"Robert A. Heinlein - The Cat who Walks Through Walls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)

THE CAT WHO WALKED THROUGH WALLS
by Robert A. Heinlein

BOOK ONE -
Indifferent Honest


I
"Whatever you do, you'll regret it."
ALLAN McLEOD GRAY 1905-1975


"We need you to kill a man."

This stranger glanced nervously around us. I feel that a crowded
restaurant is no place for such talk, as a high noise level gives only
limited privacy.

I shook my head. "I'm not an assassin. Killing is more of a hobby with
me. Have you had dinner?"

"I'm not here to eat. Just let me-"

"Oh, come now. I insist." He had annoyed me by interrupting an evening
with a delightful lady; I was paying him back in kind. It does not do to
encourage bad manners; one should retaliate, urbanely but firmly.

That lady, Gwen Novak, had expressed a wish to spend a penny and had
left the table, whereupon Herr Nameless had materialized and sat down
uninvited. I had been about to tell him to leave when he mentioned a name.
Walker Evans. There is no "Walker Evans."

Instead, that name is or should be a message from one of six people,
five men, one woman, a code to remind me of a debt. It is conceivable that
an installment payment on that ancient debt could require me to kill
someone -- possible but unlikely.

But it was not conceivable that I would kill at the behest of a
stranger merely because he invoked that name.

While I felt obliged to listen, I did not intend to let him ruin my
evening. Since he was sitting at my table, he could bloody well behave
like an invited guest. "Sir, if you don't want a full dinner, try the
after-theater suggestions. The lapin ragout on toast may be rat rather
than rabbit but this chef makes it taste like ambrosia."
 "But I don't want-"

"Please." I looked up, caught my waiter's eye. "Morris."

Morris was at my elbow at once. "Three orders of lapin ragout, please.