The Father Hunt

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?"