The Father Hunt

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."

"Indeed. I don't know much about boards, but I assume a director is on speaking terms with the people who do the work. Now the problem. Twenty-two years ago, in June nineteen forty-five, someone got a bank check from the Seaboard Bank and Trust Company for one thousand dollars, payable to bearer. Call him X. The next month, July, he got another bank check for the same amount, and the next, and the next. That continued through month after month and year after year-two hundred and sixty-four checks in twenty-two years. The last one was in May of this year; there have been none since and there will be none. I need to know who X is. I must ask him something. That's my problem."

Ballou took a sip of gin. "What's the rest of it?" "There isn't any 'rest.' That's it." "My God. All this performance, getting me here and all your jabber, for something as simple as that?" "I didn't know it would be simple." "Well, it is. It would be even simpler if the checks were to a specific payee instead of bearer, but it's still simple, since it was the same amount every month for twenty-two years. All it will take is some digging by a clerk. Goodwin could have asked me on the phone. I'll call him tomorrow, or someone at Seaboard will." He took a sip. "You gave me a good scare and I certainly don't

appreciate that, but now that I'm here I might as well say that I still fully appreciate what you did for me when I needed help a hell of a lot more than you do now." He emptied the glass and put it down. "How's the detective business?" He turned to me. "I'm surprised at you, Goodwin. He may not have known how simple it was, since he doesn't get out and around, but you should have. I'll have someone give you a ring tomorrow."