The Dogtown Tourist Agency by Jack Vance Read Free Book Online

idle conversation.”
    “I do not care to talk to you.”
    “As you wish. But you should know that a man approximating your description has just committed a serious crime. Unless the actual criminal is captured you would be wise to prepare yourself for inconvenience.”
    For a moment it appeared that the man would make no reply. Then, in a rasping voice he asked: “Are you the police? If so, look elsewhere for your criminal.”
    “I am not connected with the police. May I ask your name?”
    “Gidion Dirby.”
    “Have you just paid a visit to the Triskelion?”
    “You might call it that.”
    “During this visit, did you expunge two of the Triarchs?”
    Gidion Dirby spoke in a wondering voice: “Two Triarchs? Which two?”
    “The Liss and the Olefract.”
    Gidion Dirby laughed softly and leaned back upon the bench.
    “The news comes as no great shock,” Hetzel observed.
    “I was supposed to kill the Gaean,” said Gidion Dirby. “The plan went wrong. After all that work, after all that effort…”
    “The more you explain, the less I understand,” said Hetzel. “In simple language: why did you disregard this complicated plan and kill the aliens instead of Sir Estevan?”
    “What are you saying? I killed no one whatever. Not that I wouldn’t like to.”
    Hetzel said thoughtfully: “The description of the assassin—a man vehement, dirty, and wild—is not too much different from your own.”
    Gidion Dirby laughed again: a hoarse, hacking sound. “There can’t be two of me. Sometimes I doubt if there’s even one.”
    Hetzel hazarded a shot in the dark. “Istagam has dealt unfairly with you.”
    Gidion Dirby cut short his mirth. “Istagam? Why Istagam?” He seemed concerned and puzzled.
    “You don’t know?”
    “Of course I don’t know. I don’t know anything.”
    Hetzel reached a decision. He rose to his feet. “Come along with me. At the Beyranion Captain Baw can make no demands upon either of us.”
    Dirby made no move. He blinked across the plaza, then looked back at Hetzel. “Why?”
    “I want to hear your story as a coherent unit, especially in regard to your dealings with Istagam.”
    Dirby grunted and rose to his feet. “I’ve got nothing better to do.”
    They moved off toward the Beyranion.

Chapter V
    Upon entering the suite, Hetzel indicated the bathroom. “Clean yourself. Drop your clothes down the chute.”
    Gidion Dirby grumbled something without conviction and went into the bathroom. Hetzel telephoned for a barber and fresh garments.
    In due course Gidion Dirby stood in the center of the room clean, shorn, shaved, and dressed in clean clothes. Only his surly expression remained. Hetzel surveyed him with qualified approval. “You’re a different person. Without risk you could return to the Triskelion and assassinate Vvs. Felius.”
    Gidion Dirby ignored the rather mordant pleasantry. He inspected himself in a mirror. “I haven’t looked at myself like this for…I don’t know how long. Months, I suppose.”
    Waiters appeared with a catering cart and laid out a meal. Gidion Dirby ate with an appetite he made no effort to conceal and drank more than half a bottle of green wine.
    Hetzel presently asked, “What, in general, are your plans?”
    “What good are plans? I have none. The police are looking for me.”
    “Not too diligently, perhaps.”
    Gidion Dirby looked up, suddenly alert. “Why do you say that?”
    “Isn’t it strange that an assassin could kill two Triarchs while Captain Baw looked on, then run away unscathed? I may, of course, be overestimating Captain Baw’s competence.”
    “I’m not an assassin,” said Gidion Dirby in a flat voice. “Why did you bring me here?”
    “I am interested in Istagam. I want to hear what you can tell me. It’s that simple.”
    “Not all that simple. You are a police official?”
    “No.”
    Dirby’s voice became sarcastic. “A philanthropist. An amateur of oddities?”
    “I am an effectuator,” said Hetzel.
    “It