“Are the amounts involved large?”
“I’ve found one for forty thousand. And smaller ones running five and ten and twenty and so on. They’re for things that aren’t bulky. Small machine tool items. Office equipment, office machines, and cutters and things I don’t know anything about. Now you know as much as I do, and you can do anything with it you want to, just so you leave me out of it. I mean, I won’t testify or anything. As far as I’m concerned, I haven’t told you a thing.”
She turned back toward the window, her childish mouth hard and set, and her eyes still narrow. I could see how Dolson’s scheme could work. It would be a fast way to make money. But it could never be a safe way. It was a fool’s game. There would be a day of reckoning and disgrace and prison. I could assume the girl wasn’t lying. Her shrewdness enabled her to find out what was being done. But she did not have the creative intelligence to invent such a scheme just to embarrass Curt Dolson.
Perry said, “I spent an hour this afternoon checking our files. She’s telling the truth, Mr. Dean.”
Maybe it was the truth, but I mistrusted the way the girl tied it to Mottling. I decided it was coincidence that the two men should have started seeing eye to eye at the time Dolson devised his plan. I couldn’t see Mottling implicating himself in a plan that could only have been devised by a very foolish and greedy little man. I couldn’t see Mottling participating. His motivation was the hunger for power, not cash.
“Alma, thank you for telling me this,” I said. “It’s enormously important, and I’m grateful to you. Now suppose you run along and forget what you told us. Don’t mention it to anybody else. Do you think the Colonel has any idea you suspect what he’s doing?”
She stood up and said with dignity, “He wouldn’t give me credit for being bright enough.”
“Could you stay for a few minutes, Perry?” I asked her. She nodded. I let Alma out. I watched her walk toward the elevators, teetering along on too-high heels, her round hips swinging, her head high. I closed the door.
“What do you think, Gevan?” Perry asked.
“It sounds bad enough to be true, or true enough to be bad. I’m glad you brought her to me.”
“I should have told Mr. Granby. The company is in the clear. We haven’t the authority to disapprove any voucher presented by the Colonel in his capacity as contracting officer. Mr. Granby would know who to contact in Washington. But I knew she wouldn’t talk to Mr. Granby. I wanted someone to hear it from her as soon as possible. She didn’t tell me... about their relationship. It’s — terribly sad, isn’t it?”
“That’s one word for it.” She sat on the couch. Her wool suit was pale, of nubbly texture. I paced to the window.
“Perry, I think we’ve got to assume that at the least hint or suspicion, Dolson will try to cover himself. I think he’s in so deep he can’t cover himself completely, but he could make it a lot tougher to get the facts. You have a file of the dupes of al those vouchers?”
“Yes. I could dig out all the ones that went through for payment to Acme, and make a list of the items and the totals.”
“Good! Do it inconspicuously. I’ll see what I can find out about Acme. Then I know the next step. A phone call to Washington. On a thing like this they move fast. They’ll have a bunch of people in here before Dolson can say General Accounting Office. And if they do it fast, all we can hope for is for some relationship between Dolson and Mottling showing up.”
Perry’s gray eyes were thoughtful. “I’ve wondered about that. I just can’t see what Mr. Mottling would get out of any — relationship like that. It seems so — petty. And yet—”
“What are you thinking about?”
She shrugged. “I suppose it’s meaningless. But you know the sort of man Colonel Dolson is. Self-important, sort of. Something happened a month ago. The Colonel and Mr. Mottling came out of Mr. Granby’s office, through my office. Colonel Dolson was telling Mr. Mottling there were some drawings he’d have to have back immediately. Mr. Mottling said he’d send those drawings back to Dolson when he was damn well ready to release them and not before. Colonel Dolson took it without a murmur, and he knew I heard it, and he didn’t make any attempt to save face in front of me. It was as though Mr. Mottling had some special hold over him.”
“That isn’t much to go on.”
“I realize that.”
“Could you make a guess about the number of government checks that have cleared for Acme?”
“It doesn’t work that way. Acme gets Dean Products’ checks, out of the D4D account, and the government reimburses us. I’d guess, off-hand, Gevan, the total might be anywhere between one and two hundred thousand dollars.”
Though I knew what a small percentage that would be of the multimillion-dollar government contracts in the shop, it was a figure that merited a soft whistle of awe. I had an important question to ask, and perhaps I asked it in too casual a voice. “Do you think Ken could have found out about this?” I couldn’t see Dolson as a killer. But I didn’t know LeFay.
She knew what I meant. “No, Gevan. Ever since Mr. Mottling came with the company, your brother stayed in his office. Nothing was routed to him, and he didn’t take any interest in what was going on. I don’t see how he could have found out.”
I gave up that line of thought with regret. It would be such a perfect motive, and explain the clever detail surrounding the murder. It was after eight. I knew from the way she was dressed she had gone home before coming to the hotel.
“Have you eaten yet, Perry?”
“No. When you weren’t here, I phoned Mother and told her I’d be home after dinner.”
“Dinner with me, then?”
“Yes, thank you, Gevan.” She smiled and I noticed a dimple in her right cheek. “It feels funny to call you Gevan out loud.”
We went down and had a pleasant dinner in the grill. At one point she said, “I’m too honest, Gevan. Now I have to correct a half-truth.”
“A half-truth is half a lie.”
“I told you I came to you because I didn’t think she’d talk to Mr. Granby. I had another reason, too. I’m trying to get you so involved in Dean Products you won’t be able to get loose.”
There was a candle on our table. She sat across from me, smiling, her face young and lovely in the flame’s light. Too young and fresh and sweet. I was too involved with Niki to ever get loose. I thought of Niki in my arms, and in contrast to the gray-eyed girl across the table, the memory of Niki was smeared and shameful — but exciting.
After dinner I asked her if she’d like to try the Copper Lounge and listen to Hildy’s show, but she said she should go home. I offered to get the car out and drive her back, but she said a cab would be fine. I walked her out to the sidewalk and hailed a taxi and watched her ride off, saw her turn and look through the back window of the cab at me.
I went to the Copper Lounge. Hildy Devereaux was standing at the bar, laughing and chattng with a young couple. She recognized me and gave me a quick smile. I gestured toward an empty table and raised one eyebrow in silent question. She nodded. I sat and ordered a drink and Hildy came over a few minutes later. I stood up and said, “Not purely social, Hildy, but I wish it was.”
I pushed her chair in for her. She smiled up at me, saying, “I’m glad you came in. I think my curtain line last time was faintly nasty.”
“Not noticeably.” I sat down in the chair facing hers. “You set me off in a certain direction so you get a progress report before I spring a question.”