The Way Through Doors by Jesse Ball Read Free Book Online Page A

that time they were up the steps and knocking on the front door. A guard came up with a flashlight.
    —Who are you? he asked. What do you want?
    S. held up his badge. The guard examined it, and unlocked the door. Opening it, he said,
    —All right, well, come on in.
    S. did a slight bow in the guard’s direction, then continued past him into the post office.
    —Do you know where we’re going? he asked the guess artist quietly.
    —Not really, said the guess artist. Give me a moment.
    He looked in the direction of the security guard, who was examining the lock mechanism on the door. He closed his eyes for a second, then opened them.
    —This way, he said.
    —Did you just…? asked S.
    —Better not to think about it, said the guess artist.
    They continued down a short stairwell to a lower level, then along a ramp, through a double door, into a right-angling hallway, through a sort of auditorium, and then up to a large locked door. Beside it was a bell.
    The guess artist stopped in front of the bell.
    —I think it’s important that you ring the bell. We don’t want to mess this up.
    —You’re right, said S. Do you remember what Ref the Sly said to his mother when he returned from killing Thorbjorn?
    —It was a riddle, but I don’t remember what, said the guess artist, unhappy that he had been caught forgetful of his sagas.
    —He says that he probed the path to his heart. Also he says that he was offered a knife and a whetstone. I think Thorbjorn had it coming, don’t you?
    —Probably, said the guess artist.
    S. pulled very hard on the bell cord. The resulting sound was quite loud, but neither of them stirred an inch. The municipal inspector was thinking about the girl and how she had lost her memory because of being hit by a taxi. The guess artist was thinking that the municipal inspector was thinking of the Thomas Gray poem that goes
     
Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;
Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway’d,
Or wak’d to ecstasy the living lyre.
     
    The guess artist was touched very much by this. He thought it wonderful that the municipal inspector should admire also a verse of which he was so fond.
    But, of course, he was wrong. The municipal inspector was thinking about how it was strange that Mora had managed to land entirely upon her head, and did things like that happen to her often? Perhaps they did, and if so, was she a good person to know? Perhaps not.
    A little metal window slid open, and someone’s eye was looking at them.
    —What do you want?
    —Is this the dead-letter office? asked S.
    —Are you asking me? asked the dead-letter clerk.
    —I suppose, said S.
    —Then come back tomorrow. At this hour, we only deal with implacable demands, particularly those enforced with fists and knives.
    He shut the metal window, and his footsteps were audible as he walked away from the door.
    S. rang the bell again. After a moment, the footsteps could be heard again. Again the window slid open.
    —What do you want?
    The man’s voice was a little whiny.
    —Let us in, said S. I’m an Inspector.
    He showed his badge again.
    The metal window slid shut, and they could hear locks being unbound. Slowly the door swung open.
    —Well, come on in. You’re the first visitors in a long while, said the dead-letter clerk.
    He was a tiny man, with a long face, long fingers, and a keen gaze like a lamp.
    —We’re looking for— began the guess artist.
    —Don’t tell me, said the clerk. You’ll see why.
    He led them down a low hallway, so low that S. and the guess artist were forced to duck their heads as they walked. At the end there was a step down and a turn. As they came around the turn, they beheld an enormous room the size of a gymnasium. The entire room was piled high with letters of every kind. One huge pile of letters, perhaps two stories tall. Up above, on the ceiling, there was some kind of aperture that opened and closed. Through it, the guess