Code to Zero Read online

  She laughed when she saw him. "You look like a small boy who can't wake up!"

  He kissed her cheek and slumped into a chair. "It took hours to get to Newport," he said.

  "You've obviously forgotten you're supposed to take me to lunch!" Elspeth said brightly.

  He looked at her. She was beautiful, but he did not love her. He did not know whether he had loved her before, but he was sure he did not now. He was the worst kind of heel. She was so gay this morning, and he was going to ruin her happiness. He did not know how to tell her. He felt so ashamed it was like a pain in his heart.

  He had to say something. "Can we skip lunch? I haven't even shaved."

  A troubled shadow crossed her pale, proud face, and he realized that she knew perfectly well something was wrong; but her reply was carefree. "Of course," she said. "Knights in shining armor need their beauty sleep."

  He told himself he would have a serious talk with her, and be completely honest, later in the day. "I'm sorry you got dressed up for nothing," he said miserably.

  "It wasn't for nothing--I saw you. And your fellow housemen seemed to like my outfit." She stood up. "Anyway, Professor and Mrs. Durkham are having a jolly-up." That was Radcliffe slang for a party.

  Luke stood and helped her into her coat. "We could meet later." He had to tell her today--it would be deceitful to let any more time pass without revealing the truth.

  "That'll be fine," she said gaily. "Pick me up at six." She blew him a kiss and walked out like a movie star. He knew she was faking, but it was a good act.

  He returned woefully to his room. Anthony was reading the Sunday paper. "I made coffee," he said.

  "Thanks." Luke poured a cup.

  "I owe you big time," Anthony went on. "You saved Billie's hide last night."

  "You'd do the same for me." Luke sipped his coffee and began to feel better. "Seems we got away with it. Has anyone said anything to you this morning?"

  "Not a thing."

  "Billie's quite a gal," Luke said. He knew it was dangerous to talk about her, but he could not help it.

  "Isn't she great?" Anthony said. Luke observed with dismay the look of pride on his roommate's face. Anthony went on, "I kept asking myself: 'Why shouldn't she go out with me?' But I didn't think she would. I don't know why, maybe because she's so neat and pretty. And when she said yes, I couldn't believe my ears. I wanted to ask for it in writing."

  Extravagant overstatement was Anthony's way of being amusing, and Luke forced a smile, but secretly he was appalled. To steal someone else's girlfriend was despicable in any circumstances, but the fact that Anthony was obviously crazy about Billie made everything even worse.

  Luke groaned, and Anthony said, "What's the matter?"

  Luke decided to tell him half the truth. "I'm not in love with Elspeth anymore. I think I have to end it."

  Anthony looked shocked. "That's too bad. You two are quite an item."

  "I feel like a jerk."

  "Don't crucify yourself. It happens. You're not married--not even engaged."

  "Not officially."

  Anthony raised his eyebrows. "Have you proposed?"

  "No."

  "Then you're not engaged, officially or unofficially."

  "We've talked about how many children we'll have."

  "You're still not engaged."

  "I guess you're right, but all the same I feel like a rotter."

  There was a tap at the door, and a man Luke had never seen before came in. "Mr. Lucas and Mr. Carroll, I presume?" He wore a shabby suit but had a haughty manner, and Luke guessed he was a college proctor.

  Anthony leaped to his feet. "We are," he said. "And you must be Dr. Uterus, the famous gynecologist. Thank God you've come!"

  Luke did not laugh. The man was carrying two white envelopes, and Luke had a pessimistic feeling he knew what they were.

  "I'm the clerk to the Dean of Students. He's asked me to hand you these notes in person." The clerk gave them an envelope each and left.

  "Hell," Anthony said as the door closed. He ripped open his envelope. "God damn it."

  Luke opened his and read the short note inside.

  Dear Mr. Lucas,

  Please be good enough to come and see me in my study at three o'clock this afternoon.

  Yours sincerely,

  Peter Ryder

  Dean of Students

  Such letters always meant disciplinary trouble. Someone had reported to the Dean that there had been a girl in the House last night. Anthony would probably be expelled.

  Luke had never seen his roommate afraid--his insouciance always seemed unshakable--but now he was pale with shock. "I can't go home," he whispered. He had never said much about his parents, but Luke had a vague picture of a bullying father and a long-suffering mother. Now he guessed the reality might be worse than he had imagined. For a moment, Anthony's expression was a window into a private hell.

  Then there was a knock at the door, and in came Geoff Pidgeon, the amiable, chubby occupant of the room opposite. "Did I just see the Dean's clerk?"

  Luke waved his letter. "Too damn right."

  "You know, I haven't said a word to anyone about seeing you with that girl."

  "But who did?" Anthony said. "The only sneak in the House is Jenkins." Paul Jenkins was a religious zealot whose mission in life was to reform the morals of Harvard men. "But he's away for the weekend."

  "No, he's not," Pidgeon said. "He changed his plans."

  "Then it's him, damn his eyes," Anthony said. "I'm going to strangle the son of a bitch with my own hands."

  If Anthony were expelled, Luke realized suddenly, Billie would be free. He felt ashamed of such a selfish thought when his friend's life was about to be ruined. Then it struck him that Billie might be in trouble too. He said, "I wonder if Elspeth and Billie have had letters."

  Anthony said, "Why would they?"

  "Jenkins probably knows the names of our girlfriends--he takes a prurient interest in such things."

  Pidgeon said, "If he knows the names, we can be sure he reported them. That's what he's like."

  Luke said, "Elspeth is safe. She wasn't here, and no one can prove she was. But Billie could be expelled. Then she'll lose her scholarship. She explained it to me last night. She won't be able to study anywhere else."

  "I can't worry about Billie now," Anthony said. "I have to figure out what I'm going to do."

  Luke was shocked. Anthony had got Billie into trouble, and by Luke's code he should be more worried about her than about himself. But Luke saw a pretext to talk to Billie, and he could not resist it. Suppressing a guilty feeling, he said, "Why don't I go to the girls' dorm and see whether Billie's back from Newport yet?"

  "Would you?" Anthony said. "Thanks."

  Pidgeon went out. Anthony sat on the bed, smoking gloomily, while Luke quickly shaved and changed his clothes. Although he was in a hurry, he dressed with care, in a soft blue shirt, new flannel pants, and his favorite gray tweed jacket.

  It was two o'clock when he reached the Radcliffe dormitory quadrangle. The redbrick buildings were arranged around a small park where students strolled in pairs. This was where he had kissed Elspeth, he recalled unhappily, at midnight on a Saturday at the end of their first date. He detested men who switched loyalties as readily as they changed their shirts, yet here he was doing the thing he disdained--and he could not stop.

  A uniformed maid let him into the lobby of the dorm. He asked for Billie. The maid sat at a desk, picked up a speaking-tube of the kind used on ships, blew into the mouthpiece, and said, "Visitor for Miss Josephson."

  Billie came down wearing a dove-gray cashmere sweater and a plaid skirt. She looked lovely but distraught, and Luke longed to take her in his arms and comfort her. She, too, had been summoned to the office of Peter Ryder, and she told him that the man who had delivered her letter also left one for Elspeth.

  She showed him into the smoking room, where girls were allowed to receive male visitors. "What am I going to do?" she said.
Her face was drawn with distress. She looked like a grieving widow.

  Luke found her even more ravishing than yesterday. He longed to tell her that he would make everything all right. But he could not think of a way out. "Anthony could say it was someone else in the room, but he'd have to produce the girl."

  "I don't know what I'm going to tell my mother."

  "I wonder if Anthony would pay a woman, you know, a street woman, to say it was she."

  Billie shook her head. "They wouldn't believe it."

  "And Jenkins would tell them it was the wrong girl. He's the sneak that reported you."

  "My career is over." With a bitter smile, she said, "I'll have to go back to Dallas and be a secretary to an oil man in cowboy boots."

  Twenty-four hours ago Luke had been a happy man. It was hard to believe.

  Two girls in coats and hats burst into the lounge. Their faces were flushed. "Have you heard the news?" said one.

  Luke was not interested in news. He shook his head. Billie said desultorily, "What's happened?"

  "We're at war!"

  Luke frowned. "What?"

  "It's true," said the second girl. "The Japanese have bombed Hawaii!"

  Luke could hardly take it in. "Hawaii? What the heck for? What's in Hawaii?"

  Billie said, "Is this true?"

  "Everyone's talking about it on the street. People are stopping their cars."

  Billie looked at Luke. "I'm frightened," she said.

  He took her hand. He wanted to say he would take care of her, no matter what.

  Two more girls rushed in, talking excitedly. Someone brought a radio downstairs and plugged it in. There was an expectant silence while they waited for it to warm up. Then they heard an announcer's voice. "The battleship Arizona is reported destroyed and the Oklahoma sunk in Pearl Harbor. First reports say that more than one hundred U.S. aircraft were crippled on the ground at the Naval Air Station on Ford Island and at Wheeler Field and Hickam Field. American casualties are estimated to be at least two thousand dead and a thousand more injured."

  Luke felt a surge of rage. "Two thousand people killed!" he said.

  More girls came into the lounge, talking excitedly, and were rudely told to shut up. The announcer was saying: "No warning was given for the Japanese attack, which began at seven-fifty-five A.M. local time, just before one P.M. Eastern Standard Time."

  Billie said, "It means war, doesn't it."

  "You bet it does," Luke said angrily. He knew it was stupid and irrational to hate a whole nation, but he felt that way all the same. "I'd like to bomb Japan flat."

  She squeezed his hand. "I don't want you to be in a war," she said. There were tears in her eyes. "I don't want you hurt."

  His heart felt ready to burst. "I'm so happy you feel that way." He smiled ruefully. "The world is falling apart, and I'm happy." He looked at his watch. "I suppose we all have to see the Dean, even though we're at war." Then he was struck by a thought, and he fell silent.

  "What?" Billie said. "What is it?"

  "Maybe there is a way for you and Anthony to stay at Harvard."

  "How?"

  "Let me think."

  >>><<<

  Elspeth was nervous, but she told herself that she did not need to be afraid. She had broken the curfew last night, but she had not been caught. She was almost certain this was nothing to do with her and Luke. Anthony and Billie were the ones who were in trouble. Elspeth hardly knew Billie, but she cared for Anthony, and she had a dreadful feeling he was going to be thrown out.

  The four of them met outside the Dean's study. Luke said, "I've got a plan," but before he could explain, the Dean opened the door and summoned them inside. Luke had time only to say, "Leave the talking to me."

  The Dean of Students, Peter Ryder, was a fussy, old-fashioned man in a neat suit of black coat and waistcoat with gray striped pants. His bow tie was a perfect butterfly, his boots gleamed with polish, and his oiled hair looked like black paint on a boiled egg. With him was a gray-haired spinster called Iris Rayford who was responsible for the moral welfare of Radcliffe girls.

  They sat in a circle of chairs, as if for a tutorial. The Dean lit a cigarette. "Now, you boys had better tell the truth, like gentlemen," he said. "What happened in your room last night?"

  Anthony ignored Ryder's question and acted as if he were in charge of the proceedings. "Where's Jenkins?" he said curtly. "He's the sneak, isn't he?"

  "No one else has been asked to join us," the Dean said.

  "But a man has a right to be confronted by his accuser."

  "This isn't a court, Mr. Carroll," the Dean said testily. "Miss Rayford and I have been asked to establish the facts. Disciplinary proceedings, if such prove necessary, will follow in due course."

  "I'm not sure that's acceptable," Anthony said haughtily. "Jenkins should be here."

  Elspeth saw what Anthony was doing. He hoped Jenkins would be scared to repeat his accusation to Anthony's face. If that happened, the college might have to drop the matter. She did not think it would work, but perhaps it was worth a try.

  However, Luke cut the discussion short. "Enough of this," he said with an impatient gesture. He addressed the Dean. "I brought a woman into the House last night, sir."

  Elspeth gasped. What was he talking about?

  The Dean frowned. "My information is that it was Mr. Carroll who invited the woman in."

  "I'm afraid you've been misinformed."

  Elspeth burst out, "That's not true!"

  Luke gave her a look that chilled her. "Miss Twomey was in her dorm by midnight, as the dormitory mistress's overnight book will show."

  Elspeth stared at him. The book would show that, because a girlfriend had forged her signature. She realized she had better shut up before she talked herself into trouble. But what was Luke up to?

  Anthony was asking himself the same question. Staring at Luke, mystified, he said, "Luke, I don't know what you're doing, but--"

  "Let me tell the story," Luke said. Anthony looked doubtful, and Luke added, "Please."

  Anthony shrugged.

  The Dean said sarcastically: "Please carry on, Mr. Lucas. I can't wait."

  "I met the girl at the Dew Drop Inn," Luke began.

  Miss Rayford spoke for the first time. "The Dew Drop Inn?" she said incredulously. "Is that a pun?"

  "Yes."

  "Carry on."

  "She's a waitress there. Her name is Angela Carlotti."

  The Dean plainly did not believe a word. He said, "I was told that the person seen in Cambridge House was Miss Bilhah Josephson here."

  "No, sir," Luke said in the same tone of immovable certitude. "Miss Josephson is a friend of ours, but she was out of town. She spent last night at the home of a relative in Newport, Rhode Island."

  Miss Rayford spoke to Billie. "Will the relative confirm that?"

  Billie shot a bewildered look at Luke, then said, "Yes, Miss Rayford."

  Elspeth stared at Luke. Did he really intend to sacrifice his career to save Anthony? It was crazy! Luke was a loyal friend, but this was taking friendship too far.

  Ryder said to Luke: "Can you produce this... waitress?" He pronounced "waitress" with distaste, as if he were saying "prostitute."

  "Yes, sir, I can."

  The Dean was surprised. "Very well."

  Elspeth was astonished. Had Luke bribed a town girl to pretend to be the culprit? If he had, it would never work. Jenkins would swear it was the wrong girl.

  Then Luke said, "But I don't intend to bring her into this."

  "Ah," said the Dean. "In that case, you make it difficult for me to accept your story."

  Now Elspeth was baffled. Luke had told an implausible tale and had no way to back it up. What was the point?

  Luke said, "I don't think Miss Carlotti's evidence will be necessary."

  "I beg to differ, Mr. Lucas."

  Then Luke dropped his bombshell. "I'm leaving the college tonight, sir."

  Anthony said, "Luke!"

&nbs
p; The Dean said, "It will do you no good to leave before you can be sacked. There will still be an investigation."

  "Our country is at war."

  "I know that, young man."

  "I'm going to join the Army tomorrow morning, sir."

  Elspeth cried, "No!"

  For the first time, the Dean did not have an answer. He stared at Luke with his mouth open.

  Elspeth realized that Luke had been clever. The college could hardly pursue a disciplinary action against a boy who was risking his life for his country. And if there was no investigation, then Billie was safe.

  A mist of grief obscured her vision. Luke had sacrificed everything--to save Billie.

  Miss Rayford might still demand testimony from Billie's cousin, but he would probably lie for her. The key point was that Radcliffe could hardly expect Billie to produce the waitress Angela Carlotti.

  But none of that mattered to Elspeth now. All she could think of was that she had lost Luke.

  Ryder was muttering about making his report and leaving others to decide. Miss Rayford made a big fuss about writing down the address of Billie's cousin. But it was all camouflage. They had been outwitted, and they knew it.

  At last the students were dismissed.

  As soon as the door closed, Billie burst into tears. "Don't go to war, Luke!" she said.

  Anthony said, "You saved my life." He put his arms around Luke and embraced him. "I'll never forget this," Anthony said. "Never." He detached himself from Luke and took Billie's hand. "Don't worry," he said to her. "Luke's too smart to get killed."

  Luke turned to Elspeth. When he met her eye he flinched, and she realized that her rage must be plainly visible. But she did not care. She stared at him for a long moment, then she raised her hand and slapped his face, once, very hard. He let out an involuntary gasp of pain and surprise.

  "You fucking bastard," she said.

  Then she turned and walked away.

  1 P.M.

  Each Baby Sergeant motor is 4 feet long and 6 inches in diameter, and weighs 59 pounds. Its motor burns for just 61/2 seconds.

  Luke was looking for a quiet residential street. Washington was totally unfamiliar to him, as if he had never been here before. Driving away from Union Station he had chosen a direction at random and headed west. The road had taken him farther into the center of the city, a place of striking vistas and grandiose government buildings. Perhaps it was beautiful, but he found it intimidating. However, he knew that if he kept going in a straight line, he must eventually come to a place where normal families lived in regular houses.