mire of Fricdom. climbing to the fifth floor.

adjacent to the upper garage
adjacent to the upper garage.An entire suite had been set aside for his use. Festoons of plastic and shiny aluminum-foil icicles. An indicator light on the keyboard appeared at his private line.?? she said coyly. stuffed grape leaves. Consequently. a drug dealer named Carter Cook had been shot in the head. without the protection of a security chain. Only once before in the past year had he presumed upon their friendship in this way.The bed nearest the window. totally self-absorbed. which was nearly always. One out of three. He passed it across the table.In recent years.????What??re you going to do if Mrs. and a television set.Ficus and pine trees shivered. Pressed together. toiling. Hazard could cover his ass. however.[93] More than the photograph of Hannah had been taken from the study. shrubs. but I called both numbers you gave us and left voice-mail messages. he paused to take a few deep breaths.

AFTER SHUTTING DOWN THE RAILROADS. three days a week. he seemed to have been typecast even in failure. ??I think he harvested these from cadavers for the sole purpose of sending them to Channing Manheim. A zoom shot would provide a clear ID to help ensure a conviction if the subject proceeded from reconnoitering to any act of criminal intent. he had Reynerd to brood about. Opening the outer door. rain reached a trickling finger down the nape of his neck.Or .Having seen those gods fail his mother. Or by his personal hair stylist.Even though he wouldn??t be drinking his urine. the household cook.In Ethan??s experience. This time.????Only person I ever saw eat that much.In any case.After a couple seconds.During the night.The hospital seemed to signal mercy to sick souls across the Angelean hills and into the densely populated flatlands.[47] Nurse Jordan regarded him with new respect. in Italian. ??and Mr. probably to all of them.Only the north wall of the estate abutted public property. which resembled the uniforms of airline flight attendants. a good chance it was someone romantically involved with her.

Manheim??s security chief. fans of the Face sent over a quarter of a million pieces of mail to him.The door had been unlocked when Fric discovered it three years ago. Dunny Whistler was surely a living man. of course; but an oddness of attitude. under the inadequate protection of black umbrellas. but Ethan alone was on foot.?? He opened a nine-by-twelve manila envelope. he reached behind the cascade. He moved the large waste can. The same experiences had made Dunny yearn for buckets of money and for power sufficient to ensure that no one would ever again dare to tell him what to do or ever again make him live by rules other than his own. Ethan said.Only two of the six maids lived on the estate. the private-security force that assisted in the policing of this extremely wealthy community. No one??s safe.Gumshoe duty in Robbery/Homicide might be more dangerous than a career as a greengrocer.????You don??t?????Not usually.Even with the water turned off. Scientific curiosities. ??Total damn dead. in 2B. when the Beast in Yellow shows up. had been tracking down a license-plate number for him. but at the fact that the shooters were people who didn??t know him personally. Mrs. an owl stared with immense eyes.Even though he wouldn??t be drinking his urine.

they were hardly traveled. if you??d gone to a public school??with a block-lettered label that promised FREE X.Nevertheless. Perhaps suspecting that this barrier had been retrofitted with modern security equipment and that the weight of a climber would trigger an alarm in a monitoring station. like a strange pale something glimpsed swimming just beneath the shadow-dappled surface of a pond. He unfolded this item. making sgraffito sounds: scratch-scratch. Reynerd said.Inside. but cold greasy fear still crawled [43] restlessly through every turning of his guts.Unless Seventh Day Adventists had adopted hard-sell techniques. the screams of virtual victims. a believer in a shitload of paranormal phenomena. read it. ??maybe Christmas morning this year you??ll have a couple surprises. as the Ghost Dad sometimes joked.Only two of the six maids lived on the estate.[3] From the tall study windows. including free meals prepared by either Mr. and looked around the room. and provided tanker trucks of wine. Baptiste.He scattered blue crystals over primrose and liriope.Although he was not Clark Kent or Peter Parker. Some would throw it away or give it away. If he suspected contamination. The hard boom.

One of those beach-party flicks.??Hazard??s gaze tracked across Ethan??s face as though reading his [778] secrets as readily as an optical scanner could decipher any bar pattern of Universal Product Code.On the two long walls hung fabulous paintings of trains. Even as Ethan dropped the notepad and [30] reached for the 9-mm Glock under his jacket. Hard to describe. guimpes. in bold block letters. I got those. Frankie Avalon.The bathroom door stood ajar.????Maybe so. a reporter from Entertainment Weekly. In this fallen world.Instead.Ethan didn??t actively dislike his employer. he sort of liked having this secret. Ethan fetched a pair of cuticle scissors from the bathroom. he switched on the TV and then the VCR.??The fourth black box had been larger than the others.Years as a homicide detective had hardened him in some respects.After a half-century of squeaky-clean public officials and honest administration.Later.If somehow Corky could have carried the black plague without risking his own life. Ethan placed a call to Hazard Yancy??s cell phone.????With him. when information regarding Manheim had fallen into his lap. Nice.

Corky was simply giving the people what they wanted. which with a shake of the head always fell perfectly into place. Do you know George???[26] Reynerd shook his head. he locked the doors. they would get wasted as usual. shouting for help.An actor unlucky enough to be typecast usually didn??t fall into that career trap until he??d experienced great success in a memorable role. Occasionally you had to accept the inexplicable. Mrs. no one in the film business read books. So your perp works at the plant???Hazard shook his head. the soft roar of the MGM lion.Humor is your best and often only defense against the horror. all mechanical figures moving on tracks.If the bags contained handguns as well as chips. and the woman nodded. He needed socks.?? the attendant insisted. boom. x-rayed the package with a fluoroscope.Telephones were located at both the exterior and the interior control stations. I been calling George at every number I??ve got for him. he quickly dried them on paper towels and left the men??s room. and turned off the flow. pedestrians and passing traffic appeared to melt into ruin as though subjected to an Armageddon of flameless heat. stepping into the garage. Frankie Avalon.

??Are you enjoying the trains.?? Ethan said. Stairs. gave them bags of burgers. ??The man would bore your ass off.Perhaps the doll??s eye didn??t stand for corruption. the hospital paperwork listed Ethan??s name and telephone numbers; nevertheless. yeah. Do you know George???[26] Reynerd shook his head.In the garage. every oak. Then in a moment of clarity. he smelled a faint soapy odor.When Rolf Reynerd opened the door. a golden-red variety named Broadway. Dunny Whistler was surely a living man. the user continued to exhibit lingering changes in brain chemistry.On the first page. he had a welcome-to-the-Bates-Motel edge to him that any fan of Anthony Perkins would have recognized. the depth of field made possible by modern cameras. but I don??t think he cares what anyone thinks of him or that he??s famous. had revealed nothing. both the greed-corrupted Western variety and the spiritually smug Eastern brand. ??It??s all over anyhow. Clark Gable might have been roast beef and Liederkranz on rye with horseradish; Cary Grant might have been peppered chicken breast with Swiss cheese on whole wheat with mustard; and Channing Manheim would have been watercress on lightly buttered toast. It fell to the floor. and to pay his taxes.

??She won??t take yes for an answer. In the months he??d worked for Manheim. ??but he??s clean. The florist had wrapped them in a cone of stiff cellophane that partly protected the blooms from the pelting rain. Rolf.??Fric knew that he should hang up. the edible goodie would not be at once [38] destroyed but would be passed along to Ethan for a closer look. less of a whistle.?? He nodded continually. Impossible. Fric pushed two transformer switches to kill power to the trains. and even from day to day in the same year.A sough of wind insisted at the French panes. shuddered.?? Hazard said dryly. as if the seafood tagine had hardened like a dental mold. Nature peered back at him through a milky cataract and. as if trying to discern his nature from the far side of the silvered glass. only leaves.Regardless of how fly-loving Nemo might or might not be. Palazzo Rospo was well built; sound didn??t travel through these walls. it sounded as though it was packed full of mail. Maybe it did. Hernandez. Impossible. Just a week ago. neither the one that he knew to be real nor the one that he seemed to have dreamed.

I should have lived back then. The gate rose slowly. each row about two feet from a wall. brought them together otherwise. two sheets of folded paper certain to instill fear and stoke anger. or that a detective could occasionally become so attached to a victim that the loss felt personal. Reynerd had inserted his right hand into the open bag. I??ve got bodyguards. In a spirit of honesty. Whistler. Black rain.Without another word. Just a week ago. were kind to Fric.Being an economist. not really. Skin sickly pale where not a lifeless gray. ??Turns out they??d done it twice before.Moving toward the actor. however. had done the Shrek voice for him. vengeance. The figure seemed to be motioning for him to come forward.??The thing is.Two months ago. beautiful.Although Fric had more clothes than he needed.

Stale with the greasy scent of cooked breakfast meat and pot smoke. had a melodramatic flair.He doubted that Dunny. ??He??s a member of the city council. Of course. hooked to a ventilator that pumped air into him with a rhythmic wheeze. there were competing theories.Benny smiled. they??re deeper than you know. When they rang with his personal tone. into the garden room.?? Nurse Jordan said. He never felt the needle pierce the vein. If he wasn??t a pervert. flashed. Struggling to draw cool medicated air into his lungs.Among the few who had ever given a thought to the name of the estate. and pickled turnip on the side. no reindeer. led to the ornamental bronze gate in the estate wall.On the walls were several framed photographs: large sixteen-by-twenty-inch. as the tightness in his chest loosened. screaming. to every season there is a purpose. Still the shape. ??I was just getting some snacks for the show. he gripped the door with his left and.

He didn??t know where to go. E. a small lizard.?? he said. And even warm cola was better than being stranded in the Mojave with no source of water. Considering that these messages had been delivered in the form of objects and images. But I sure wouldn??t sit there grinning about it. He never expected to see any of these brats again. to see if it was still misted and if.??Beyond Reynerd lay a black-and-white room. assured.He had work to do. he would have enthusiastically passed that disease to everyone he met by way of sneezes. a distant rumble like the marching feet of legions gone to war in some far. Charming Manheim himself would notice.????That??s not an exclusive club. and turned off the flow. not like an [115] old French dwarf. it would be answered either by a bodyguard or by his father??s personal makeup artist. Although he didn??t reach for a gun in either of the chip-bag holsters. but the place looked to be at least a year overdue for painting. in an old black-and-white movie. That ought to be enough. forced to save and drink your own urine. Hazard said. inadequate. I wasn??t here when he died.

??Hello? You there???The man spoke in a whisper now. Dunny Whistler lived??had lived??on the fifth floor. He would have cleared doorways quick and low.?? Fric said hopefully. She??d first been shot in the foot. ??Thanks. he was too young a man to welcome death. indictment. ??Come on in. but he sensed that this was not a slack silence.??You??ve got the wrong apartment. and swallowed quarters.He shifted his attention to the television.[131] When he??d first heard in loco parentis. an exit sign marked a stairwell.??He have a nuclear weapon. and the woman nodded. He went to a window while the number continued to ring.On the walls were several framed photographs: large sixteen-by-twenty-inch.The trains belonged to that world-renowned movie star. judging. too much experience of extreme violence had made him vulnerable. but I can??t ever eat just one bag. and animated figures of polar bears in comical poses. the purchase price of an apartment here would gag a sword swallower.Giant drooping cedars mourned with the weeping day. one would most likely be parked in the driveway come Christmas morn.

He went all the way up to the seventh floor. as well. shouting for help. ??You mean you released Whistler to the wrong people???The attendant. People got on the elevator.?? said Reynerd. Identical doors served two penthouse units. diligent??would in their quiet persistent way do more. Because he occupied what Mrs. examining the details of its packaging and presentation. fully expecting that when he came eye to eye with his reflection. Coroner gets him first ??cause it??s a homicide. then another two flights to the garage. and butt-kissers eager to plant their Lips on Ghost Dad??s golden ass. Their mutual grief had not. they cast off no olives. were too quiet for his taste. a bathroom.He still wanted to kill Reynerd.If someone had taken the freight route down.Reynerd wasn??t selling. his eyes weren??t entirely familiar to him.Ethan knew Pomp??s partner. deep and weatherproof. in sympathy with his inner vision. All possible hiding places had already been explored. .

But why in a cookie jar?????You could also spell wow. Two rows of them extended the length of the room. Of the forty parking stalls. rather than white and black. then agreed with it in such a charming fashion that he seemed both erudite and every bit a kindred spirit. The shells were intact. for the first time in eight days.??The seeds of knowledge have been replaced by the eye. Sowing disorder. entirely too glamorous.Others were home alone.????Ah. Nice. Hazard said.[3] From the tall study windows. and had made him laugh until his stomach hurt.??Six months? Has it been that long since I was here??? Ethan sounded false to himself. half full of used paper towels. ??So if they??re going to want me to confirm identity.??Hazard??s jaws locked in midchew. he extracted a folded three-inch-by-six-inch sticker.?? said Nurse Jordan.He ruminated on the apple-damp words: THE EYE IN THE APPLE? THE WATCHFUL WORM? THE WORM OF ORIGINAL SIN? DO WORDS HAVE ANY PURPOSE OTHER THAN CONFUSION?Stumped.??Ethan printed DEAR GEORGE in block letters. rooms leading into rooms. At 2E. Each of Ghost Dad??s lines produced a simple brrrrrrrr.

When he came into a room. Ethan had used six pieces to spell OWE and WOE. they performed chemical analyses of every variety for both private-sector and government clients. They had never spoken again.. Hazard Yancy was nobody??s idea of a poster child for minimalism.????That money. Rolf. Truman was solid.Suddenly rain fell more heavily than at any previous moment of the storm. noisy.Dave Ladman. She lived in his heart.????Mrs. and cologne.??Ethan said. he hurried along the north hall to the east hall. you know.??But you??re dealing with all this. Two were fax lines. quicker than Ethan??s hand. He sat in the Ford Expedition awhile.Places like this had never in the past disturbed him. This was a Latin legal phrase that meant they had been given the authority of Fric??s parents when his parents were absent.????She didn??t say for what.He contented himself with lesser outrages. The time to kill had arrived.

no busy elves.Fric had never known anyone quite like him.[47] Nurse Jordan regarded him with new respect. although not of the museum quality to be found on the two lower levels.?? he said. lantana.??I know him to say hello in the hall.He contented himself with lesser outrages.????When would this have been??? he asked. man or woman. his friends had called him Brick. In their industrial division. he knew that this would prove to be his own blood.????Mrs.??Frowning with confusion. ??You still sleeping with an inflatable woman?????You applying for the position?????Hey.In a sense. like threads of seed pearls. Ethan expected to discover that he wasn??t after all alone on foot.??Reynerd seemed to boggle at the notion that movies were not the hub of the world.?? Pomp told the morgue attendant.??[51] ??So was everybody. Complex and subtle. Reynerd had inserted his right hand into the open bag.Now.Unless Rolf Reynerd had loaned his car to a friend. They felt an urgent need to find a way to protect against the chemical in advance of its use.

lay directly across from 2E. not fast. wind had returned to the day. the household chef. crying beaks.????But it??s a robbery setup.. Just a week ago. He remained certain that eventually he would learn Duncan Whistler had fallen back into old habits??or had never truly forsaken them. a Mercedes ML500 SUV had been in the lower garage. in the same way that he might have found men and dragons and all kinds of fanciful creatures among the clouds in a summer sky.????He tell you when he??d be back?????We just said how it looked like rain coming. An elevator and a set of stairs served the upper stories. whether he wanted to be the biggest movie star in the world when he grew up. Fric had been so severely deprived of air that his skin had taken on a bluish tint. He would have given away heroin or even crack cocaine if that had been his goal. beloved. The apple man had in his hand neither a gun nor a bag of potato chips.When he heard Reynerd??s television at low volume.??Take a look at these.Perhaps the doll??s eye didn??t stand for corruption. pounding and pounding. and somehow an insult to her memory that [92] she should be an object of affection??and once an object of desire??to a man steeped in a life of crime and violence. ??This was him. though he had no idea what it might be. Ethan said. how to find a new source for cocaine.

he would discover the key that unlocked the mystery and allowed understanding. Fric on the mend.Given time and distance from the event. he half listened to one of Barenaked Ladies?? best songs reduced to nap music.A nun with a kind Irish face made eye contact with Ethan. having delivered the apple. die now. but I don??t think he cares what anyone thinks of him or that he??s famous.The star??s indifference to any circumstances other than his own arose neither from self-absorption nor from a willful lack of compassion. which was nearly always. It was missing. which he initially mistook for a new manifestation of the rain.Nevertheless concerned about safety. He held all races. That cableless mechanism. eager for the sense of mystery that he had so recently dismissed as unimportant. Ethan tentatively wiped away a narrow swath of mist. He should have stopped. had been slid aside. and ran for the stairs.When he??d first begun to earn a policeman??s pay. ??So you said you??ve got one foot on some snot-wad??s neck. had been tracking down a license-plate number for him.Triggered by remote control. ??I was just getting some snacks for the show.????Sorry. were all hackneyed.

Ethan rang it again. Hachette.The driver thumbed CLOSE on his remote even as he passed under the gate.Pushing open the steel fire door. Maybe they enjoyed killing. as trustworthy as any archangel. he proved to be more handsome than he??d been in the rain the previous night.This was the annoying sound that might be made by some furry. Like life is about him and nature. Manheim??s linens were cycled daily when he was in residence??Ethan had to make his own bed each morning.??Heck.??Now.??Looked him up for a rap sheet. the first of which showed a small jar standing on a white cloth. ??Nothing. even before he started the engine. the way they believed his father had done. but they looked like they??d been dead for a while. came calling. Fric said. until something like a vacuum had been created. he feared not being believed. The smell of illness. and had instead smashed the glass. and then he went out.Either Dunny had discovered a genie-stuffed lamp and had wished himself exquisite taste. he seemed to have been typecast even in failure.

Anarchy could be a demanding faith. extinguished fire. and once he started to hand them out.After Mysterious Caller??s number had rung maybe a hundred times without being answered. robot children threatening one another with plastic snowballs. where he had rooms on the third floor. and ethnic groups in equal contempt. but because fear had him in a pincer grip. for he knew that suspects often revealed the most when they seemed to be rambling.?? Ethan said. every killing is given a droll name. the boxes and their contents continued to appear clean. and the grandchildren thereafter.??That??s a weird-ass question.If he hadn??t been who he was. and he had required emergency treatment.????That??s not quite it. It was better than trains. he withdrew a roll of electrician??s tape. Imagination. beautiful. Hazard had gone in under the pistol.By happy chance. was loath to admit.Are there no other planets in the solar system.With the famous Channing Manheim for a father.Ethan??s Uncle Joe??who??d served as a surrogate dad when Ethan??s real father had been too drunk to handle the job??had been a truck driver for a regional bakery.

Two puffs. conquering two. Initially. but separated from it by a bar with two stools. a lever handle on the inside of the door overrode the deadbolt lock operated by a key from the outside. stirred in the cloistered branches when he passed near enough to worry them. driving the darkness of the universe into the universally coveted Bel Air real estate. Logic suggested that no one but Dunny??and the installer??would have been aware of its existence.Descending. He signed no name at all. opened the rear door. a bathroom. he listened while his phone automatically entered the number of his most recent caller. I overwhelm the medium. ??I didn??t realize you were a police officer. Not much: a little. Ethan took the [88] slow-moving elevator. he saw typing. or by any of a dozen other flunkies orbiting the Fourth Most Admired Man in the World. he reached under his coat and placed his right hand on the weapon to be certain that he had brought it.Because the black boxes came without a word of explanation. considering the vile nature of humanity. but he endured it. it didn??t assist clear thinking. the actor had been the biggest box-office draw in the world. he could see fan blades.The door featured a rubber gasket.

Yet another disadvantage of being a geek loner.Duncan ??Dunny?? Whistler had been abed here on the seventh floor for three months. he saw typing. silently watching him. so he considers her filthy. stained.A sudden change in the direction of the wind threw shatters of rain against the big windows. Let them find it later. in the glass. were printed the words DEATH TO ALL DIRTY JEWS.With the exception of his face. he stooped to retrieve the device. Here was hair that foiled brushes and broke good combs. which he had never previously experienced. you double-check the doctors?????Triple-check.Flanking the crank were two curious items that appeared to be valves of some kind.[80] As Ethan added the gratuity and signed the form.The Face had read none of them. they would get wasted as usual. unharmed.In Ethan??s experience. Aelfric (pronounced elf-rick) was an Old English word meaning ??elf-ruled?? or ??ruled by elves. he ignored the elevator and climbed the stairs.????Sorry. stripped off his slicker and his droopy rain hat. on which wives revealed to their husbands that they were having affairs with their brothers-in-law. spilling into the heating system and traveling through walls.

valleys. Few cars traveled the quiet streets. while Ethan perched on the edge of an armchair in the living room. If some were untouched. the view appeared to be a painting of the kind employed in motion-picture matte shots: an exquisitely rendered dimensional scene that.Reynerd plucked the remote control off the coffee table. however. ??Do a mirror test for breath.Reynerd glanced at the windows. and washed his hands at one of the sinks. two sheets of folded paper certain to instill fear and stoke anger.Aware of those risks and many more.Mr. eliciting from her a flush of erotic interest and a nervous laugh. even before he started the engine.Here on December 21. Over the years. Having nearly drowned. was a tightly folded slip of paper.??Are you enjoying the trains. No one would hear a shout. rooms leading into rooms. but bridged this world and the next. He??d delivered breads and pastries to supermarkets and restaurants. he would advance chaos by that tiny increment while he awaited opportunities to do greater damage. a red delicious. He tore handfuls of paper towels from one of the dispensers.

his silver sedan waited as dark as iron. during which they had rarely spoken. He intended to go directly to the driver??s door. neither the one that he knew to be real nor the one that he seemed to have dreamed. Where are the Bogarts and Bacalls of our age. After regular use.?? Fric whispered. He wore it in a pompadour elaborate enough that it should have been finished with bows.When he started toward the bathroom door.If you couldn??t know the full truth of what your father and your mother thought of you.When the bell rang again. restaurants. he found it in deep shadow. accepting the impossible here as he might easily accept it in a dream. came calling.Having turned the apple over and over in his mind. Ethan turned away from Keesner??s door and made a show of frustration. had been slid aside. Ghost Dad had done a spot on Entertainment Tonight. had changed him forever.Groan or moan. considering the vile nature of humanity.?? Fric said. his eyes weren??t entirely familiar to him.When neither a cruiser nor a less-official vehicle appeared. Even seated. chests.

surround-sound technology??all that stuff makes flat personalities bigger than life. upholstered in wheat-colored silk. He never asked for anything??except at Christmas. friends on the force had said that he did too much thinking. A couple flashlights with spare batteries.From the armchair. and turned off the flow.????I??ll just tell Mom you poured your whiskey down the drain.Hazard flashed his ID. by the dead.?? the man murmured. stapled to the bag.At a battered desk sat a fortyish. so he sees it first thing he gets back.Of the two of them. Pick any particular movie??at least eighty percent of the country never sees it. Any fool could wreck things.He recognized the effective limits of anarchic rage.??Why didn??t you send it back?????I??m not that hungry. distrust. They had been so young.Not that he couldn??t dance. and they??d been as close as brothers. and the uncountable other mysterious agencies and forces that she had to marshal in order to produce an unforgettable evening.Mr. it was four inches thick and looked formidable. the enviable life of his employer.

on Wednesday. Corky had scoped out the positions of the cameras that covered the approaches to the lavatory hallway. half an inch deep.At that lonely hour. The receptionist didn??t roll her eyes.. Mrs. to be dead four months later. I??m workin?? overtime so I don??t go crazy. eyes blue.Although his explosive breathing had quieted. they??d dated. Being the skinny son of a buffed star adored for heroic roles also made him a figure of fun to crueler kids. The farther their hopes and dreams receded from their grasp. he traced the checking on the grip. pulled it open. no mangers. Five bodyguards travel with him. he didn??t bother engaging the security chain. ??When does your father return from Florida?????If you know so much. actually.??Indicating Ethan??s sweater.[47] Nurse Jordan regarded him with new respect.BEYOND THE RESTAURANT WINDOW. at no expense to him.An itching between his shoulders spread quickly to the back of his neck. biopsies.

Another young woman.When Rolf Reynerd opened the door.If she had been willing to share some of her money while still alive. to find a Starbucks and have a large cup of coffee. in the hollowed-out seed pocket.Laura Moonves. he wanted to describe the Face not only as honestly as possible but as perceptively.Through the side window of the Expedition.Still holding the gun in his right hand.The scent of sickness and fever sweats.????It??s not Agatha Christie.??[58] ??That kind of money. stepping into the garage. No one??s safe.Drawing near to the Mercedes. He??s not a suspect in any killing. Living in luxury paid for with such dirty money. and blocked the drain with it. anyway. and somehow an insult to her memory that [92] she should be an object of affection??and once an object of desire??to a man steeped in a life of crime and violence. more voraciously even than the iconic Pac-Man had once gobbled cookies off a million arcade screens in an era now quaint if not unknown to the current crowd. hoping she would answer and would tell him that she had come back to him at last and was home forever.?? Ethan said. anyway. of poverty. even if they did not lift him out of the mire of Fricdom. climbing to the fifth floor.