'She may even had told us that,' he said. 'She must have worked six or seven places since she got toNew York , and I don't know if she mentioned every time she changed jobs. She would leave because the tips weren't good, or she didn't get along with somebody, or because they wouldn't let her take off when she had an audition. So she could have left the last job and gone to work somewhere else without telling us, or she could have told us and it didn't register.'
He couldn't think what else to do on his own, so he'd gone to the police. There he was told that in the first place it wasn't really a police matter, that she had evidently moved without informing her parents and that, as an adult, she had every legal right to do so. They told him, too, that he had waited too long, that she had disappeared almost three months ago and whatever trail she'd left was a cold one by now.
If he wanted to pursue the matter further, the police officer told him, he'd be well advised to engage a private investigator. Department regulations prohibited his recommending a particular investigator.
However, the officer said, it was probably all right for him to say what he himself would do if he happened to find himself in Mr.
Hoeldtke's circumstances. There was a fellow named Scudder, an ex-cop as a matter of fact, and one who happened to reside in the very neighborhood where Mr.
Hoeldtke's daughter had been living, and—
'Who was the cop?'
'His name's Durkin.'
'Joe Durkin,' I said. 'That was very decent of him.'
'I liked him.'
'Yes, he's all right,' I said. We were in a coffee shop on Fifty-seventh, a few doors down from my hotel.
The lunch hour had ended before we got there, so they were letting us sit over coffee. I'd had a refill.
Hoeldtke still had his first cup in front of him.
'Mr. Hoeldtke,' I said, 'I'm not sure I'm the man you want.'
'Durkin said—'
'I know what he said. The thing is, you can probably get better coverage from the people you used earlier, the ones with theMuncie office. They can put several operatives on the case and they can canvass a good deal more comprehensively than I can.'
'Are you saying they can do a better job?'
I thought about it. 'No,' I said, 'but they may be able to give the appearance. For one thing, they'll furnish you with detailed reports telling you exactly what they did and who they talked to and what they found out. They'll itemize their expenses and bill you very precisely for the hours they spend on the case.'
I took a sip of coffee, set the cup down in its saucer. I leaned forward and said, 'Mr. Hoeldtke, I'm a pretty decent detective, but I'm completely unofficial. You need a license to operate as a private investigator in this state and I don't have one. I've never felt like going through the hassle of applying for one. I don't itemize expenses or keep track of my hours, and I don't provide detailed reports. I don't have an office, either, which is why we're meeting here over coffee. All I've really got is whatever instincts and abilities I've developed over the years, and I'm not sure that's what you want to employ.'
'Durkin didn't tell me you were unlicensed.'
'Well, he could have. It's not a secret.'
'Why do you suppose he recommended you?'
I must have been having an attack of scruples. Or maybe I didn't much want the job. 'Partly because he expects me to give him a referral fee,' I said.
Hoeldtke's face clouded. 'He didn't mention that either,' he said.
'I'm not surprised.'
'That's not ethical,' he said. 'Is it?'
'No, but it wasn't really ethical for him to recommend anyone in the first place. And, to give him his due, he wouldn't have steered you to me unless he thought I was the right person for you to hire. He probably thinks I'll give you good value and a straight deal.'
'And will you?'
I nodded. 'And part of a straight deal is to tell you in front that you're very likely wasting your money.'
'Because—'
'Because she'll probably either turn up on her own or she won't turn up at all.'
He was silent for a moment, considering the implications of what I'd just said. Neither of us had yet mentioned the possibility that his daughter was dead, and it looked as though it was going to go unmentioned, but that didn't mean it was all that easy to avoid thinking about it.
He said, 'How much money would I be wasting?'
'Suppose you let me have a thousand dollars.'
'Would that be an advance or a retainer or what?'
'I don't know what you'd want to call it,' I said. 'I don't have a day rate and I don't keep track of my hours. I just go out there and do what seems to make sense. There are a batch of basic steps to take for openers, and I'll go through them first, although I don't really expect them to lead anywhere. Then there are a few other things I can do, and we'll see if they get us anyplace or not. When it seems to me that your thousand bucks is used up I'll ask you for more money, and you can decide whether or not you want to pay it.'
