But he was unable to bring them up to date.  For Ben, the past week had not happened - he had become unconscious in a taxicab in Washington ; he had been shaken into drunken wakefulness two hours earlier. "Of course I know what happened.  They kept me doped and in a completely dark room... and wrung rue out.  I vaguely remember some of it.  But I can't prove anything.  And there's the village Jefe and the madam of this dive they took me to - plus, I'm sure, plenty of other witnesses - 'to swear just how this gringo spent his time.  And there's nothing I can do about it."