The Impossibles Page 24

what?" Malone said.

  "I knew you could do it," the Queen said. "All you had to do was applyyour intelligence, and you'd come up with just the fact you needed."

  "What fact?" Malone said.

  "That Miss Francis has your notebook," the Queen said. "You just toldme."

  "All right," Malone said, and stopped and took a deep breath. "MyGod," he said after a pause. "What is that supposed to mean? Did Igive it to her after all?"

  "No," the Queen said.

  "Did I lose it, and did she pick it up?"

  "No," the Queen said.

  "My God," Malone said again. "All right. I give up. Is this TwentyQuestions?"

  "Sir Kenneth!" the Queen said. "What a way to talk to your Queen!"

  Malone took another breath. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "But--"

  "Yes, I know," the Queen said sympathetically. "You're upset. But youdidn't give Miss Francis the notebook, and she didn't find it afteryou'd lost it."

  "Then--" Malone stared. "She stole it. She stole it from me."

  "I imagine she took it right from your jacket pocket," the Queen said."Now, if you'd only wear proper clothing, and a proper pouch at yourbelt--"

  "I'd be stared at," Malone said. "In court clothing."

  "No one in New York would stare at you," the Queen said. "They'd thinkit was what they call an advertising stunt."

  "Anyhow," Malone said, "I wasn't wearing court clothing. So that madeit easy for her to steal the notebook. But why, for God's sake? Why?"

  "Because," the Queen said, "she needed it."

  _"Needed it?"_ Malone shrieked.

  "Please, Sir Kenneth," the Queen said. "Don't talk to your Sovereignin that manner. And I do wish you'd stop thinking of that girl asDorothy Francis. She isn't at all, you know."

  "No," Malone said. "I don't know. If she isn't Dorothy Francis, who inhell is she?"

  "Don't swear, Sir Kenneth," the Queen said. "She's Dorothea FranciscaFueyo, if you want to know."

  Malone gulped. "Then she's--"

  "That's right," the Queen said. "She's little Miguel Fueyo's oldersister."

  10

  Malone put in a great deal of time, he imagined, just staring at theface of the little old lady on the screen. At last he spoke. "My God,"he said. "Her name is Fueyo. I'll be damned."

  "I've told you," the Queen said with some asperity, "not to swear, SirKenneth."

  "I know," Malone said. "But--"

  "You're excited," the Queen said. "You're stunned. Goodness, you don'tneed to tell me that, Sir Kenneth. I know."

  "But she's--" Malone discovered that he couldn't talk. He swallowed acouple of times and then went on. "She's Mike Fueyo's sister."

  "That's exactly right, Sir Kenneth," the Queen said. "That's just whatI told you."

  "Then she swiped the book to protect her little brother," Malone said."Oh, boy."

  "Exactly, Sir Kenneth," the Queen said.

  "And she doesn't care about me at all," Malone said. "I mean, she onlywent out with me because I was me. Malone. And she wanted thenotebook. That was all there was to it." He added an expletive. TheQueen frowned, but said nothing about it.

  "I wouldn't say that if I were you," she went on. "Quite the contrary.She does like you, you know. And she thinks you're a very niceperson." The Queen beamed. "You are, you know," she said.

  "Oh," Malone said uncomfortably. "Sure."

  "You don't have to think that she merely went out with you because ofher brother's notebook," the Queen said. "But she does have a strongsense of loyalty--and he is--her younger brother, after all."

  "He sure is," Malone said. "He's a great kid, little Mike."

  "You see," the Queen continued imperturbably, "Mike told her aboutlosing the notebook the other night--when he struck you."

  "When he struck me," Malone said. "Oh, yes. He struck me, all right."

  "He guessed that you must have it when you started asking questionsabout the Silent Spooks, you see," the Queen said. "That was the onlyway you could have found out about him--unless you were telepathic.Which, of course, you're not."

  "No," Malone said.

  "Now, understand me," the Queen said. "I do not think that hisstriking you was a very nice act."

  "I don't either," Malone said. "It hurt like--it hurt quite a lot."

  "Certainly," the Queen said. "But he didn't hurt the car any, and hedidn't want to. He just wanted to ride around in it for a while."

  "He likes red Cadillacs," Malone said.

  "Oh, yes," the Queen said. "He thinks they're wonderful."

  "Good for him," Malone said sourly.

  "Well, now," the Queen said. "You just go right on over to her house.Of course she doesn't live with an aunt."

  "No," Malone said. "She lives with Mike and his mother."

  "Why not?" the Queen said. "She's part of the family."

  Malone nodded silently.

  "She'll give you the book, Sir Kenneth. I just know that she will. AndI want you to be very nice to her when you ask for it. She's a verynice girl, you know."

  "She's a swell girl," Malone said morosely. "And I'll--hey. Wait aminute."

  "Yes, Sir Kenneth?"

  "How come you can read her thoughts?" Malone said. "And Mike's? Ithought you had to know somebody pretty well before you could readthem at a distance like this. Do you? Know them, I mean."

  "Oh, no," the Queen said. "But I can read _you_, of course." Malonecould see that the Queen was trying very hard not to look proud ofherself. "And last night," she went on, "you two were--well, SirKenneth, you had a real _rapport_ with each other. My goodness, yes."

  "Well," Malone said, "we--"

  "Don't explain, Sir Kenneth," the Queen said. "It really isn'tnecessary; I thought it was very sweet. And, in any case, I can pickher up now. Because of that rapport. Not quite as well as I can pickyou up, but enough to get the strong surface thoughts."

  "Oh," Malone said. "But Mike--"

  "I can't pick him up at all, this far away," the Queen said. "There isjust a faint touch of him, though, through the girl. But all I knowabout him is what she thinks." She smiled gently. "He's a nice boy,basically," she said.

  "Sure he is," Malone said. "He's got a nice blackjack,too--basically." He grimaced. "Were you reading my mind all lastnight?" he said.

  "Well," the Queen said, "no. Toward morning you were getting so fuzzyI just didn't bother."

  "I can understand that," Malone said. "I nearly didn't bother myself."

  The queen nodded. "But toward afternoon," she said, "I didn't haveanything to do, so I just listened in. You do have such a nice mind,Sir Kenneth. So refreshing and different. Especially when you're inlove."

  Malone blushed quietly.

  "Oh, I know," the Queen said. "You'd much rather think of yourself asa sort of apprentice lecher, a kind of cynical Don Juan, but--"

  "I know," Malone said. "Don't tell me about it. All right?"

  "Of course, Sir Kenneth," the Queen said, "if you wish it."

  "Basically, I'm a nice boy," Malone said. "Sure I am." He paused. "Doyou have any more pertinent information, Your Majesty?"

  "Not right now," the Queen admitted. "But if I do, I'll let you know."She giggled. "You know, I had to argue awfully hard with Dr. Hattererto get to use the telephone," she said.

  "I'll bet," Malone said.

  "But I did manage," she said, and winked. "I won't have that sort oftrouble again."

  Malone wondered briefly what dark secret Dr. Hatterer had, that HerMajesty had discovered in his mind and used to blackmail him with. Atlast he decided that it was probably none of his business, and didn'tmatter too much anyway.

  "Quite right, Sir Kenneth," the Queen said. "And good bye for now."

  "Good-bye, Your Majesty,"