The Father Hunt

When Wolfe came down to the office from the plant rooms at eleven o'clock Friday morning, Saul Panzer ($10 an hour and worth double that), Fred Durkin ($8 an hour and worth it), and Orrie Cather ($8 an hour and usually worth it) were on three of the yellow chairs facing me, with notebooks in their hands. They had been there an hour. Saul, wiry and a little undersized all but his ears and nose, could have occupied about any spot in life that appealed to him, but he had settled for free-lance operative years ago because he could work only when he wanted to, make as much money as he needed, be outdoors a lot, and wear his old wool cap from November 1 to April 15. A reversible cap like that, light tan on one side and plaid on the other, and not there at all if you stick it in a pocket, can be a help when you're tailing. Fred, shorter than me but some broader, was apt to fool you. Just when you decided that it was too bad that some of his muscle power couldn't be traded in for brain power, he might get a wedge in where it was hard to see a crack. It was too bad that Orrie knew how good-looking he was. A mirror can be a handy tool, either your own or one on a wall, but not if you're more interested in checking on your hair than in the subject.

They got up when Wolfe entered, and when, after shaking hands around because he hadn't seen them for weeks, he went to his desk, they shifted their chairs to face him. I told him that they had been briefed and given expense money and that we had discussed Orrie's assignment, checking Jarrett's alibi. Wolfe looked at Saul and asked, "Comments?"

Saul closed Ms notebook. "I could make a few dozen. Who couldn't? But if we want to place her from March to October nineteen forty-four, the snag is that we don't know when she switched from Carlotta Vaughn to Elinor Denovo. To place someone that long ago is always tough, and that makes it a lot tougher."

"But you think that should be tackled first?"

"For Fred and me, yes. Of course the son is the best bet, or rather, he's the only bet as it stands now, but that's for you and Archie. McCray. Ballou told Archie that he wanted to meet you."

Wolfe tightened his lips. Paying four grown men and paying them well, or the client was, and he had to work. He growled. "Archie. Get Mr. McCray. I'll talk."