The attitude of Talmadge Services, Inc. has always been: “The client’s confidence is sacred. We must assume the role of doctor or counselor. The confidence must never be violated.” We at the Agency hope you, too, will feel this way about us.
I believe we understand each other perfectly now, Miss Parish.
To be sure, we will handle this problem to its logical end, and publicity of any sort would be as damaging to us as to you. Discretion is all-important, to both of us.
In any event … the extra days during your indisposition have allowed us to procure the transcript of the inquest, and the preliminary reports of our field man. We are now preparing the latter for your consideration.
I wish to remind you that no check has been forthcoming, and while we wish to satisfy our clients, our field work is quite expensive. I’m sure this reminder will suffice.
Hoping you feel better-disposed, I remain most respectfully yours,
Harrison Talmadge,
for Talmadge Services, Inc.
HT:lt
May 22nd, 1975
Miss Loretta Parish
RFD #2
Stimson, Ohio
Dear Miss Parish:
I wish to thank you for your check, which more than covers our preliminary work. I am certain you will find our work as thorough as you might have wished.
Our primary report is enclosed. However, a brief summary reveals the following: there was some question, at the inquest and subsequently (which you could not have realized, having moved from Taunton so soon after Mrs. Constable’s unfortunate death) as to the circumstances surrounding her death. Now we certainly do not wish to pry, and have no desire to tread where it is not our province, but to more clearly establish for our own purposes just what action Mr. Philip Grademan might take, we must know all particulars.
It is not our belief that you are withholding any details of this matter, but perhaps you might recall a few things both about the situation in Taunton, and about Grademan in particular, that might abet us.
We are happy to have you with us as a client, and wish to once again reassure you that at the conclusion of our transactions, your problem will be permanently solved.
While we await any further data from you, we will proceed with the tracing of Mr. Philip Grademan.
Once again, yours most respectfully,
Harrison Talmadge,
for Talmadge Services, Inc.
HT:lt
enc: Primary Field Report-6pp.
24 May 1975
Talmadge Services, Inc.
545 Fifth Avenue
New York 17, New York
Dear Mr. Talmadge:
I really must protest the insinuation in your letter that the facts I reported concerning the Taunton situation were not complete.
First of all, it was only logical for Mrs. Constable to make me her heir, since I was employed a full year prior to Philip Grademan. I was more than just a secretary to her, I was a friend, while Grademan only tended to her books. She knew he was more interested in the library than herself, and so naturally her sentiments lay with me. Also, Mrs. Constable recognized that I, being a woman, and in ill health, did not have the means, available to Philip Grademan, for self-support.
I suppose that what you’ve run across is the nasty gossip circulating in Taunton concerning the fact that I prepared Mrs. Constable’s diet for her — she was on a low-salt, low-residue diet, and supervision was necessary — which has led several local busybodies to imply that her death was perhaps not merely a matter of ill health.
Also, you may have heard that the relationship between Philip Grademan and myself was more than mere friendship. I can assure you that I loathe and despise Philip Grademan, and I would not be made unhappy by the realization that I might never see him again.
I suspect that this man is mentally unbalanced, because of his conviction that Mrs. Constable’s money should have been willed to him. A man like that is capable of the most drastic crime, and I urge you to take appropriate action at the earliest possible opportunity. If further remuneration is required, I am willing to meet any reasonable request.
Yours very truly,
(Miss) Loretta Parish
May 30th, 1975
Miss Loretta Parish
RFD #2
Stimson, Ohio
Dear Miss Parish:
Good news! We believe we have picked up Philip Grademan’s trail. Our man in the field has had reasonably little difficulty tracing Grademan. He has made a habit of stopping in every antique bookshop within the area he happens to be, and this pattern of behavior will simplify our task immeasurably. His actions lead us to believe he is not too concerned about anyone knowing his whereabouts. This is a result of a lucky coincidence that occurred two days ago.
There is a certain amount of cross-reference between all tracing agencies, which facilitates location, and we had a note from the Superior Detective Agency of this city, mentioning that a Mr. Paul Gestler was trying to locate Miss Elizabeth Fernig, late of Taunton, Massachusetts.
The similarity of initials cannot be mere coincidence, leading us to believe that Grademan is, indeed, trying to locate you as you suspected.
Needless to say, we did not reply to this note, and we are hastening our efforts. This has met with some difficulty, for Grademan (if Gestleris Grademan, and we believe he is) mails his checks to the Superior people from a professional mailing service, to which the Superior Agency sends its reports, and this firm will not, under any circumstances we have been able to devise, inform us where his letters originate. However, we believe his movements are at random, following any leads the Superior Agency might unearth, and hoping to stumble on you both through their activities and his own.
At any rate, our man in the field will continue to track Grademan, and any further developments will be related immediately to you. He left Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a mere week before our man reached there.
Be assured that we are sparing no effort in this matter, and your more than generous remittance will afford us a great deal of leeway in hiring the best possible men for the job. And when we have located Grademan, your situation will clear up very nicely.
In passing, I thought I might clarify a point made in my letter of May 22nd. The rumors circulated in Taunton about you were not precisely as you imagined. The rumors said that you had induced Philip Grademan into a plot to kill Mrs. Constable, giving him the impression that Mrs. Constable’s will favored you both equally. This is supposed to account for Grademan’s anger, when he discovered that you were the sole heir, and he merely your beneficiary.
While these rumors have reached us, both as hearsay and as the by-products of our field man’s reports, we wish to assure you that none of this is our concern, and it remains a confidential section of this investigation.
We are certain, of course, that all such rumors are just that: rumors. We are with you, here at the agency, in spirit as well as action.
Hoping you are feeling well these days, I remain most respectfully,
Harrison Talmadge,
for Talmadge Services, Inc.
HT:lt
enc: Secondary Field Report-12pp.
1 June 1975
Talmadge —
For God’s sake, if Philip Grademan has detectives looking for me, then I’m in terrible danger. You must do something right away!
Loretta Parish
June 3rd, 1975
Miss Loretta Parish
RFD #2
Stimson, Ohio
Dear Miss Parish:
Please calm yourself. Our men are working on this matter full-time since your checks have allowed us to more than double our activities.