“This new stuff,” Carella said. “Is it the same as the old stuff?”
“These little wooden animals, right,” Grimm said. “Four hundred thousand little wooden animals that I’m supposed to pay half a million dollars for, cash on delivery. But if I haven’t got the money, how can I pay for the merchandise?”
“Why don’t you just cancel the order?” Hawes suggested.
“Cancel it?” Grimm asked, appalled. “I’m into a gold mine here, why would I want to cancel? Look, let me explain this to you, okay? Are you good with figures?”
“I got a ninety in algebra,” Hawes said.
“What?” Grimm said.
“In high school. A ninety in algebra.” Hawes was quite proud of the accomplishment, but Grimm seemed unimpressed. Grimm had money on his mind, and money and mathematics were only distant cousins.
“Here’s the history of it,” Grimm said. “I came into a little cash last year, and was looking for an investment that would give me a good return, you follow? So I happened to be in West Germany just before Christmas, and I spotted these little wooden animals — dogs, cats, rabbits, crap like that, about two inches high, all hand-carved. They were selling for a buck and a quarter each, so I took a gamble, I bought a hundred thousand of them.”
“Cost you a hundred twenty-five thousand,” Hawes said quickly, still determined to show Grimm that a ninety in algebra was a feat not to be dismissed so easily.
“Right, they cost me a hundred twenty-five thousand.”
“That’s quite a gamble,” Carella said, trying to figure how long it would take him to earn $125,000 on his salary of $14,735 a year.
“Not as it turned out,” Grimm said, smiling with satisfaction. “I sold them here for two hundred fifty thousand — doubled my money. And I began getting reorders like crazy. So I took the entire two hundred fifty thousand and bought another batch of little wooden animals.”
“With two hundred fifty thousand you were able to buy...”
“Two hundred thousand of them,” Grimm said.
“Two hundred thousand, right, right,” Hawes said uncertainly.
“And that’s what went up in the warehouse fire,” Grimm said.
“The problem as I see it,” Hawes said, “is that you had all these little wooden animals ready to ship...”
“Right.”
“For which your customers would have paid you $500,000...”
“Right, right.”
“Which money you would have used to pay for another batch coming in on the twenty-eighth of this month.”
“Four hundred thousand of them,” Grimm said.
“Four hundred thousand,” Hawes said. “That’s a lot of little wooden animals.”
“Especially when you realize I can sell the little mothers for a million dollars.”
“Well, you’ve certainly got a problem,” Hawes said.
“Which is why I came up here today,” Grimm said. “To put a little pressure on Parker. I’ve got a desperate situation here, and he’s sitting on his ass in the sun someplace.”
“What do you want us to do, Mr. Grimm?” Carella asked.
“Catch the arsonist. Or at least vouch for me. Tell the adjustment bureau I’m clean, I had nothing to do with the fire.”
“I don’t know any police officer in his right mind who’d do that, Mr. Grimm. Too many people do set fire to their own businesses. Your stock was insured for $500,000. That’s a lot of money. I’m sure Detective Parker was considering the possibility that you did the job yourself.”
“Why would I? I had firm orders for the entire stock. It was waiting to be shipped!”
“I’m merely trying to explain why Detective Parker wouldn’t go out on a limb.”
“So what am I supposed to do?” Grimm asked, and wet his lips and looked suddenly thoughtful. “How long will Parker be gone?”
“Two weeks.”
“And his partner, whatever his name is?”
“Kling. Two weeks also.”
“That’s impossible. Look, you’ve got to help me.”
“We’re helping you, Mr. Grimm,” Carella said.
“We’re helping you,” Hawes echoed.
Grimm looked at them skeptically. “I know if I put a little pressure on the insurance companies, they’ll pay me in three, four weeks, maybe a month the latest. But that’s not soon enough. I need the money in fourteen days, when the boat gets here from West Germany. Otherwise they won’t release the cargo, and I’m up the creek. You’ve got to catch this guy before my shipment arrives.”
“Well, it’s Parker’s case,” Carella said.
“So what? Don’t you ever help each other out on cases?”
“Sometimes. But usually, we’ve got our own case loads, and we...”
“This is unusual,” Grimm said, and then repeated it, as though the detectives had not heard him the first time. “This is unusual. There’s a time element involved here. I’ve got to get that insurance money before the boat gets here. Can’t you help me? Are you so damn busy up here that you can’t give a little help to an honest citizen who’s been victimized, and who’s trying to get back on his feet again? Is that too much to ask of the Police Department?”
“You don’t understand the way it works,” Hawes said.
“I don’t care how it works. You’re supposed to protect the innocent, too, you know. Instead of running around the streets busting teenagers for smoking pot, why don’t you earn your salaries?”
“I haven’t busted a teenager in at least two hours,” Hawes said dryly.
“All right, all right, I’m sorry,” Grimm said. “I know you guys work hard, I know you’ve got to have some sort of organization up here, or the job would get overwhelming. I realize that. But I’m begging you to please help me with this. Bend the rules a little, take Parker’s case while he’s away. Help me find the son of a bitch who burned down my place. I’d go to a private detective, but I simply haven’t got the money. Please. Will you please help me?”
“We’ll see what we can do,” Carella said. “We’ll check the files, see what Parker’s got on it. If there’s anything we can follow up, we will.”
“Thank you,” Grimm said. “Thank you very, very much.” He reached into his wallet. “Here’s my card,” he said. “Office number and home number. Please call me if you need any more information. And, of course, if you come up with something...”
“We’ll let you know,” Carella said.
“Thank you,” Grimm said again, and put on his straw hat and went out through the gate in the slatted wooden railing that separated the squadroom from the corridor outside.
Both men waited until they were sure he was out of earshot. Then Hawes said, “Are you really going to pick this up for Parker?”
“Well, I’ll take a look at what he’s got on it, anyway.”
“Far as I’m concerned,” Hawes said, “Parker can handle his own damn cases.”
“Yeah, well,” Carella said, and shrugged.
Hawes looked up at the clock. “You mind if I leave a little early?” he asked. “I’ve got a date tonight.”
“No, go ahead,” Carella said. He, too, looked up at the clock. “Meyer and Brown ought to be relieving soon, anyway.”
“See you tomorrow, then,” Hawes said.
“Right.”
Hawes pulled up his tie, put on his jacket, and left the squadroom. Carella glanced at his scribbled notes, rolled a sheet of paper into the typewriter, and began typing:
It was always clarifying to see things in chart form.