people, and they came on this assassination attempt, and Herman helped the guy they were trying to kill, and it turned out he was the next president of Talabwo, which is why they were trying to put him out that window, so when he got home he invited Herman over as a thank you, and thatâs when Herman found out the vice -president was figuring on a coup, so now Hermanâs vice-president, and he says he enjoys it a lot.â
Dortmunder said, âHe does, does he?â
âYeah. Except he isnât Herman X anymore, now heâs Herman Makanene Stuluâmbnick.â
Tiny said, âI am growing weary.â
âWell, thatâs all I know anyway,â Kelp said. He poured himself some more Amsterdam Liquor Store Bourbon.
Tiny said, âI know a guy, for the locks. Heâs a little unusual.â
Dortmunder said, âAfter those stories? Your guy is unusual?â
âAt least heâs in New York,â Tiny said. âHis nameâs Wilbur Howey.â
âI donât know him,â Dortmunder said.
âHe just came out of the slammer,â Tiny said. âIâll have a word with him.â
âFine,â Dortmunder said. He hesitated, and cleared his throat.
âHere it comes now,â Tiny said.
Dortmunder gave him an innocent look. âHere comes what, Tiny?â
âThe butcherâs thumb,â Tiny said. âYou know what I do with the butcherâs thumb?â
âThereâs nothing wrong , Tiny,â Dortmunder said. âThe deal is exactly as I said it was. Only, thereâs just one more little element.â
âOne more little element.â
âWhile weâre in the building,â Dortmunder said, âtake no time at all, we go up to the top floor, handle one extra little piece of business. Nothing to it.â
Tiny viewed Dortmunder more in sorrow than in anger. âTell me about this, Dortmunder,â he said. âWhat is this extra little piece of business?â
âWell,â Dortmunder said. He knocked back a little Amsterdam Liquor Store Bourbon, coughed, and said, âThe fact is, uh, Tiny, while weâre in there anyway, uh, it seems we have to rescue this nun.â
14
âHow did it go last night?â May asked.
Dortmunder paused with a spoonful of Wheaties in midair. He nodded thoughtfully, pondering the question, and then said, âWell, there was a chancy minute or two when I mentioned the nun, but then it worked out.â
âWhat was the chancy minute?â
âTiny. He didnât like it.â
May was making herself instant coffee, standing in a dapple of morning sunshine reflected twice before coming in the airshaft window. She said, âWhat didnât he like about it?â
Dortmunder had taken that load of Wheaties on board. He chewed and chewed and swallowed and said, âNuns. Tiny says nuns remind him of a movie called Come to the Stable , and heâs mad at that movie.â
â Come to the Stable? â May poured hot water over brown dust. âWhy would he be mad at a movie?â
âApparently, he was in an armored car job once, and it got screwed up, and he hid inside the air ducts in a movie house for a week. Late at night heâd come out of the ducts and go down and eat the candy and drink the soda, but he could never leave the building because the cops knew a couple guys in the job were still in the neighborhood somewhere, and they were doing a house-to-house search and maintaining a presence on the street and all that. So it was a revival house, and that week they were showing Come to the Stable , with Loretta Young and Celeste Holm as these two nuns that were very good to everybody all the time, and smiled a lot. Tiny saw that movie twenty-seven times that week, and he says heâs never felt quite the same about nuns ever since.â
The phone rang, in the living room. Dortmunder said, âIâll get it,â and went away