The Father Hunt

I glared at the clock on the bedstand, realized that it actually said twenty-five minutes past eight, and swung my feet around. Figuring out whether I had failed to turn the alarm on, or it had tried to stir me and it had failed, would have to wait. I called for will power, gave it time to deliver, made it to my feet, concentrated on locating the door, and stepped.

The door of Wolfe's room, which is above the kitchen, at the rear of the house where he gets the sun in winter, stood open. When I entered, with my bare feet making no sound, he was seated at the table, with the Times propped on the rack, dropping a bit of toast into the sauce of eggs au beurre noir. When I cleared my throat he got the toast to and into his mouth before he turned his head.

"The time is out of joint," I said.

He frowned. "I don't talk in quotations, even Shakespeare, and neither do you."

"Miss Rowan does sometimes and she likes that one. As you see, I am no longer on daylight saving. Apparently you are." He was fully dressed: a nice clean yellow shirt with narrow maroon stripes, a maroon tie, and a brown summerweight self-striped suit. Up in the plant rooms he would shed the jacket and put on a smock.

He swallowed a bite of egg and said, "It's nearly nine o'clock."

"By daylight saving, yes, sir. I'll brief them while I'm eating breakfast."

"Only Saul. We won't risk it with Fred and Orrie. Tell them to be on call. You and Saul will decide on your approach and you may need them later. First, is he involved? If yes, merely as the murderer, with a motive that doesn't concern us, or also as the father? We can't waste our time and the client's money just on finding a culprit for Mr. Cramer." He dropped toast in the sauce.

"I'm waking up," I said. "Or I got ideas in my sleep. Last night I said we don't have to answer the question how he knew we were on it, but if he's the father it may be important. If he's the father there's some connection between him and Cyrus Jarrett, or why did Jarrett send the checks? And if Jarrett told him that Nero Wolfe is out to find the father, and if he is also the murderer, what about Miss Denovo? We might lose a client. I doubt if you want another casualty like Simon Jacobs on the record, and I certainly don't. I suggest that we'd better get her out of circulation."

He made a face. "Fritz."