Scam

reason. But this other thing—the idea he was the one who hired the girl in the first place—well, give me a reason for that.”
    “You got one?”
    “I haven’t got one I like. The only one I can come up with is, he’s trying to win the proxy fight, he wants to make it appear like the other vice-presidents are playing dirty tricks against him, so he sets this up, has me uncover it, and plans to spring it at the stockholders meeting.”
    Richard frowned. “I can’t say I like that theory.”
    “I hate it like hell.”
    “No, no,” Richard said. “I don’t mean the implications, the emotional baggage, all the crap you bring to it. I mean, as a theory, it’s not very good.”
    “What’s wrong with it?”
    “Well, the way it plays out, your client goes to the talent agent to hire the girl, right?”
    “Right.”
    “He goes there in person, up to her office, meets with the talent agent, arranges with her to hire the girl?”
    “Yeah. So?”
    “He calls the girl on the phone, disguises his voice, tells her what he wants her to do in the bar. The reason he does that—uses the phone and disguises his voice—is so she won’t know he’s the one hiring her. Am I right so far?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “He goes out to the bar and plays the scene with the girl. Then shows up at your office and hires you to find her. Which shouldn’t be that hard to do, which is why he’s deliberately chosen a girl everyone will be sure to notice.” Richard spread his arms, rolled his eyes. “But, lo and behold, he’s chosen the one detective in the world who can’t find a girl with boobs the size of battleships. The man is absolutely astounded, and decides he needs to force the issue with a phony extortion letter.”
    “I’m losing the thread here, Richard. You were saying why this was a bad theory .”
    “Oh, it is. Don’t be thrown by the fact that my assessment of your competence sounds logical.”
    “Thanks a lot.”
    “Anyway, despite seeing through the extortion letter, you redouble your efforts to find the girl and happen to achieve success. She tells you about the phone call, and about being hired through her agent. Your client commends you on your work, and instructs you to disregard the agent.”
    “So I won’t find out he hired her.”
    “Right. But how effective is that? I mean, the guy’s six six. If you question the agent at all, it’s the first thing she’s going to say, and you’ll know that it’s him.”
    “Unless he told her not to talk.”
    “Yeah, but she did. And he can’t count on the fact that she won’t. Then there’s the girl—what if she talks to the agent? Which is entirely likely. ‘How’d your date go?’ ‘The guy was a telephone pole.’ ‘You’re kidding.’ If they start comparing notes, you think they don’t figure it out?”
    I frowned. “I see what you mean. But …”
    “But what?”
    “Well, the guy wasn’t that bright. I mean, look at the extortion letter bit. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to crack that one. So if this was his plan, I’m not surprised it was full of holes.”
    “Fine,” Richard said. “So how does he wind up dead?”
    “I have no idea.”
    “Me either. But if this is his plan, which he set in motion, there’s gotta be a place where it went wrong.”
    “Why?”
    “Because he’s dead. Unless he planned his own death, which I cannot credit, this was not the result he wanted. Therefore we must assume something went wrong. The only thing we know that was diametrically opposed to this plan was your calling on this agent.”
    “Shit.”
    “Sorry about that, but it happens to be the case. You weren’t supposed to call on the agent. You were told not to call on the agent. Once again, ninety-nine private detectives out of a hundred, if they weren’t being paid for it, wouldn’t do it of their own accord. But you, a prince among men, in the pursuit of truth, justice, and the American way, do it anyway. And what did you tell her?”
    “What?”
    “When you talked to the agent. I know what you got out of her. What did she get out of you?”
    “I’m not following you, Richard.”
    “You asked her questions about the guy who hired the girl. Why did you tell her you were interested? Why did you want to know?”
    “I’d been hired to find out.”
    “By who?”
    “I didn’t tell her that.”
    “No, but she can figure it out. At any rate, it gets her thinking. And, as I said before, she can compare notes with the girl.