If Death Ever Slept

“I want him around. I want him to think I’ve accepted his explanation and I don’t suspect anything. The deal was about a shipping company. I found out about a claim that could be made against it, and I was all set to buy the claim and then put the screws on, and when I was ready to close in I found that Brigham was there ahead of me. He said he had got next to it through somebody else, that he didn’t know I was after it, but he’s a damn liar. There wasn’t anybody else. The only source was mine, and I had it clamped tight. He got it through information that was in this room, and he got it from my daughter-in-law.”

“That raises questions,” I told him. “I don’t have to ask why Susan gave it to him because I already know your answer to that. She gives things to men, including her-uh, favors, because that’s what she’s like. But how did she get it?”

“She got my gun yesterday, didn’t she?”

“I don’t know and neither do you. Anyhow, how many times has that rug walked in here?”

“Not any. That was a new one. But she knows how to find a way to get anything she wants. She could have got it from Jim Eber. Or from my son. Or she could have been in here with my son when Nora and I weren’t here, and sent him out for something, and got it herself. God only knows what else she got. Most of my operations are based on some kind of inside information, and a lot of it is on paper, it has to be, and I’m afraid to leave anything important in here anymore. Goddamn it, she has to go!”

He pulled at the cigar, found it was out, and dropped it in the tray. “There’s another aspect. I stood to clear a million on that deal, probably more. So Brigham did instead of me, and she got her share of it. She gives things to men, including her favors if you want to call it that, but all the time her main object is herself. She got her share. That’s what I’ve got instructions about. See if you can find it. She’s got it salted away somewhere and maybe you can find it. Maybe you can get a lead to it through Brigham. Get next to him. He’s a goddamn snob, but he won’t be snooty to my secretary if you handle him right. Another possibility is Jim Eber. Get next to him too. You met him yesterday. I don’t know just what your approach will be, but you should be able to work that out yourself. And don’t forget our deal-yours and mine. Ten thousand the day she’s out of here, with my son staying, and fifty thousand more when the divorce papers are signed.”