rdroom. He
looked up when Mike came in.

"Hullo, Mike," he said listlessly. "Come sit. Have some coffee."

There was a faint aroma in the air which indicated that there was more
in the cup than just coffee. "No, thanks, Pete. I'll sit this one out. I
wanted to talk to you."

"Sit. I am drinking a toast to Mister Lew Mellon." He pointed at the
coffee. "Sure you won't have a mite? It's sweetened from the grape."

"No, thanks again." Mike sat down. "It's Mellon I wanted to talk about.
Did you know him well, Pete?"

"Purty well," Pete said, nodding. "Yeah, purty well. I always figured
him for a great little bloke. Can't figure what got into him."

"Me either. Pete, you told me he was an Anglo-Catholic--a good one, you
said."

"'At's right."

"Well, how did you mean that?"

Pete frowned. "Just what I said. He studied his religion, he went to
Mass regularly, said his prayers--that sort of thing. And he was, I will
say, a Christian gentleman in every sense of the word." There was
irritation in his voice, as though Mike had impugned the memory of a
friend.

"Don't get huffy, Pete; he struck me as a pretty nice person, too--"

"Until he flipped his lid," said Pete. "But that might happen to
anybody."

"Sure. But what I want to know--and don't get sore--is, did he show any
kind of--well, _instability_ before this last outbreak?"

"Like what?"

"I mean, was he a religious nut? Did he act 'holier than thou' or--well,
was he a fanatic, would you say?"

"No, I wouldn't say so. He didn't talk much about it. I guess you
noticed that. I mean, he didn't preach. He smoked some and had his glass
of wine now and then--even had a cocktail or two on occasion. His views
on sex were orthodox, I reckon--I mean, as far as I know. He'd tell an
off-color story, if it wasn't _too_ bad. But he'd get up and leave
quietly if the boys started tellin' about the women they'd made.
Fornication and adultery just weren't his meat, I'd say."

"I know he wasn't married," Mike said. "Did he date much?"

"Some. He liked to dance. Women seemed to like him."

"How about men?"

"Most of the boys liked him."

"That's not what I meant."

"Oh. Was he queer?" Pete frowned. "I'd damn near stake my life that he
wasn't."

"You mean he didn't practice it?"

"I don't believe he even thought about it," Pete said. "Course, you
can't tell what's really goin' on in a man's mind, but--" His frown
became a scowl. "Damn it, Mike, just because a man