Стюарт Вудс - Foul Play

“Shoot!”

“Do you recall installing an Excelsior at Troutman Industries, a factory in Lenox, Massachusets, in...”

“June of 1939,” Sol said. “Of course. I installed that one of your friend Bianchi’s on that same trip, then I managed to forget to go back to Germany.”

“That’s the one. Do you recall if you taped the combination somewhere in the room where the safe was when you were done?”

“That was my normal practice, but I can’t say for certain if I did so on that occasion. Do you want to open it?”

“Yes. Two of Mr. Troutman’s descendants are my clients.”

“Do they have the combination?”

“Mr. Rod Troutman memorized it, but isn’t sure if he can recall it on demand.”

“Then I’ll have to make another trip to Massachusetts, I suppose.”

“Do you feel up to the trip, Sol?”

“I do. How long a drive is it?”

“Oh, we’ll fly you up in a private jet.”

“Wonderful! I’ve never flown in a private jet.”

“You’ll enjoy the experience.”

“When?”

“I’ll need to talk to the Troutmans and make some arrangements. May I phone you back in a day or two?”

“Of course. This is a good time of day.”

“I’ll speak to you then,” Stone said, and they both hung up. Stone went back to the dining room. “Good news: Solomon Fink is alive and well and says he’ll come to Massachusetts to open the safe, if necessary.”

“I may be able to remember the combination,” Rod said, “but did you ask if he had concealed it somewhere?”

“I did, but he’s not sure. And, Rod, unless you’re certain you have the right combination, you shouldn’t try to open it. If you enter the wrong combination too many times, the beast will lock you out. Then there’s nobody in the world to open it but Solomon Fink.”

“Perhaps we should invite him for a visit, then.”

“I have already done so, and he has accepted. My concern now is access to the safe. You say you have all the keys?”

“I do.”

“Then we will have to find a way to get past whatever security arrangements the new owners have made.”

“I still have friends there,” Shep said. “I can find out what they’ve done.”

“We’ll need passcodes, too, and the knowledge of security guards, if any, on the grounds and in the building.”

“I’ll make a couple of phone calls,” Shep said.

“I’ll do it,” Rod interjected.

“You can’t call anybody, Dad. You’re dead, remember?”

“Ah, yes. Slipped my mind.”

“Rod,” Stone said, “why don’t you write down the combination that’s in your head. It may come in useful.”

“Of course,” Rod said. He was handed a pad and pen.

“Write it down three times, Dad,” Shep said.

Rod grasped the pen, wrote it down, ripped off a page and wrote it a second and third time.

Shep looked at the three pages. “That’s great, Dad, thanks.” He put the sheets in his pocket.

They were served coffee and brandy in the library.

“Shep,” Stone said, “you look concerned.”

“I think you’d better get Mr. Fink up to Lenox as soon as you can. When do you want to go into the factory?”

“Are your employees churchgoing people?” Stone asked.

“Most of them. Why do you ask?”

“How about Sunday morning?”

“Perfect. The heathens will be on the golf course.”

“Good. Would you still definitely like to bring up Sol Fink?”

“Yes. Because Dad wrote down three different combinations.”

“Oh.”

Stone walked into Rod’s study later that night. Shep was at the desk, making phone calls.

“How’s it going?” Stone asked.

“It’s going. The good news is, the new owners haven’t done anything radical to the security system, which we installed a couple of years ago. The entry codes have changed, but I have them in my notebook.”

“Is the safe still in your dad’s old office?”

“Yes, and they haven’t been able to open it.”

“We’re going to need Sol on site, then.”

“Yes. One thing: they’re bringing a safecracker up from New York on Monday, and they expect he’ll open it.”

“Is Rod’s office occupied by someone new?”

“Yes, a man named Mueller, a German national whose job it is to visit their new acquisitions and get rid of the fat on the payroll. As you can imagine, he’s not very popular; behind his back they call him the führer. He plays golf on Sunday mornings.”

“What else is in the safe, besides the patents?”

“I don’t remember. It’s been a long time since I was inside it.”

“We’ll have to bring Sol up on Saturday and accommodate him somewhere that night.”

“Right. He will fly into the Pittsfield Airport.”

“Where can we stash Sol for the night?”

“At Dad’s house. We keep a skeleton staff there to tend to it, and I’ll have them bring in anyone that’s necessary, like a cook. It’s a big place. We can all stay there.”

“Are we going to drive?”

“That would involve a ferry going and returning, with a long drive in between. Why don’t we have your airplane land here and pick us up, with Sol already on board, and fly us to Lenox? I can have us met there.”

“Good idea. I’ll arrange the flight while you deal with the domestic arrangements.”

“How many will we be?”

“You and I, Sol, and Doug, for security. I’ll speak to him about it.” Stone left and went looking for Doug. He found him in the kitchen, having just finished his rounds.

“A word, Doug?”

Doug waved him to a chair at the kitchen table. “What can I do for you, Stone?”

“Four of us, including you, are going to make a little excursion tomorrow.”

Doug’s eyebrows went up. “What kind of excursion?”

“A Citation M2 is going to pick us up tomorrow and fly us to Lenox, Massachusetts, for an overnight stay.”

“Why?”

“We need to retrieve some documents from an old safe in Rod’s former office. We’ll do it on Sunday morning, when everybody at the factory is either in church or on the golf course.”

“You want me to arrange accommodations?”

“Already done. We’ll be staying at Rod’s house. Shep is arranging for a cook and other staff.”

“How are we planning to get into the factory?”

“Rod has all the keys.”

“Is Rod going with us?”

“No, he’s still dead, and we don’t want him spotted in the neighborhood.”

“How are you going to get into the safe?”

“We have an expert joining us. We’ll be back here by noon on Sunday, then the airplane will take our yegg back to Teterboro.”

“Okay, let’s sum up,” Doug said. “You’re going to take a man we’ve gone to a great deal of trouble to make disappear, and land him in the middle of an area where he’s well known; then we’re going to get ourselves into a building where we have no information on the security system, get into a safe, steal the documents, get back to the airport, and fly back here, right?”

“Well, we’re reliably informed that the security system hasn’t been altered, except for new entry codes, and we have those.”

“That’s a relief, but nothing else you’ve told me is. This is going to be a terribly insecure mission.”

“Please tell me how we can make it more secure.”

“I’m going to need six more people, and none of them from this house. They can meet us there. They’ll need to be licensed to carry in Massachusetts. I’ll need to arrange transport from the airport to the house, and...”

“Shep is arranging that.”

“What, in the family limo, which will be well known in those parts? Or is he renting, using his own credit card?”