The Soft Centre

From babyhood, Val’s relations with her father had been on good, sound terms. She had come to worship this successfull, handsome man. She had always been convinced that he could solve any of her problems once she appealed for help. She had been careful in the past to appeal to him on only the very important things, and they had been few, but each rime she had appealed to him, he had dropped everything and had put the whole of his massive energy into solving the problem. She was sure that the reason why he was so impatient with Chris was because Chris presented a problem that defeated him: the first problem to do with Val he hadn’t been able to solve.

After a ten minute wait, she got his office and was told by his secretary that he was in conference.

‘This is Mrs. Burnett. Will you please tell my father I must speak to him immediately?’ ‘Yes, of course, Mrs. Burnett. Will you hold on? It may be a few minutes. I’ll have to send in a note.’

What were a few minutes, Val thought after all these awful never ending hours??‘I’ll hold on.’

Less than five minutes crawled by before her father’s voice came on the line.?‘Val’?‘Daddy he’s gone! I’m frantic! After I had spoken to you, I looked out of the window and he had gone.’

‘Did he take the car?’

She drew in a deep breath. Her father’s voice was calm. She had expected him to fly in a rage: to tell her he had warned her, but this practical, quiet question had an unmediated steadying effect on her.

‘Yes. He’s been missing now for over five hours.’?‘Have you consulted Dulac?’?‘Yes. He got the Chief of Police here. The police have found the Mercedes, but not Chris.’ ‘Are they still looking?’?‘I suppose so… I don’t know.’?‘Tell the operator to hold this call and then call the police. I want to know what the position is right now!’

‘I’ll do that. Oh, darling, do you think…?’ ‘Val! Do what I say! Don’t let’s waste time.’ between them that had suffered since Chris had been in the sanatorium. Val now felt more relaxed. The presence of her father gave her confidence and acted as a solace.’

Below in the hotel grounds, newspaper men and photographers had gathered. Val could hear the hum of their voice1 and now and then, there was a sudden sound of laughter that made her flinch.

Then out of the silence, the telephone bell buzzed. Travers picked up the receiver. ‘Captain Terrell is here, sir,’ the clerk told him.?‘Send him right up,’ Travers said and replaced the receiver. Val jumped to her feet and looked anxiously at him.

‘Terrell coming up,’ her father said.?‘Have they found him?’?‘We’ll know in a moment,’ her father said as he got to his feet.

At the age of sixty, Charles Travers was an impressive looking man. He was three inches over six foot, square shouldered and powerfully built. He had bright, searching blue eyes, thining white hair and a lean hawk-like face. As he crossed the room, he gave Val renewed confidence by the power and assurance of his movements. He opened the door as Terrell came along the corridor.

The two men regarded each other, then shook hands.?‘No news yet,’ Terrell said as he entered the room. ‘I thought I’d look in and tell you what we have been doing.’ He nodded to Val who stood by the settee, white-faced, her hands into fists.

‘He’s been missing over twelve hours,’ Travers said, a snap in his voice. ‘I certainly would be interested to know what you have been doing.’

‘I understand how you feel, Mr. Travers,’ Terrell said. ‘We can’t do more than we are doing already. The country is very difficult. There are swamps, mangrove thickets, acres of high grass and hundreds of farm out-buildings. We have now combed the district five miles around from where the car was found. It seems we must consider two possibilities: either Mr. Burnett is deliberately hiding or he has managed to get a lift from a passing car that has taken him right out of the district. If he is deliberately hiding, then our task is almost impossible. There is no better ground to play hide- and-seek in. If he has left the district, then we must put out a four State alarm and appeal to all motorists who have been in this district to help us.’

Travers stared searchingly at Terrell.

‘What you are saying is bluntly this: you haven’t the ealize tion to find a missing man in your territory.’

‘No State has an ealize tion to find a missing man quickly if he doesn’t want to be found,’ Terrell said quietly. ‘But we will find him. It could take time.’

‘You don’t expect to find him tonight?’?‘I don’t know. We could, but it now seems unlikely.’?‘That’s all I want to know,’ Travers said. ‘All right, you carry on. We’ll wait. Thank you for coming.’

Feeling dismissed and irritated by Travers’ manner, Terrell moved to the door, then he paused to look at Val.

‘We’ll find him, Mrs. Burnett. I would like to think you still have confidence in me.’?‘Oh, yes, I have,’ Val said shakily.