The Father Hunt

I had expected that. He hates to take on a job; anything to hold off a commitment. Also, there was the chance that there might be one or more details that he could find unacceptable. I reported. It had taken a lot of practice to get to where I could give a long conversation verbatim, but it was a cinch now, even with three or four talking. As usual, he leaned back and closed his eyes, and didn't interrupt. There was no reaction even to the "pigheaded and high-nosed and toplofty." I omitted nothing except the irrelevant chatter while we were eating. When I finished he stayed put for a minute and then opened his eyes and straightened up.

He regarded me. "That's not like you, Archie. It's hardly even a sketch. Barely a start."

"Certainly. There was no point in going deeper with a poor little poor girl."

He looked up at the wall clock and back at me. "You could have-no matter. Very well. Bring her."

I went and opened the connecting door. She was still in the chair by the window, and hadn't returned the parcel to her bag; it was in her lap. I told her to come.

Wolfe seldom rises when someone enters the office, and never if it's a woman. His expression is always the same if it's a woman, no matter who or what she is; he is concentrating on not making a face. There is no telling what he notices or doesn't; for instance, whether he noticed that the skirt of Amy Denovo's brown-striped summer dress wasn't really a mini; it was only about two inches above her knees. Certainly he didn't notice that the knees were worthy of notice, though they were, since that had no bearing on her acceptability as a client. The seat

of the red leather chair near the end of his desk was too deep for her to settle back, so she sat on the front half, straight, and put her bag on the stand at her elbow, with the parcel in her lap.

Wolfe, his chair swiveled to face her, his fingers curled over the arm ends, spoke. "So Mr. Goodwin impressed you at first sight."

Her eyes, meeting his, widened a little. "Yes. He did."

"That may be a point for you and it may not. It is nothing new for him to impress a young woman. He has reported his conversation with you yesterday, to its conclusion. He says that you now have in your possession, you say legally, twenty thousand dollars in cash, and you offer it to me as retainer for the job you want me to do. Is that correct?"

"Yes, if Mr. Goodwin does the work."