confidential for him would find me deaf.'
'Very well. I want to engage you for a delicate investigation, one that will require most careful handling. It is in connection with an unfortunate situation that has arisen in our executive offices.' Perry cleared his throat again. '*tear that a young woman, one of our employees, is going to suffer an injustice-a victim of circumstances-unless something is done about it.'
He paused. Wolfe said, 'But, Mr. Perry, surely, as the directing head of your corporation, you are its fount of justice-or its opposite?'
Perry smiled. 'Not absolutely. At best, a constitutional monarch. Let me explain. Our executive offices are on the thirty-second floor of our building- the Seaboard Building. We have some thirty private offices on that floor, officers of the corporation, department heads, and so on. Last Friday one of the officers had in his desk a sum of money in currency, a fairly large sum, which disappeared under circumstances which led him to suspect that it had been taken by- by the employee I spoke of. It was not reported to me until Saturday morning. The officer requested immediate action, but I could not bring myself to believe the employee guilty. She has been-that is, she has always seemed to merit the most complete confidence. In spite of appearances…'
He halted. Wolfe asked, 'And you wish us to learn the truth of the matter?'
'Yes. Of course. That's what I want.' Perry cleared his throat. 'But I also want you to consider her record of probity and faithful service. And I would like to ask you, in discussing the affair with Mr. Muir, to give him to understand that you have been engaged to handle it as you would any investigation of a similar nature. In addition, I wish your reports to be made to me personally.'
'I see.' Wolfe's eyes were halt closed. 'It seems a little complex. I would like to avoid any possibility of misunderstanding. Let us make it clear. You are not asking us to discover an arrangement of evidence that will demonstrate the employee's guilt. Nor are you engaging us to devise satisfactory proof of her innocence. You merely want us to find out the truth.'
'Yes,' Perry smiled. 'But I hope and believe that the truth will be her innocence.'
'As it may be. And who is to be our client, you or the Seaboard Products Corporation?'
'Why,.. that hadn't occurred to me. The corporation, I should think. That would be best.'
'Good.' Wolfe looked at me. 'If you please, Archie.' He leaned back in his chair, twined his fingers at the peak of his middle mound, and closed his eyes.
I whirled on my swivel, with my notebook. 'First the money, Mr. Perry. How much?'
'Thirty thousand dollars. In hundred-dollar bills.'
'Egad. Payroll?'
'No.' He hesitated. 'Well, yes, call it payroll.'
'It would be better if we knew about it.'
'Is it necessary?'
'Not necessary. Just better. The more we know the less we have to find out.'
'Well… since it is understood this is strictly confidential… you know of course that in connection with our business we need certain privileges in certain foreign countries. In our dealings with the representatives of those countries we sometimes need to employ cash sums.'
'Okay. This Mr. Muir you mentioned, he's the paymaster?'
'Mr. Ramsey Muir is the senior vice-president of the corporation. He usually handles such. contacts. On this occasion, last Friday, he had a luncheon appointment with a gentleman from Washington. The gentleman missed his train and telephoned that he would come on a later one, arriving at our office at five-thirty. He did so. When the moment arrived for Mr. Muir to open the drawer of his desk, the money was gone. He was of course greaty embarrassed.'
'Yeah. When had he put it there?'
An interruption came from Wolfe. He moved to get upright in his chair, then to arise from it. He looked down at Perry. 'You will excuse me, sir. It is the hour for my prescribed exercise and, following that, attention to my plants. If it would amuse you, when you have finished with Mr. Goodwin, to come to the roof and look at them, I would be pleased to have you.' He moved halfway to the door, and turned. 'It would be advisable, I think, for
Mr. Goodwin to make a preliminary investigation before we definitely undertake the commission you offer us. It appears to present complexities. Good day, sir.' He went on out. The poker-dart board had been moved to his bedroom that morning, it being a business day with appointments.
'A cautious man.' Perry smiled at me. 'Of course his exceptional ability permits him to afford it.'
I saw Perry was sore by the color above his cheekbones. I said, 'Yeah. When had he put it there?'
'What? Oh, to be sure. The money had been brought from the bank and placed in Mr. Muir's desk that morning, but he had looked in the drawer when he returned from lunch, around three o'clock, and saw it intact. At five-thirty it was gone.'
'Was he there all the time?'
'Oh, no. He was in and out. He was with me in my office for twenty minutes or so. He went once to the toilet. For over half an hour, from four to until about four forty, he was in the directors' room, conferring with other officers and Mr. Savage, our public relations counsel.'
'Was the drawer locked?'
'No.'
