Goldengirl

The dealing at Cambria Pines had been a first step. She now had the best share of the revenue she could reasonably hope for, and in the most secure form. There were details to watch — the terms of the trust fund were important — but the principle of her right to a major share had been established.

It still puzzled him that Serafin had agreed so readily to the changes. The specter of adverse publicity may have frightened him a little, and perhaps he assumed his influence over Goldine would guarantee him fat pickings, but the way he had capitulated without a syllable of protest was difficult to understand. It seemed he was not interested in haggling over terms. If that was so, it would be useful to know what did interest him in all this.

Now that he was back in circulation, Dryden could begin to check some of the details Serafin had mentioned in his account of Goldine. Her mother’s accident: there should be something in the files of the Los Angeles Times. The Tamarisk Lodge children’s home: did it exist? What were Serafin’s professional qualifications? That kind of information was easy to verify in a library. It was the second stage of research, the business of visiting people and asking questions, that could raise problems. He would be in a spot if anything got back to Serafin.

Jackie came in again with the calendar. ‘I’ve put off all the lunch dates up to Friday, and I’m working on next week. By the way, Mr. Dryden, did you wear those shirts I bought?’

‘Forgive me, Jackie. I should have mentioned that. They were fine.’

‘Your weekend was okay?’

‘Fine. Just fine.’

‘I’ll get back to the phone, then,’ said Jackie.

She had come to him a year ago with a rave reference from one of the top executives at Gulf Oil. So far, she had measured up to it. Quick, thoughtful and intelligent, she had not given him the least doubt of her integrity. He didn’t like damaging the confidence between them, but he would rather say nothing than fabricate an account of his weekend.

The Times building on West First Street was nearer than the Huntington Library, so he used the Information Service there. He turned to the Directory of Medical Specialists and found:

SERAFIN, William Joseph. Physiologist, b. Salzburg Sept. 16, 1920. s. Anton and Olga (Merttens). M.D. Geneva, 1945; Ph.D. Yale, 1951; Research Fellow, Yale Sch. Medicine 1951-2; m. Jean Dixon, 1952; Calif. Inst. Hum. Sc., 1953-; Prof, of Anthropometry, 1969-; Weinraub Found. Med. Research Fellow, Vienna, 1962-3; Fellow, Amer. Ac. of Phys. Ed.; Member Amer. Assn. U. Profs.; publ. Hereditary Factors in Human Physique, 1964; Anthropometric Data and Human Growth, 1966; address: Calif. Inst, of Human Science, Bakersfield 3105, California.

On a quick inspection, nothing conflicted with the information Serafin had given out at the retreat. A second reference book, Who’s Who in U.S. Medicine, carried the same details with the addition of Goldine’s name among the family particulars.

He looked up another entry:

LEE, San Fen. Psychologist, b. Peiping, China Apr. 18, 1935; ss. Kwok Lo and Hui Tao (Tang); B.Sc. National Central U., Chung Kiang, China, 1956; M.Sc. Peking, 1959; B.Sc. Columbia, 1969; Ph.D. Columbia, 1972; Faculty, Berkeley, Calif., 1972-4; Consultant, Los Angeles County Gen. Hosp., 1974-; Member Amer. Inst, of Psych.; address: c/o L.A. County Medical Assn., 1925 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles.

He wasn’t learning anything of importance he didn’t know already, so he went to the room where the Times files were kept, and asked for the April through June volume for 1964. According to Serafin, Trudi’s death from drowning had happened in May. As he turned the pages, he reflected that Serafin himself had handled them in 1964, if his story was reliable.

He found the report in the issue for Saturday, May 25:

KILLER WAVE: FIVE DROWN IN BEACH TRAGEDY