"Why no, sir. I don't believe so."
"But your wife... your daughters...
"My wife is helping in the kitchen, sir. The girls are asleep, of course. It's much too late for them."
"You were the caretaker. You-" Oh say it! "You killed them."
Grady's face remained blankly polite. "I don't have any recollection of that at all, sir." His glass was empty. Grady plucked it from Jack's unresisting fingers and set about making another drink for him. There was a small white plastic bucket on his cart that was filled with olives. For soave reason
they reminded Jack of tiny severed heads. Grady speared one deftly, dropped it into the glass, and handed it to him.
"But you-"
"You're the caretaker, sir," Grady said mildly. "You've always been the caretaker. I should know, sir. I've always been here. The same manager hired us both, at the same time. Is it all right, sir?"
Jack gulped at his drink. His head was swirling. "Mr. Ullman -"
"I know no one by that name, sir."
"But he-"
"The manager," Grady said. "The hotel, sir. Surely you realize who hired you, sir."
"No," he said thickly. "No, I-"
"I believe you must take it up further with your son, Mr. Torrance, sir. He understands everything, although he hasn't enlightened you. Rather naughty of him, if I may be so bold, sir. In fact, he's crossed you at almost every turn, hasn't he? And him not yet six."
"Yes," Jack said. "He has." There was another wave of laughter from behind them.
"He needs to be corrected, if you don't mind me saying so. He needs a good talking-to, and perhaps a bit more. My own girls, sir, didn't care for the Overlook at first. One of them actually stole a pack of my matches and tried to burn it down. I corrected them. I corrected them most harshly. And when my wife tried to stop me from doing my duty, I corrected her." He offered Jack a bland, meaningless smile. "I find it a sad but true fact that women rarely understand a father's responsibility to his children. Husbands and fathers do have certain responsibilities, don't they, sir?"
"Yes," Jack said.
"They didn't love the Overlook as I did," Grady said, beginning to make him another drink. Silver bubbles rose in the upended gin bottle. "Just as your son and wife don't love it. not at present, anyway. But they will come to love it. You must show them the error of their ways, Mr. Torrance. Do you agree?"
"Yes. I do."
He did see. He had been too easy with them. Husbands and fathers did have certain responsibilities. Father Knows Best. They did not understand. That in itself was no crime, but they were willfully not understanding. He was not ordinarily a harsh man. But he did believe in punishment. And if his son and his wife had willfully set themselves against his wishes, against the things he knew were best for them, then didn't he have a certain duty-?
"A thankless child is sharper than a serpent's tooth," Grady said, handing him his drink. "I do believe that the manager could bring your son into line. And your wife would shortly follow. Do you agree, sir?"
He was suddenly uncertain. "I... but... if they could just leave... I mean, after all, it's me the manager wants, isn't it? It must be. Because-" Because why? He should know but suddenly he didn't. Oh, his poor brain was swimming.
"Bad dog!" Derwent was saying loudly, to a counterpoint of laughter. "Bad dog to piddle on the floor."
"Of course you know," Grady said, leaning confidentially over the cart, "your son is attempting to bring an outside party into it. Your son has a very great talent, one that the manager could use to even further improve the Overlook, to further... enrich it, shall we say? But your son is attempting to use that very talent against us. He is willful, Mr. Torrance, Sir. Willful."
"Outside party?" Jack asked stupidly.
Grady nodded.
"Who?"
"A nigger," Grady said. "A nigger cook."
"Hallorann?"
"I believe that is his name, sir, yes."
Another burst of laughter from behind them was followed by Roger saying something in a whining, protesting voice.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Derwent began to chant. The others around him took it up, but before Jack could hear what they wanted Roger to do now, the band began to play again-the tune was "Tuxedo Junction," with a lot of mellow sax in it but not much soul.
(Soul? Soul hasn't even been invented yet. Or has it?)
(A nigger... a nigger cook.)
He opened his mouth to speak, not knowing what might come out. What did was:
"I was told you hadn't finished high school. But you don't talk like an uneducated man."
"It's true that I left organized education very early, sir. But the manager takes care of his help. He finds that it pays. Education always pays, don't you agree, sir?"
"Yes," Jack said dazedly.
"For instance, you show a great interest in learning more about the Overlook Hotel. Very wise of you, sir. Very noble. A certain scrapbook was left in the basement for you to find-"
"By whom?" Jack asked eagerly.