shack there was a call from Patty Lareine." "We had to talk, she said." "That phone call did it." "I don't want to know where you've been or anything." "It doesn't matter what you do." "I love you." "I am supposed to love you." "You are my predestination." "Wardley, be calm." "Be real calm, you hear?" "I'll listen." "You're the first to know." "I'm very much in love with a man." "There will always be someone else." "It's my karma." "Marry me." "Marry me again." "You can have your other guy for as long as it lasts." "Two nights ago, I crossed a bridge with this lover." "Do you want me to step out of your life?" "No, sugar." "Not altogether." "Not altogether?" "I want your friendship." "Darling, I want that so much!" "You have my friendship, I vow that." "Darling, I need support." "My two million has disappeared and you talk of support." "Get your ass off my pillow." "I want the product." "Don't be a fool." "What could you do with all that cocaine?" " Sell it, like I said I would." " You, a dealer?" " They'd gobble you up." " I knew you'd say something like that." " Why do you desire to be a coke dealer?" " Fuck it, darling, I think it's exciting." "Building up your balls." "Your spoiled, rich little balls." "Honey, you have so far to go, don't you know?" "Don't you have any judgment?" "I may be a physical coward but I will assert that I have death guts." " My friend and I want more money." " No." "You have enough money." "You always told me how much I grew by knowing you." "It's true, I did grow." "I was the real social news in Tampa." "Now I wanna go to Palm Beach." "You unredeemed redneck." "It is you who is utterly without judgment." "I have suffered deadbeats and dopeheads in Provincetown because of you." "Because you didn't try to keep me when Tim came along." "That hurt." "But now I want to take my rightful place." "I'm gonna move to Palm Beach and buy my way in." "I'll have dynamite parties." "Before I'm done, I'll be a member of the Everglades Beach and Tennis Club, that is just as sure as hogs can shit!" "Do pardon my French." "Motherfucker!" "You are going to find me ten million dollars." "Deliver the cocaine, Pattykins." "I got bad news." "There isn't any cocaine, it was a scam to get the first two million out of you." "Now we want another ten, in cash." "I don't believe this." "Jessica and Lonnie are dead, darling." "If you don't give us more, you'll be all over the newspapers again." "Make your life simple." "Give us the ten million." "You'll still have 90 million left." "And what do I get for this excess of charity?" "Peace, sugar." "Tim will have to catch the burden." "Murder one, both deaths." "Wardley, be sensible." "This is an elegant solution." "Cash." "Excuse me a moment." "I'm not feeling well." "I'm feeling sick." "Do you want me to hold your fat head while you puke?" "Do you love me?" "More than anyone." "I asked Spider to bury Patty and afterward I went to look at the grave." "Patty's resting place looked a little too small." "I realized that Spider had performed a decapitation." "He wanted to stick you for the homicide, hit the narc for two million and move in on me." "People think my money is there to make raids on, as if it were not a part of me, like a precious organ." "There is such pleasure in shooting people." "I'd like to shoot you." "You deserve it, for fouling up your life and mine." "But I'm not certain I can get myself that angry anymore." "I'm too depressed." "Should I turn myself in?" " I can't advise you." " No, you really can't." "Conflict of interest, wouldn't you say?" "Well, hear this - during my divorce trial, I suffered abominably." "I could never live through such public ridicule again." "I guess you're in luck." "Afterward, you cover me with sand?" "You were hoping I would kill myself." "Not altogether." "Not altogether?" "What if I were to say to you," ""Madden, take it in your mouth or you die"?" "Would you take my pride and joy into your mouth?" "You don't care anymore about that." "Sit beside me." "Put your arm around me." "You like me a little?" "I do like you, Wardley." "I hope so." "How do you expect I feel?" "Ashes." "You're right." "You do feel for me." "I do feel like ashes." "Dougy, tell me - is the trouble ever over when you want it to be?" "As I figured." "Regency's police cruiser." "Come on." "Your father's a prince." " Cheers." " Cheers." " Are we drinking to your retirement?" " Getting shit-faced." "You're there already." "I burn through this stuff faster than it burns me." "You got a lot to burn." "Life gives a man two balls." "Use 'em." "It's a rare day I don't bang two women." "As a matter of fact, I don't sleep too well unless I get that second hump in." "Both sides of my nature are obliged to express themselves." "Tell me, what are your two sides?" "The enforcer... and the maniac." "And who do we have the honor of addressing?" "You never met the maniac." "When you turn in the police cruiser, you wanna wash out the trunk." "Blood stains are all over it." "Would you believe it?" "That sobers me up." "I'll try to be a gentleman." "Leave town quietly so I don't have to haul you in." "We don't need threats." "Let's talk." "You want me to talk?" "I'll tell you..." "I don't think much of your son." "Your son put Madeleine in orgies and your son cracked her up in a car and destroyed the womb." "That's the woman I inherited." "So let's get it straight" " I hate your son." "I hate your guts." "That's why you poured blood in the seat of my Jeep." "I wanted to see you die in your own shit." "I wanted to make you crazy." "All Patty could talk about is how Tim used up her life." "That's when I got the picture." "Do a job on Tim Madden." "Forsake my police vows but do the job." "Do it!" " It was no small job." " It was brilliant." "Putting a machete through Jessica." "I wanted to get her face out of my system." "I wanted total fidelity with Patty." "All right?" "Now we're almost there." "Where's Patty?" "Wardley killed her." "I don't believe that." "She's dead." "Dead!" "I made you come sixteen times in a night." "Not one of them was good." "That's because you got no womb." "You got eyes for my woman." "I'm gonna take you down." "Murder one!" " It's gotta be done, Tim." " He's sick." "He's sick but he's no victim." "I'll do it." " I can manage it." " No, he's mine." "I understand him." "She was big time." "I thought you were big time but you turned out to be small potatoes." "I could have told him." "Never call an Italian small potatoes." "Do you know something?" "I'm taking to this more than I thought I would." "You've been in the wrong occupation all these years." "This has got to be the answer to cancer." "Maybe that's why cancer costs so much to cure." "The way I see it, schizophrenia's the cure for cancer." "Cancer's probably the cure for schizophrenia." "People just don't know how tough it is out there." "Why are we here?" " Who owns this place?" " You and me." " What did it cost?" " Two million, and change." "I found a fat attaché case with a lot of money." " Where?" " In the closet, with his uniforms." "And to think he called you small potatoes." "Carry me over the threshold, you dummy."