The Mother Hunt (Rex Stout Library)

With my hankering for baby clothes fully satisfied, and with the house still to myself, I started over again, in the living room. There must be something somewhere that would give a hint on where and who the baby had come from. But there wasn't. I'll skip the next hour and a half, except to say that I know how to look for something that isn't supposed to be found, and I did a job on that house. It takes more time when you leave everything the way it was, but I did a job. All I had when I finished was a few names and addresses, from letters and envelopes in a drawer in the bedroom, and a few phone numbers, and none of them looked promising.

I was hungry, and since I was there uninvited it would have been vulgar to help myself from her kitchen. Also it was twenty minutes to three and Saul had probably come some time ago, so I left, through the window I had entered by, took the driveway to the road sad turned right, and when I rounded the bend saw Saul's car, off the road at the wide spot. When he saw me he flopped over on the seat, and when I arrived he was snoring. He isn't much to look at, with his big nose and square chin and wide sloping brow, and snoring with his mouth open he was a sight. I reached in the open window and twisted his nose, and in a millionth of a second he had my wrist and was twisting it. There you are. He knew I would go for his nose before I did.

Uncle, I said.

He let go and sat up. What day is it?

Christmas. How long have you been here?

An hour and twenty minutes.

Then you should have left twenty minutes ago. Follow instructions.

I'm a detective. I saw the Heron. Would you care for a sandwich and raisin cake and milk? I've had mine.

Would I. There was a carton on the back seat and I got in and opened it. Corned beef on rye, two of them. As I unwrapped one I said, She skipped while I was gone to phone for you. She's been gone over three hours. I took a bite.

That's life. Anyone else there?

No.

Did you find anything?

Not had I entered; that was taken for granted. I swallowed and got the carton of milk. If any of your girl friends has twins there's enough stuff in the cellar, in a trunk, for both of them. And in a drawer upstairs are two pairs of blue corduroy overalls with white horsehair buttons. Of course that's why they're not in the trunk, the buttons. Also in the cellar is the crib the baby slept in.