The Father Hunt

"Okay, I won't either. Your eyes have a fine flash." I regarded her. "Look, Miss Denovo. I'm shutting the door only because I have to. Myself, I would like to tackle it because it would probably have some interesting angles and twists and it would be nice to have a client it is a pleasure to look at. Besides, there would be the possibility of having to deal with a murder. When you hear about-"

"Murder?"

"Certainly. It's only a bare possibility, but it popped up because when you hear of a hit-and-run death and the driver hasn't been tagged, it does pop up. I mention it only because it's one of the reasons why I would like to tackle it. But there's not a sliver of a chance with Mr. Wolfe, and there you are. I'm sorry, I really am."

She shook her head, with her eyes staying at me. "But Mr. Goodwin. This leaves me helpless." Apparently the murder possibility hadn't fazed her. "What can I do? I can't tell somebody else."

That was that. I wasn't feeling particularly cocky twenty minutes later, as I flagged a taxi headed downtown on Park Avenue and gave the hackie Saul Panzer's address. Working for and with the best detective in the world- which you don't have to swallow-is fine, but when you have been told by a pretty girl that you are the one man in the world she can trust, even if it was pure soap, and you have stiff-armed her, you are not on your high horse. I slouched in the taxi and tried to steer my mind back to baseball and the Mets.

It was six minutes to eight when I got out at the corner of Thirty-eighth and Park. As for what happened to my friends' welfare, not to mention mine, I'll skip it. Sometimes the cards simply will not cooperate.

2