Some Buried Caesar

"The evidence. There is none. The bull was cremated. Noth- ing else remained to demonstrate the motive for murdering Clyde, and even if there had been other incriminating de- tails-and there were none-they would have been useless. As for Bronson, Mr, Lake reports a vacuum. No fingerprints, ex- cept yours on the wallet, no one who remembers seeing him enter the shed, no one who saw him in anybody's company, no one with any discoverable motive. From the New York end, tracing his phone calL so far nothing-and of course there can be nothing. A complete vacuum. Under the circum- stances there is only-ah! Good morning, sir."

The Secretary of the National Guernsey League, having entered and shut the door behind him, approached. He looked like a man who has been interrupted, but nothing like as exasperated as he had been the preceding day. His greeting was affable but not frothy, and he sat down as if he didn't expect to stay long.

Wolfe said, "Thank you for coming. You're busy of course. Remarkable, how many ways there are of being busy. I be- lieve Mr. Osgood told you on the phone that I would ask a favor in his name. I'll be brief. First the relevant facts: the records of your league are on file in your office at Fem- borough, which is 110 miles from here, and the airplane belonging to Mr. Sturtevant, who takes passengers for hire at the airport at the other end of these grounds, could go there and return in 2 hours. Those are facts."

Bennett looked slightly bewildered. "I guess they are. I don't know about the airplane."

"I do, I've inquired. I've even engaged Mr. Sturtevant's services, tentatively. What I would like to have, sir, before 3 o'clock, are the color pattern sketches of Hickory Caesar Grindon, Willowdale Zodiac, Hawley's Orinoco, Mrs. Lin- vffle's bull whose name I don't know, and Hickory Buckingham Pell. Mr. Sturtevant is ready to leave at a moment's notice. You can accompany him, or Mr. Goodwin can, or you can merely give him a letter."

Bennett was frowning. "You mean the original sketches?" "I understand no others are available. Those on certificates are scattered among the owners."

Bennett shook his head. "They can't leave the files, it's a strict rule. They're irreplaceable and we can't take risks."

"I understand. I said you can go yourself. When they come you can sit me here at this table with them and they can be constantly under your eye. I need only half an hour with them, possibly less."