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what he wants to know?" he said, and shoved the empty bin under the counter. |
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"Whyn't you mind your own business?" she said. |
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The man wiped his hand on a towel and extended his hand over the counter to Calvin. "Paul Fellows, her old man," he said, and smiled. "Spending too much time with Robert Ludlum." Then with mock formality: "The ladies at number four would like a coffee refill, if you please." |
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Dotty took the pot and huffed off, mumbling under her breath. |
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"With all due respect, even if you were a spy, there's nothing we could tell you would be of any use." |
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"Like Dotty said, they were pretty close-mouthed when it came to shoptalk. You a reporter or something?" |
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"Nothing like that," Calvin said. "The land where they used to dump their wastes ended up as my backyard. I just want to know what they put in the ground." |
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"The name suggests some kind of biological research." |
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"Hey, your guess is as good as mine." |
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"How about the names of people who worked there?" |
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Fellows shook his head. When Dotty returned, he asked, "What was the name of that big tall guy with gap teeth used to work there?" |
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"How'm I supposed to remember?" she said, and pushed her way into the kitchen. A moment later she pushed the door open with her foot a crack. "Jack something-or-other." Then the door closed. |
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"Jack. Yeah, that's it. Nice fella." |
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He poured more coffee into Calvin's cup. "You know, I'm not so sure they used their real names." |
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"Well, it's been almost twenty-five years, a few times they called some lunch orders when they didn't have time to come out. Remember once we got a call from, say, Bob. When I called back to say we were out of whatever it was, the guy who answered said there was no Bob working there, I had the wrong number. When I called back |
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