Subject: (urth) The Ziggurat and the "petite" lie

From: Dave Tallman <davetallman at msn.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:09:22 +0000

There's something very strange at the end of "The Ziggurat." Emery is 
trying to lie his way out of trouble and he tells the police that 
"Tamar" is an exchange student who is staying with them. A little later 
he says:

"My wife calls her petite." The lie came easily, unbidden.

What's going on here? He's telling a lie his wife can contradict. That 
might make sense if they had a loving relationship and could collude 
beforehand, but they are adversaries in a divorce case. Another possible 
explanation is that he knows his wife and kids are dead. So do we need 
to dust off the Maximum Delusion theory I've seen in the archives?

---

From: Dave Tallman <davetallman at msn.com>
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:36:21 +0000

> to dust off the Maximum Delusion theory I've seen in the archives
It looks like he just isn't thinking clearly, which is understandable. 
He doesn't believe his wife is dead, because he whispers to Tamar that  
his wife will not want a divorce after she learns of the new company. 
Tamar is asleep and doesn't understand everything he says, so there is 
no reason for him to lie to her.