(xx.)

Pierpont stared, blankly, at the bottle.

"That's stupid," he suddenly blurted out. "Why would they put a peacock on a bottle of bourbon?"

He studied the label, briefly, before deciding that it wasn't worth any more thought.

He poured himself another glass of bourbon.


Ring.

He looked around.

Ring.

He reached up, onto the table above him, and fumbled for the phone.

Ri--

"Hullo?"
"Hey, Pierpont?"
"No, I'm Pierpont."

There was a silence.

"Wait... am I talking to Pierpont?"
"Well... Yeah. Who am I talking to?"
"Lorelei..."
"Oh, hey Lory."
"Are you drunk?"
"Um... yeah. Why?"
"No reason. I don't suppose you're near the library table in your apartment?"
"Um..."

He looked around, at the cherry floor around him.

"I dunno. Does it matter?"
"Yeah."
"Oh. Wait--" (he looked up, quickly) "--I'm sitting on the floor. It's above me."
"Right. Awesome. There's a drawer. Open it."

Pierpont thought for a moment.

"But, there's nothing in that drawer."
"What?"
"There's nothing in that drawer. Muffy cleaned it out."

There was an awkward silence.

"Why did Muffy do that?"
"I dunno."
"What happened to that stuff?"
"Um... she threw it out."
"Oh, well, that helps me."
"Why?"
"No, never mind. Doesn't matter."
"Was it important stuff?"
"Doesn't matter now, now does it?"

Pierpont pulled the handset away from his ear for a moment. He lied down, under the table, and continued the conversation.

"Hey, Lory? You think we'll ever get back to being, like, really big in, like, espianage?"
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Well, I mean, you think the Joint Commision will ever leave us alone?"
"...I don't know. I'm not the person to ask. I'm in the middle of absolutely nowhere, with a stolen car and no money. I honestly wouldn't know."

Pierpont took a sip of bourbon, and managed to spill some.
"Oh, that was good."
"What'd you do?"
"Spilled some."
"What are you drinking?"
"Bourbon... Hey, Lory, do you know why there's a peacock on the label?"
"No, I don't know... what brand is it?"
"Um... 'Wild Turkey'..."

There was another silence.

"Is it at all possible that it's really a turkey, and not a peacock?"


[chapter xxi.]