Unknown - The Watch Dog

The stainless-steel doors parted with a pneumatic sigh, and Kate stepped onto the luxuriously thick carpeting and waited for Miss Randal, the executive receptionist, to look up and «discover» that the prime shareholder and Chairwoman of the Board of Directors was paying a call.

«Why, Mrs. Barrett!» she fairly shrieked, «What a delightful surprise!» She had that syrupy voice common to all receptionists, a tone that somehow lacked a shred of real emotion.

«Good afternoon, Miss Randal,» Kate said officiously; receptionists were not, as a rule, her favorite people. «Is Mr. Henderson in?» He damn well better be; we don't pay him to stay out of the office!

«Yes, ma'am, he's on a call to one of our buyers in New York, but I'm sure he'll interrupt it to see you. Just a moment, let me buzz him.»

«Thank you, I'd appreciate that.» Buyer in New York, indeed: who does she think she's fooling! Karl Henderson wouldn't condescend to speak to a buyer unless it was absolutely necessary!

Almost before the pretty young receptionist could get the words from her lips, the heavy wooden door marked Private opened with a noisy bang and Karl Henderson nearly threw himself into the foyer. «Kate! What a surprise! Come in, come in!»

Henderson made a flourishing gesture that was almost a bow and swept her into his spacious penthouse office with a gentle motion of his hand. The suite was tastefully done, decorated solely with merchandise the store handled and accented with a few odds and ends the company's interior designer had chosen; it was relatively simple and stark, befitting a retail merchandiser, and possessed what would have to be one of the most beautiful views in the suburban sprawl of the nation's capital. In the murky distance, you could actually catch a glimpse through the smog of the city's various monuments; the Washington monument stuck up through the brown haze somewhat appropriately as a single upraised finger.

«Sit down, Kate, love, and make yourself comfortable. Would you care for a drink? Or maybe some hors d'oeuvres from the dining room?»

«No, thanks, Karl,» she answered with a dismissing wave of her wrist. «I'm here on business this trip and I'll try to make it quick.»

«Oh …» Karl Henderson looked momentarily shaken, and his retailer's smile vanished in a trickle from his lips.

«Now don't go getting all worried, Karl. This is personal business, not store business. I have a problem maybe you can help me with.»

«Oh! Indeed!» His smile had mysteriously returned and Henderson was his ebullient self. «Anything for you, Kate, you know that!»

«I'll get straight to the point, Karl. We had a break-in last night out at our house …»

«A break-in! Goodness, did you call the police?»

«Yes, yes … actually whoever it was didn't get in. They got scared away when we turned on the lights. But it all got me thinking … two women alone in that big house with God-knows-who riding around the streets. Well, I want to do something to give us a bit more security. What do you recommend? A burglar alarm?»

«Just a second, Kate. Let's bring in an expert … our security chief, Allen Biggs. I'll call him up here.» He pressed a button on his intercom, and when Miss Darnel's voice chirped through, he gave instructions for Biggs to be sent for from his office in the basement. Henderson talked shop for a few minutes while they awaited the security man, but also as friends; Karl had heard that Mrs. Barrett never approved of John's choice, but he had grown used to that and simply tried not to worry about his tenure. Worrying was most of the game in the retail trade – worry about being overstocked, about being under- stocked, about the competition undercutting you, about the competition getting more for the same merchandise. Worry, worry, worry … he needed another worry like an extra leg! Kate Barrett was the boss here now and Karl accepted it as something he could do nothing to change.

There was a buzz from the desk outside, and a couple of words passed through the communications system from the store's general manager, and when the door opened once again there was a uniformed man standing there looking for all the world like a policeman. Kate nearly gasped with astonishment but she stifled it in time; was this man an employee of Barrett's? What was this uniform?

«Kate, I'd like you to meet Allen Biggs, our head of security. Allen, Mrs. Barrett.» There was a flurry of exchanged greetings and then everyone settled into comfortable armchairs around the manager's rosewood desk. «Suppose you tell Allen what you told me, Kate. If there's anything he doesn't know about security, it hasn't been invented yet! He's cut our shoplifting and burglary in half since he signed on with us.»

«Oh, how wonderful,» Kate said somewhat lamely. «I didn't even know we had a crime problem at Barrett's. I never recall John mentioning anything about that in the past. Maybe a couple of shoplifters now and then, but nothing the floorwalkers couldn't handle.»

«That was in the good old days, Kate, back before there were so many hoodlums about. You simply wouldn't believe the problems we've had! But I won't bore you with all that; tell Allen what your own problem is and he'll tell you how to go about solving it. I have absolute faith in Allen here when it comes to security!»

Kate told the whole story about the break-in, how she lived alone in a big rambling house with her daughter, and then,» … And naturally, I figured some kind of burglar alarm system would be the answer. You know, one of those fancy electronic deals that picks up any movement where it shouldn't be and notifies the police or whatever. But you tell me, Mr. Biggs, you're the expert.»

Allen Biggs ran his fingers through his rapidly-thinning hair and shook his head. «No offense, ma'am, but I think a burglar alarm system is a waste of good money. They're all right maybe for a big empty warehouse, some kind of confined space where you know definitely when and where there is to be authorized movement, but not for a house. There are just too many things to go wrong … and besides, most of the burglars know more about beating the systems than we know about installing them!

«Then what do you suggest I do? Build a wall with an electric fence on top?»

«No, Mrs. Barrett, that might be a little hasty just yet; wait until the crime really gets bad before you send out for the masons. But seriously, I do think there is a practical solution, particularly practical because of your close relationship with the store.»

«Goodness, tell me,» Kate smiled. «You've really got my interest up now!»

«I suggest you get a trained guard dog.»

«A dog?! What on earth would I do with a dog? I know absolutely nothing about taking care of one of those beasts. And anyway, I'd probably be more afraid of him than a burglar! John … my late husband … never cared much for animals so we never had one around the house. Oh, I don't know, it just doesn't sound like the solution for me.»

«Well, you're the boss, Mrs. Barrett, but could I make one suggestion before you make up your mind completely?»

«What's that?»

«How about coming downstairs with me and taking a look at the dog I have in mind for you; he's something really special.»

Kate Barrett was confused. «A dog here? When did Barrett's start selling pets, Karl?»

Allen answered for his superior. «He's not for sale, ma'am, at least not to the public. He's one of our four nighttime patrol dogs, especially trained to look for trespassers lurking about the store or the warehouse out back. This one's a bit unusual, because he seems to like people so much. Don't get me wrong, he can be vicious when he's required to be, but he seems sort of lonely, somehow, in that night patrol job. I was thinking of selling him and getting another, but if you like him, he's yours. I'll bring him out to your house and get him used to you and your daughter. All you'd have to do is dump a bit of feed into his bucket every morning and he'll do the rest.»