Barker, J. D - The Fourth Monkey by Barker J. D

Author:Barker, J. D [Barker, J. D]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

42

Porter

Day 2 • 4:58 a.m.

Porter found a parking space three blocks from his apartment and started toward his building. He had sat outside Talbot’s house for the better part of the night, and aside from Carnegie stumbling in at a little past two, there was no movement. No sign of Talbot at all.

Both Clair and Nash had checked in with him; neither search party found any sign of Emory at the Mulifax Building or the Moorings construction site.

Dead ends.

From his vantage point at Talbot’s house, he had read more of the diary—that yielded nothing either, just more childhood ramblings. He was beginning to think it was nothing more than a fiction crafted solely to waste his time.

Another dead end.

Emory was lost out there, and they had nothing.

As Porter came upon his “secure” building, he found the door wide open and flapping in the wind. There was also a rather large pile of dog excrement steaming at the base of the steps, no doubt from the pit bull in 2C. He didn’t blame the dog, but he’d have no problem rubbing the owner’s chubby face it in if he were to find him alone outside. The entire building knew the guy let his dog do his business right outside in this very spot; they also knew the man never picked up after his dog.

Carmine Luppo.

The fifty-three-year-old former bathtub salesman sat around all day playing video games and only left the building long enough to cash his disability check, replenish his beef jerky stock, and coax his lovely dog to shit on the stoop.

Last month, six of his neighbors took shifts to try to catch him in the act, and yet he somehow slipped past all of them. He looked as if he weighed four hundred pounds—not exactly like a man who could move stealthily, but somehow that magic pile of dog shit appeared out of nowhere.

There was talk of installing a camera.

Porter suggested they buy the domain www.poopertv.com and stream the feed, maybe charge for advertising.

He slipped his key into his mailbox, pulled out the stack of envelopes, and quickly sifted through them. Three bills, a mailer for a dry cleaning service, and the TV Guide.

Porter threw away everything but the TV Guide. He loved TV Guide. He never watched television, didn’t need to—he got everything he needed from the magazine. As far as he was concerned, television had lost its luster when they canceled The Incredible Hulk in May of 1982. The three flights of stairs proved a little more difficult to ascend than they were to descend, and he found himself nearly out of breath when he finally reached his floor. Heather was vegan and swore if he changed his diet, he’d drop some weight and gain some energy. He figured she was right, but when he watched her eating a bean burger and sprouts while he put away good old-fashioned red meat he knew the vegan road was not one he’d meander down anytime soon. He’d sooner tote his growing gut than give up cow flesh.

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