Part 8 (1/2)
Ms. Brattle's gavel came down with a bang. ”Please. We were discussing erections.”
Thad Pilty remarked as to how there was something called the IIEF, the International Index of Erectile Function.
”Thank G.o.d,” said Izzy. ”For a moment I thought you were referring to L Inst.i.tute International d etudes Francaises.” L Inst.i.tute International d etudes Francaises.”
”But does it define an erection?” Professor Athol asked.
”Not as such. I think the accepted definition is a p.e.n.i.s sufficiently rigid for una.s.sisted penetration of the v.a.g.i.n.a.”
”I think it's like the judge said,” Ms. Doveen put in. ”I can't define it, but I know one when I see one.”
”Can we all agree on Professor Pilty's definition?” Professor Athol asked.
”Why do we have to agree?” someone said. ”It's been established that Mr. Jones had an erection.”
”I think definitions are important,” Professor Athol retorted. ”Without the presence of an erection, rape is impossible.”
”That's not true. Men rape women mentally and culturally all the time,” Ms. Schanke put in. ”So-called civilization is one long rape.”
Ariel Dearth, a.s.siduously taking notes and uncharacteristically quiet, declared that ”erections per se per se have no standing in law, as far as I know. I doubt there is a legal definition of an erection as such, but there's considerable case law as to what const.i.tutes penetration.” have no standing in law, as far as I know. I doubt there is a legal definition of an erection as such, but there's considerable case law as to what const.i.tutes penetration.”
”More to the point,” Thad Pilty a.s.serted, ”if Mr. Jones is accusing Ms. Sp.r.o.nger of rape then we have to establish that not only was there an erection involved but that under the circ.u.mstances its presence was involuntary.”
During a tedious back-and-forth that ensued, the issue arose as to exactly how far into the act of heteros.e.xual intercourse in which the genitals of both partners are ”in deep contact” can a woman legitimately change her mind and ask her partner to withdraw.
Professor Pilty cleared his throat and opined that once there had been ”consensual penetration without any obvious trauma,” it seemed unreasonable to ask the male to withdraw. Certainly, he continued, ”once e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n has begun, it's unrealistic to think that a man can just stop and pull out.”
”That's total bulls.h.i.+t,” Ms. Berthe Schanke proclaimed. ”Rape is rape and nothing you say changes that.”
Constance Brattle reminded the subcommittee that coitus interruptus coitus interruptus had been practiced since ancient times and was considered a legitimate part of the s.e.xual repertoire. She wondered aloud why Mr. Jones, if he had wanted to end the intercourse, did not simply detumesce? had been practiced since ancient times and was considered a legitimate part of the s.e.xual repertoire. She wondered aloud why Mr. Jones, if he had wanted to end the intercourse, did not simply detumesce?
I'm afraid some of the men smirked.
Ms. Brattle, noticing that response, said, ”What I'm saying is that he could have thought of something to distract himself.”
”Such as?”
”I don't know...preparing his income tax...”
”Or sleet falling on nettles.”
”Or battery acid.”
”Or having a root ca.n.a.l.”
”Or his wife.”
”Please, gentlemen, this is a serious matter.”
Izzy Landes sensibly argued that perhaps Mr. Jones was not in a position to withdraw given Ms. Sp.r.o.nger's considerable weight. ”If a man is expected to desist at any point along the way, then certainly women should be expected to do the same.”
Ms. Doveen, in what seemed to me an attempt to keep up s.e.xually, so to speak, with the Joneses from a gender point of view, retorted that ”when a lady gets her groove going, there is nothing going to stop her.”
Somewhat surprisingly, I was asked by Professor Athol for my opinion before I had a chance to proffer it.
I stated that whether a man is responsible or not for his erections, surely he remains responsible for what he does with them. I also remarked that I was starting to understand more and more why those so-called old fuddy-duddies of yore insisted on both high standards of conduct and their enforcement, through chaperones if necessary. Certainly if that young woman in the White House had been more closely supervised, there would not have been that encounter with the former President and the disgrace it brought to his exalted office.
No actual finding was made as to the merits of the case. We took the matter under advis.e.m.e.nt while recommending that both parties seek counseling and that they avoid having lunch together unless others were present.
I was not long back from this meeting when Mr. Castor accosted me by phone again. He asked me if I had any questions about the contract he had sent by overnight mail some days before. I told him I had no questions insofar as I had not read and did not intend to read the contract he had sent me and that my first answer was my final answer. When he tried to engage me in conversation I put him on hold long enough for him to hang up.
It should not have surprised me, but Malachy Morin lumbered into my office not long after lunch with the florid face of the freshly boozed. He lost no time in bl.u.s.tering on about Urgent Productions and the need to go ahead with ”Brauer's project.”
I told him he was wasting his time, something I have a feeling he is very good at. ”I will not have the museum turned into a setting for sensationalism.”
”Norm,” he said, in that fake congeniality of his that makes me clench my teeth, ”we live in a new age. Any public perception is better than none. People are gonna flock here.”
I told him I did not approve of flocking people.
He stood and pulled himself up to his full six foot five or six, a grandeur compromised somewhat by a rather rotund middle and an agitation that showed itself in the color of his ears. ”I'm afraid I'm going to have to overrule you, Norm.”
”You don't have the authority to overrule me, Mr. Morin. The university has no warrant here that's in any way enforceable. We are establis.h.i.+ng that in court. If Mr. Castor or any of his minions as much as sets foot on museum property, I will contact the Seaboard Police Department and have him arrested on criminal trespa.s.s.”
Mr. Morin shook his head with the a.s.sumed grimace of the worldly-wise and turned to go. At the door, just as in a certain kind of movie, he stopped and looked back. ”You just don't get it, do you Norm. You just don't get it.”
”What don't I get, Mr. Morin?”
”Mr. Morin, Mr. f*cking Morin. You know how to make it sound like a put-down. Well you ought to know, Bow Tie, that there's some serious and tough, very tough money behind this thing. I'm not talking about a couple of Hollywood f.a.gs, either, that want to make some kind of feel-good movie...”
”What are you trying to say?
”I ain't going to say any more. Just remember what I told you.”
”It will take an effort.”
At which point he stormed out.
There still has been no word from Korky. I finally got up the courage yesterday to tell Elsbeth he had gone missing. I was forced to, really. Not only has Korky been officially listed as missing by the Seaboard Police Department, but the Bugle Bugle is to run a front-page story tomorrow with an account of his disappearance. A goodly sum has been collected as a reward to anyone coming forward with information as to his whereabouts. But as time pa.s.ses, hope dims. is to run a front-page story tomorrow with an account of his disappearance. A goodly sum has been collected as a reward to anyone coming forward with information as to his whereabouts. But as time pa.s.ses, hope dims.
She took it well, as though, in facing her own death she already knew all she needed to know about disappearing. ”I hope he's all right,” she said. ”But if he has gone to that great restaurant in the sky, I'm sure he's telling the head chef what he thinks of the ambrosia.”
Lieutenant Tracy called me this afternoon as a courtesy to fill me in on some new developments. He told me Korky was last reported seen at the White Trash Grill, which opened some months ago at the old truck stop out on the bypa.s.s. According to the lieutenant, it is a hangout for a pretty tough bunch of what he called biker and trucker guys. He said prost.i.tutes of various persuasions cruise the trucks pulled up for the night, and this attracts other unsavory types. Korky's editor at the Bugle Bugle said he may have gone out there to do a review of the restaurant, but he didn't know for sure. As for suspects in any possible foul play, I told Lieutenant Tracy he might want to check Korky's clips at the said he may have gone out there to do a review of the restaurant, but he didn't know for sure. As for suspects in any possible foul play, I told Lieutenant Tracy he might want to check Korky's clips at the Bugle Bugle morgue. I daresay there are lots of restaurateurs out there who would love to see him choke on some indelicate morsel. At the same time, I don't know why, I cannot get out of my mind that Korky's disappearance has something to do with the Ossmann-Woodley case. morgue. I daresay there are lots of restaurateurs out there who would love to see him choke on some indelicate morsel. At the same time, I don't know why, I cannot get out of my mind that Korky's disappearance has something to do with the Ossmann-Woodley case.
Speaking of which, I informed the lieutenant what I had learned at the meeting of the Subcommittee on Appropriateness. We agreed the best course right now would be for me to contact the parties involved and try to find out quietly if what happened that afternoon in the storage closet at Sigmund Library has any bearing on the Ossmann-Woodley case. He told me to get back to him were I to run into any real obstacles.
Well, I think I'll wend my way home. I only hope that Sixy and Diantha will be going out tonight. The thought of listening to all that thumping dispirits me.