The Great Chain of Unbeing by Andrew Crumey

Author:Andrew Crumey [Crumey, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781910213872
Publisher: Dedalus
Published: 2018-02-23T00:00:00+00:00

Between the Tones

The Contract

Conroy’s phone is ringing. He gazes at the raindrops trailing dirt down the windows of his untidy flat as he lifts the receiver.

“Conroy here.”

The voice at the other end is hesitant, uncertain. They always are. An unfaithful wife, a painful debt, somebody the world would be better off without. There are a million ways of being unhappy, and it’s Conroy’s job to try and raise the collective spirit.

“Is that… Mr Conroy?”

“That’s what I said.” Two raindrops are sluggishly racing each other. He wonders if they’ll reach the bottom of the pane before the guy can even get started.

“There’s a job I’d like you to consider,” the caller says. “Do you think you might be interested?”

Conroy’s tired eyes roam the contours of his small, disordered lounge. The books he’ll never read. The photograph of Laura. “If the money’s right, I’m interested.”

“Oh, you’ll be well rewarded.”

“Plus expenses,” Conroy adds. The guy at the other end is edgy, anxious. Like they always are. Which only makes Conroy all the more relaxed, because he is in control, and whether he says yes or no might amount to nothing more than a question of which raindrop hits the window frame first. Yes, he needs the money; but more than that he needs the power. He lets his gaze move from the photograph, back to the drizzle-spattered window and then, through a confusion of dripping trails, towards the tenement building on the other side of the street. “Well, then,” Conroy invites. “Tell me about it.”

The voice says, “Naturally I’d leave the details up to you. How you do it, I mean.”

“Naturally,” Conroy responds, staring out of the window. “That’s how I always work.” Amidst the intervening raindrops, he can see somebody moving in the flat opposite.

“It’ll be our standard rate.”

“I can settle for that.” It’s Conroy’s job to make people happy. “But why don’t we talk about the sort of thing you need doing. Or more particularly, where you would want me to be doing it.”

“At the university,” says the voice.

“I see. Interesting. Many people about?”

“Don’t worry. And the room is virtually sound-proof.”

“I’m glad,” says Conroy. “Acoustics can be a problem, especially when the action hasn’t been properly checked.”

“Oh, we’ll take care of all that for you, don’t worry.”

“We?” says Conroy.

“I,” says the voice.

“You know, last job I did, there was a faulty centre-pin. The hammer stuck. I’m sure you realise how serious such an incident can be.”

“Yes, I realise of course.”

“Oversights like that can cost a professional his career. And you wouldn’t want to do that to me, now, would you?”

“No, no, certainly not.” Conroy can almost hear the other man’s sweat. He’s still thinking of turning him down at the last moment. He’s going to bring him right to the edge, and then he’s going to decide whether to take the job. He imagines the scene at the university. Blank, expressionless faces. A movement of his finger. A sound. And somewhere, an expression alters. That’s all there ever is to it. Then slipping away with the cash in his pocket.

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