The Rubber Band Read Free

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 gready 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.”
    “Then anyone might have lifted it.”
    Perry shook his head. “The executive reception clerk is at a desk with a view of the entire corridor; that’s her job, to know where everyone is all the time, to facilitate interviews. She knows who went in Muir’s room, and when.”
    “Who did?”
    “Five people. An office boy with correspondence, another vice-president of the company, Muir’s stenographer, Clara Fox, and myself.”
    “Let’s eliminate. I suppose you didn’t take it?”
    “No. I almost wish I had. When the office boy was there, Muir was there too. The vice-president, Mr. Arbuthnot, is out of the question. As for Muir’s stenographer, she was still there when the loss was discovered—most of the others had gone home—and she insisted that Muir search her belongings. She has a little room next to Muir’s, and had not been out of it except to enter his room. Besides, he has had her for eleven years, and trusts her.”
    “Which leaves Clara Fox.”
    “Yes.” Perry cleared his throat. “Clara Fox is our cable clerk—a most responsible position. She translates and decodes all cables and telegrams. She went to Muir’s office around a quarter after four, during his absence, with a decoded message, and waited there while Muir’s stenographer went to her own room to type a copy of it.”
    “Has she been with you long?”
    “Three years. A little over”
    “Did she know the money was there?”
    “She probably knew it was in Muir’s office. Two days previously she had handled a cablegram giving instructions for the payment.”
    “But you think she didn’t take it.”
    Perry opened his mouth and closed it again. I put the eye on him. He didn’t look as if he was really undecided; it seemed rather that he was hunting for the