Page 34 of Creature
“That wasn’t the deal. Youhave to show me—”
“Mutual disclosure. Ofcourse.” Swan gave John another long look before striding to thedesk and picking up a heavy book that looked ancient. He carried itover and showed Harry the cover. It wasn’t in English. Germanmaybe? Harry wasn’t sure.
“Did your Mr. Lord possessthis volume?”
“I don’t know.”
“He must have had anextensive library.”
“I guess. I wasn’t allowedinto the parts of the house where he did his work. Nobodywas.”
Swan raised his eyebrows. “That didn’tbother you?”
“Wasn’t my business.Anyway, I didn’t really care. It was a big house. I had my own roomand I got to use the pool.” The part about the pool was his ownaddition to the Bureau’s fiction. He was proud of it.
“So after he died, youdidn’t have access to his materials?”
“Just the notes I told youabout, because they were at his bedside. He used to read theresometimes.”
Swan looked thoughtful. “I wonder whathappened to those materials.”
“He had a lawyer who tookcare of the estate. I’m sure he knows.”
“This attorney’sname?”
Harry attempted a calculating smile. “I’d behappy to tell you—for an extra fee.”
If this annoyed Swan, he didn’t show it. “Ofcourse. We can discuss that later, when we negotiate terms.” Hetapped the book. “As far as I’m aware, this contains the onlycomplete written account of a successful experiment—of the sortthat interests me.”
“Which is?”
“The only experiment thatmatters in the end.”
He returned the book and remained standingbehind the desk. “Do you know how many people were killed duringWorld War Two?”
“A lot.”
Swan laughed. “Yes, quite a lot. Perhapsupwards of fifty million, if you count civilians. A significantportion of the world’s population, in fact. And how many Americanlosses were there?”
Frowning, Harry felt as if he were back inschool. At least nobody was making fun of his inability to answer.“Don’t know.”
“Over four hundredthousand. Also a lot, wouldn’t you agree? Did you lose any familyin the war?”
“My Uncle Jimmy.” It feltlike a betrayal to share that information with Swan.
“Your Uncle Jimmy. Ashame. I lost my brother, which was not a shame because he and Inever got along at all. But I also lost a very close friend. Mylover, in fact.”
“I’m sorry,” Harrymumbled.
Swan strolled out from behind the desk andcrossed to a large wooden cabinet. He swung down a door and, withhis back to Harry and John, spent some time pouring things frombottles into glasses. When he turned back, he held a tumbler ofwhat looked like bourbon in one hand and a tall glass of orangeliquid in the other. He handed the orange one, with its yellowplastic straw, to Harry. “You’ll forgive me if I’ve forgotten theice.”
“I don’t want—”
“You’ll like this one.It’s quite sweet.” He grinned. “It’s called a Zombie.”
Although Harry didn’t want a drink, he didwant to move things along without an argument. As Swan waitedexpectantly, Harry took a long sip from the straw. The beverage wassweet and tasted of pineapple and other fruit, but the alcohol wasso strong that he coughed.
“Just a little rum,” Swansaid with a chuckle. “It’ll put hair on your chest.”
