The Seduction of Peter S., The Case of Lucy Bending, and Tales of the Wolf by Lawrence Sanders

Author:Lawrence Sanders [Sanders Lawrence]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2016-03-25T00:00:00+00:00

6

Something strange was happening to William Jasper Holloway.

And he knew it.

About a year ago, he had started talking to himself. It hadn’t happened suddenly, overnight. It had come on gradually.

For instance, a year ago when he was seated in his private office at the bank and needed to go out onto the tellers’ floor for some reason or other, he would simply rise, walk to the door, open it, and exit. Just like anyone else.

Then he found himself planning his moves. Commanding himself. “Now you will get up. You will walk to the door. You will turn the knob and open the door. You will walk out onto the floor.” All in silence. All in his mind.

This period lasted a while, this stage of silent orders. And then, when he was alone, he discovered he was voicing the commands aloud in a low but firm voice: “Stand up. Walk to the door. Turn the knob. Now open the door. Now go out onto the floor.”

And not only at work. Whenever he was alone he spoke to himself aloud: “Turn right at the next light. Take a new bar of soap from the cupboard. Write to Tallahassee re the tax return.”

The next step, a recent one, was a self-dialogue, spoken aloud, during which he debated, sometimes even argued with himself.

“Luther Empt wants you to play golf on Saturday.”

“I don’t know if I want to go.”

“Maybe you should.”

“What for?”

“To see what’s happening with the new factory.”

“I don’t care. And I don’t feel like playing golf on Saturday. Especially with Empt. The man’s an animal.”

“You need the exercise. Fresh air.”

“I’ll play a bad game. Drink too much afterward.”

He knew it was happening. He knew he spoke aloud to himself when alone, but it didn’t frighten him. He found it almost amusing. He went along with it. Where was the harm?

His decision to purchase a handgun was the result of one of these voiced dialogues:

“What do you need a gun for?”

“Empt has one, and Turk Bending.”

“But why do you need one?”

“Crime is increasing. Protect the family, the house.”

“You don’t know how to handle a gun.”

“I can learn. It’s simple: you point and pull the trigger. I did it with Luther’s gun that night on the beach. It felt good. Maybe I won’t buy a gun as heavy as Luther’s. Just a small one.”

“You’ll go to a gunshop and some redneck will laugh at you. He’ll see you don’t know a damned thing about guns. He’ll be contemptuous, rude.”

“So what? I’ll treat him coldly. I’m the customer. I’ll get a good gun and insist he shows me how to use it. I’ll be firm and definite.”

So, convinced, he went to a gunshop on Federal Highway. The clerk turned out to be no redneck at all, but a vested executive type who spoke William Holloway’s language. He didn’t even ask his customer’s reasons for wanting to purchase a firearm.

“Sir,” he said unctuously, “if your experience with handguns is limited, may I suggest this truly beautiful and

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