Goddard dealt primarily in Truly Important Books—incunabula, sixteenth-century poetry, illuminated manuscripts, fine leather stuff. He had some great things. Even the name °f his store simmered in tradition.
Acushnet was one of only three bookstores in Denver that could afford full-time help. The man who worked there was Julian Lambert, a good bookman in his own right. Lambert bought and sold as freely as his boss did: Ruby, in fact, had told me once that bookscouts preferred dealing with Goddard because he paid them more. Goddard wasn’t in when I arrived, but I busied myself looking through the stock until I saw him come in through a back entrance. The morning rush had waned: he and Lambert sat behind the counter cataloging. I knew that Goddard issued catalogs a few times a year, though no one in Denver ever saw one. He had the best reference library in the state, but played it close to the vest when it came to sharing information.
Goddard and Lambert were surprised when I introduced myself. I knew they had seen me around—we had spoken a few times in passing—but until this moment they had not put my face together with the Detective Janeway who had called on the phone and asked to see them. I got right down to cases. When was the last time they had seen Bobby Westfall? The same questions, the same answers, with Goddard doing most of the talking. It had been almost two weeks since Bobby had been in. He had come in one day just about the time he was last seen on Book Row. “He had a couple of books he was trying to sell me,” Goddard said, “but they weren’t the kind of things I use.” I told him I had heard through the grapevine that he had been dealing with Bobby rather heavily. He frowned and said, “That must be Jerry Harkness talking, and as usual he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Westfall made one very lucky find about a year ago and I bought all the books he had on that particular day. I wouldn’t make any more out of it than that. He had some books and I bought them.”
“What were the books?”
“Oz books. Westfall stumbled over them in a garage sale. Thirty-two Oz books for a dollar apiece. Most of the time when you see those they’re in poor condition. These were very fine, beautiful copies.”
“Were they firsts?”
“Only a few were. None of the Frank Baum titles were, but there were a couple of Ruth Plumley Thompson firsts and the one Jack Snow. The main thing about them was the condition. Half of them still had dust jackets. All the color plates were fresh and unscuffed, even the plates on the covers.”
“You got any of ‘em left?”
“Oh no. They didn’t last the month.”
“Nice little strike for both of you, then. What did you pay him?”
He looked offended and tried not to answer.
“I’d really like to know that,” I insisted.
“I prefer keeping my finances private.”
“You’d have every right to, if the man hadn’t been murdered.”
He hedged. “I don’t remember exactly.”
“Did you pay him in cash?”
“Not for something that big.”
“Then you wrote a check. Which means you’ve got a record of it.”
His eyes narrowed. “Do I have to talk to you about this?”
I didn’t say anything.
“It’s just that I don’t want people knowing my business. Most of the time I pay more money per book than anyone in town. But you never want people knowing exactly what you’re doing.”
“This is a homicide investigation,” I said. “I’m not gonna take out a billboard and plaster it with evidence.”
“I just don’t see how a transaction that we did a year ago can have anything to do with evidence. But if you promise me you’ll keep it private, I’ll tell you. I gave him seven hundred.”
“You have the cancelled check?”
“At home, yes. I can produce it if necessary.”
“I’ll let you know. How did the books price out?”
“I’m not sure exactly. Julian?”
“Twenty-two hundred dollars,” Lambert said.
“So you paid him a little less than one-third,” I said.
“Which was fair, under the circumstances,” Goddard said. “
He had thirty-two dollars in it.”
“Which shouldn’t matter. That is very salable stuff.”
“Yes it is.”
“All right,” I said with a little sigh. “You’re right, it probably doesn’t matter anyway, but if it does I’ll ask you
