Rex Stout - The Father Hunt

"The only way to make it any surer would be to look at them. It came straight from the top man at the Eighty-

sixth Street branch of the Continental, where she cashed a hundred of them. His name's Atwood."

"And Mr. Ballou is now a director of the Seaboard Bank and Trust Company?"

"He is unless he quit or has been bounced very recently. It was this year's edition of Rand McNally's Inter national Bank Directory."

"How difficult would it be to learn about the checks without Mr. Ballou's help?"

"Close to impossible. The Seaboard is a two-billion-dollar outfit. Their main office probably draws thousands of checks in a year, maybe tens of thousands, drawn by God knows how many clerks. And of course they have automation. I don't see how we could even start. I suppose we could have Sue Corbett, or Miss Denovo herself, get to some assistant vice-president and seduce him, and if it didn't work try another one, and in a year or so-"

"Get Mr. Ballou."

"You'll talk?"

"No. It will be more exigent from you. Tell him that if it will suit his convenience I would like to see him, here, at six o'clock."

I wheeled my chair and reached for the book, got the number of the Federal Holding Corporation, and dialed. Once before, when I had tried for Ballou on the phone, it had taken three people to get me through, and this time it was the same-first the switchboard female, then another female who made me spell my name twice, and then a man. They were all so reserved that I didn't even know if he was there until his voice came.

"Goodwin? Archie Goodwin?"

"Right." Knowing the voice, I went on. "I'm glad I got you. I'm calling for Mr. Wolfe. If it will suit your convenience he would like to see you, here at his office, at six o'clock, or as soon after that as you can make it."

Silence; then: "Today?"

"Yes. It's a little urgent."

A longer silence, and of course I knew why. He couldn't ask what was up. He couldn't ask anything on a phone that someone else might be on. But he did. He asked, "Will it take long?"

"Probably not. Half an hour ought to do it."

A shorter silence; then: "I'll be there at six." He hung up.

I cradled it, turned to Wolfe, who had listened in, and said, "He'll be expecting a holy mess," and Wolfe said he should be relieved to find there wasn't one. He looked at the clock, saw that he had an hour before leaving for the plant rooms, and told me to take my notebook. There was still unanswered mail from last week.

At 5:30, having finished the dozen or so letters he had given me, I went up to my room to change my shirt, because the walk to the bank and back with the temperature twenty degrees above what it was in that air-conditioned house had worked up a sweat, but I was down again in twenty minutes, so I was there when Wolfe came down. As he reached his desk the doorbell rang.

I believe I mentioned somewhere in my report of the death of a doxy that Avery Ballou's face was seamy but had no sag. Now, I saw as I opened the door and let him in, it did have a sag. But he was trying to look grim and ready for anything, and that didn't go very well with the sag. He didn't walk, he strode, down the hall and on in. As he sat in the red leather chair, not settled back, after acknowledging Wolfe's greeting with a nod that wasn't cordial at all, he rubbed his brow with a palm. I had seen him do that before, more than once, when he had been in a mess.

His hand dropped to grip the chair arm. "I'm not ac-cust-" he began, but it came out hoarse and he stopped. He started over. "I'm not in the habit of getting a peremptory summons from a-from anybody."

Wolfe nodded. "I suppose not. But I needed to see you. You may remember that I never leave my house on business errands, but there was also the consideration that you would probably prefer not to have Mr. Goodwin or me call at your office. First I'll-"

"Why do you need to see me?"

"I'll tell you in a moment. First I'll relieve your mind. My need has no connection with what happened eighteen months ago, none whatever. No connection with you or your affairs. I am having-"

"Then goddam it, why did-"

"If you please. I am having a rare experience, almost without precedent. I am embarrassed. I need to say something and I am unsure about how to say it. I must ask your help on a problem, and how do I do it without risking misunderstanding?"

"I don't know. I never saw you at a loss for words. Is that straight? It has nothing to do with me?"

"Yes. It's my problem. And Mr. Goodwin's."

Ballou took a deep breath, settled back in the chair, turned to me, and said, "I could use a drink."

"Gin on the rocks with lemon peel?" I asked. "There's fresh mint if you want it."

"You remember? I'll be damned. No mint."

I didn't move; I didn't intend to miss the next five minutes. Wolfe, seeing I wasn't going, pushed a button, and when Fritz came gave him a triple order: gin for the guest, beer for him, and milk for me.

He squinted at Ballou. "It's difficult. I can't pretend that you are under any obligation to me. You paid me a substantial sum for the ticklish and knotty job I did for you. You did say that you had to be rescued from that predicament no matter what it cost, but that was merely the desperate squawk of a man under intolerable pressure. The account was settled. You owe me nothing. But the fact remains that Mr. Goodwin and I remain in possession of a secret which you still wish to protect at any cost, and we could support our knowledge with evidence. Then no matter what I say, how I put it, how can I ask you to help me on a problem without risking an indictment for extortion? For blackmail? Not by a jury; by you."

He compressed his lips and shook his head. "Confound it. Words won't do it. No words will erase or suspend your awareness that I could divulge that secret. There are no conceivable circumstances in which Mr. Goodwin or I would divulge it, but you know we could, and I can't open your skull and select those cells and remove them."

He shook his head some more. "I'll try another tack. I need your help. I presume to request it solely on the supposition that you may be willing to supply it not to meet any obligation, but to show your continued appreciation for the service I rendered you. If your appreciation has withered or vanished, I make no request."

"It hasn't." The sag was gone, and Ballou had even smiled a couple of times. "It's too bad you didn't know how to say it. I'm glad you're not going to open my skull, I appreciate that, too. What's your problem?"

That had to wait because Fritz came with the drinks. He served Wolfe's beer first, the bottle unopened because that's a rule, and Wolfe got his opener from the drawer, a gold one Marko Vukcic had given him that didn't work very well. By the time Fritz had served my milk and had gone, Ballou had downed a good half of his gin, but the bottle and ice were there on the stand.

Wolfe licked foam from his lips and eyed Ballou. "Well," he said, "I did my best. Making the request is much simpler. According to Mr. Goodwin, you are a director of the Seaboard Bank and Trust Company."

He nodded. "I'm on the board. I'm on several boards. Eight, I think."