:19:00
Bring something to drink.
Sit down. Is there enough light?
:19:05
- I've got 20-20 vision.
- I said sit down.
:19:13
Well, I had no
pressing engagement.
:19:16
Except with those boys
from the finance office.
:19:19
And she'd mentioned
something to drink. Why not?
:19:23
Sometimes it's interesting to see
just how bad bad writing can be.
:19:28
This promised to go the limit.
:19:31
What would a handwriting expert
make of her childish scrawl?
:19:38
Max wheeled in
some champagne and caviar.
:19:42
Later I found out Max was the only
other person in that grim castle.
:19:47
And I found out
a few other things about him.
:19:51
As for her, she sat coiled up
like a watch-spring,
:19:55
her cigarette clamped
in a curious holder.
:19:57
I could sense her watching me
through those dark glasses,
:20:01
defying me not to like what I read,
:20:03
or maybe begging me
in her own proud way to like it.
:20:08
It meant so much to her.
:20:16
It sure was a cosy set-up.
:20:19
That bundle of raw nerves and Max
and a dead monkey upstairs,
:20:24
and the wind wheezing through
that organ once in a while.
:20:34
Later on, just for comedy relief,
:20:38
the real guy arrived
with the baby coffin.
:20:42
It was all done with great dignity.
:20:45
He must have been
a very important chimp.
:20:48
The great-grandson
of King Kong maybe.
:20:55
It got to be eleven, and I felt
a little sick at my stomach,
:20:59
what with that sweet champagne
and that tripe I'd been reading,