Peter Straub - Mr. X

‘You couldn’t get this book from the library?’

All the times I had been questioned, no one had ever thought to ask about the book. The notion of showing it to Captain Squadron seemed filled with danger. ‘We don’t have it in the library. It was a collection of stories.’

‘Like short stories?’

I smoothed another nonexistent wrinkle.

‘What kind of stories?’

‘I don’t know what you’d call them.’

‘Let me have a look at it.’

I went to my desk and opened the top drawer. The hideous image of Squadron’s fingerprints contaminating the sacred text filled my mind. I held it up and gave him a look at the cover. He narrowed his eyes. ‘I never heard of the guy.’

‘Me neither.’ I put the book on my desk, relief at escaping what seemed like both pollution and danger making my heart thump. When I looked back at Squadron, he was frowning and holding out his hand.

‘I thought you wanted …’

He waggled his fingers.

I surrendered the treasure to his waiting paw.

‘You kids think these stupid tricks bamboozle everybody, but we’ve seen it all before.’ He opened the book and flipped forward. When he failed to find pictures of naked women, he riffled the pages with his thumb. He folded back the cover and looked at the front binding. ‘You’re too jumpy. Something’s funny here.’ Holding both covers, he upended the book and shook it. Nothing fell out of the pages.

Squadron tossed the book onto the dresser and leaned back again. ‘You didn’t go to the mess that night.’

‘I wasn’t hungry.’

‘Kids your age are hungry all the time, but let that pass. What do you think happened to Artillery Pledge Fletcher?’

‘The commandant hit the nail on the head, sir. Some outsider jumped him between here and mess hall, and the pledge got so scared he dropped dead. I wish I’d gone with Pledge Fletcher. He wouldn’t have attacked the two of us.’ I made the mistake of glancing at the treasure. Squadron saw my eyes move. Grinning, he slid the book to the edge of the dresser.

‘No outsider has ever, and I mean ever, managed to sneak in here without being seen. It’s almost impossible to get in or out without passing a guard station. Breaking into the dorms, you have to set that up in advance, don’t you? Get a buddy to crack a window for you, talk him into hanging around a fire door?’

Once or twice a month, a reckless cadet who had escaped into town regained entry to the dorms by precisely those means. ‘I don’t know anything about that.’

He folded his arms over his chest and tilted his head to one side, still smirking at me. ‘But since this is between you and I, we both know the commandant’s story is horse puckey, don’t we?’

I did my best to look puzzled. ‘Sir, I don’t understand.’

‘I probably don’t, either. But here’s what I know.’ He unfolded his arms and used the index finger of his left hand to tick off points on the fingers of his right, as he did in our calculus class. ‘Point one. Only two other cadets with fourth-floor rooms were still around on the night in question. Cavalry Pledges Holbrook and Joys reported to the mess by 1800 hours and returned to their quarters before 1900 hours to study for the same final in military philosophy you had to take. They observed lights-out at 2330 hours.

‘Two. Artillery Pledge Fletcher’s roommates, Artillery Pledges Woodlett and Bartland, witness to his intention of dropping off in your quarters a book you wanted to borrow, thereafter to proceed to the evening meal in time to arrive approximately when they would do so, then report back to the third floor and prepare for his chem final until lights-out.

‘Three. When their roommate failed to appear at mess, Artillery Pledges Woodlett and Bartland assumed that he had chosen to forgo dinner in favor of study in the library. Shortly before lights-out, they went downstairs into the courtyard for the purpose of greeting the pledge on his return from his solitary labors. He did not return, guess why, the poor kid was already dead. Artillery Pledges Woodlett and Bartland remained down there until 2330 hours, at which time a single window on the north side of the fourth floor remained alight. That was the window of your room, Pledge.’

‘I apologize for the infraction, sir,’ I said.

He focused on the wall above my cot. ‘They came up here, thinking that the pledge might have been in your room all that time. During their short conversation with you, they were informed that he had loaned you the book and gone on his merry way. They returned to quarters in the hopes that the pledge would appear before the night was out. Unfortunately, the pledge did not. Instead, a deal of trouble was visited upon us, and the name of this fine institution was dragged through the mud.’

He fixed me with a blunt stare. ‘At which time, and I think we have come to point number four, you came into my mind. I suppose you had been in my mind all along. I was already starting to wonder if you had put all those pledges into the infirmary.’

‘Sir,’ I said, ‘accidents happen. Did any of them blame me for their injuries?’

‘Right. Point five. Accidents happen. After careful consideration, I have surprised myself by concluding that you are one of those accidents.’ He was staring directly into my eyes. ‘I think you’re something new. I don’t even know what to call it. You spooked those kids so bad they’re afraid to open their mouths. Know what I think? I think our setup here was exactly what you were looking for.’

‘Sir, excuse me, but this is incredible,’ I said. ‘A bunch of kids fall down and break some bones, and you blame it on me.’

‘Point six.’ Captain Squadron was still holding my eyes. ‘Let’s get back to that light in your window. Artillery Pledges Woodlett and Bartland were surprised to see that it was turned on. There were a number of reasons why that could be. You might have forgotten to turn it off before leaving. Or Artillery Pledge Fletcher forgot to turn it off. Or, what they were hoping, he hadn’t switched off your light because he was still in the room. So up they come and, surprise, surprise, you’re here after all.’

He gave me an odd, twisted smile and tilted his head against his raised fist in a charged, deliberate pause. I was surprised to feel a chill of fear in my stomach, and I hated him for causing it. ‘Did they knock before they came in?’

‘I think they did,’ I said. He was getting too close. ‘Everybody does. Section three, paragraph six of chapter two in the Reg Book, “Pledge Deportment.”’

He looked as if he was figuring out how to get a nasty stain off the wall. ‘But you don’t knock on the door of an empty room. The pledges, whose memories seem to be better than yours, say they just barged in.’

‘It’s possible,’ I said.

Squadron held his pose for another beat. He lowered his hand and gave me a slow, subzero smile. ‘Artillery Pledge Fletcher did the same thing, didn’t he?’

Humiliating fear sparkled in my viscera. ‘I believe he followed regs and knocked first.’

‘I believe he did not.’ Squadron gazed around the room for a moment, then shot me a speculative glance. ‘Where are we, point eight?’

‘Seven,’ I said. ‘Sir.’

‘Okay, seven. Point seven. After a tremendous amount of thought, I have come to believe that Artillery Pledge Fletcher came across something he shouldn’t have seen. He surprised you. All of a sudden he was a threat. Boy, I really wonder what that kid stumbled into. And I wonder how you managed to scare him so bad his heart actually stopped, but I don’t suppose you’ll tell me. You did it, though. And you knew what you were doing.’

‘That’s crazy,’ I said. I felt as if a truck had run into me. ‘You can’t actually be telling me that you think I killed Fletcher.’