“Why, Mr. Canfield, this is a surprise.”
‘He could not determine whether her greeting was meant to be pleasant or
not. It was friendly, but cool and reserved. This girl had learned the
lessons of the old money well.
“I hope not an unwelcome one, Mrs. Scarlett.”
“Not at all.”
Hannah had reached the bottom step and walked toward the dining room doors.
Canfield quickly spoke again. “During my trip I ran across a fellow whose
company makes dirigibles. I knew you’d be interested.” Canfield watched
Hannah out of the corner of his eye without moving his head. Hannah had
turned abruptly and looked at the field accountant.
“Really, Mr. Canfield? Why would that concern mer Ile girl was mystified.
“I understood your friends on Oyster Bay were determined to buy one for
their club. Here, I’ve brought all the information. Purchase price,
rentals, specifications, the works…. Let me show you.”
195
The field accountant took Janet Scarlett’s elbow and led her swiftly toward
the living room doors. Hannah hesitated ever so slightly but, with a glance
from Canfield, retreated into the dining room. Canfield then closed the
living room doors. –
“What are you doing? I don’t want to buy a dirigible.”
The field accountant stood by the doors, motioning the girl to stop
talking.
`Vftat?”
“Be quiet for a minute. Please.” He spoke softly.
Canfield waited about ten seconds and then opened the doors in one swinging
motion.
Directly across the hallway, standing by the dining room table, was Hannah
and a man in white overalls, obviously one of the painters. They were
talking while looking over toward the living room doors. They were now in
full view of Canfield’s stare. Embarrassed, they moved away.
Canfield shut the door and turned to Janet Scarlett. “Interesting, isn’t
it?”
“What are you doing?”
“Just interesting that your help should be so curious.”
“Oh, that.” Janet turned and picked up a cigarette from a case on the
coffee table. “Servants will talk and I think. you’ve given them cause.”
Canfield lit her cigarette. “Including the painters?”
“Hannah’s friends are her own business. They’re no concern of mine.
Hannah’s barely a concern of mine. . . .”
“You don’t End it curious that Hannah nearly tripped
when I mentioned a dirigible?”
“I simply don’t understand you.”
“I admit I’m getting ahead of myselL”
“Why didn’t you telephoneT’
“If I had, would you have seen mer
Janet thought for a minute. “Probably.Whatever
recriminations I had over your last visit wouldn’t be any
reason to insult you.”
“I didn’t want to take that gamble.”
w1liars sweet of you and I’m touched. But why this very odd behavior?”
There was no point in delaying any longer. He took the envelope out of his
pocket. ‘Tve been asked to give you this. May I sit down while you read
itT’
Janet, startled, took the envelope and immediately reo-
196
ognized her mother-i n- law’s handwriting. She opened the envelope and read
the letter.
If she was astonished or shocked, she hid her emotions well.
Slowly she sat down on the sofa and put out her cigarette. She looked down
at the letter and up at Canfield, and then back to the letter. Without
looking up, she asked quietly, “Who are you?”
“I work for the government. I’m an official … a minor official in the
Department of the Interior.”
“The government? You’re not a salesman, then?”
“No, I’m not.”
“You wanted to meet me and talk with me for the government?”
“Yes.4
“Why did you tell me you sold tennis courtsT’
“We sometimes find it necessary to conceal our employment. It’s as simple
as that.”
“I see.”
“I assume you want to know what your mother-in-law means in the letter?”
“Don’t assume anything.” She was cold as she continued. “It was your job to
meet me and ask me all those amusing questions?”
‘Trankly, yes.”
The girl rose, took the necessary two steps toward the field accountant,
and slapped him across the face with all her strength. It was a sharp and
painful blow. “You son of a bitchl Get out of this house!” She still did
not raise her voice, “Get out before I call the policel”
“Oh, my God, Janet, will you stop itl” He grabbed her shoulders as she
tried to wriggle away. “Listen to me! I said listen or I’ll slap you right
back!”
Her eyes shone with hatred and, Canfield thought, a touch of melancholy. He
held her firmly as he spoke. “Yes, I was assigned to meet you. Meet you and
get whatever information I could.”
She spat in his face. He did not bother to brush it away.
“I got the information I needed and I used that information because that’s
what I’m paid forl As far as my department is concerned, I left this house
by nine o’clock after you served me two drinks. If they want to pick you
197
up for illegal possession of alcohol, that’s what they can get you for!”
“I don’t believe youl”
“I don’t give a good God damn whether you do -or nod And for your further
information I’ve had you under surveillance for weeks! You and the rest of
your playmates. . . . It may interest you to know that rve omitted
detailing the more . . . ludicrous aspects of your day-to-day activitiesl”
The girl’s eyes began to fill with tears.
“I’m doing my job as best I can, and -I’m not so sure you’re the one who
should scream ‘violated virgin’l You may not realize it,.but your husband,
or former husband, or whatever the hell he is, could be very much alive. A
lot of nice people who never heard of him-women like you and young
girls-were burned to death because of himl Others were killed, too, but
maybe they should have been.”
‘What are you saying?” He relaxed his grip on her but still held her
firmly.
“I just know that I left your mother-in-law a week ago in England. It was
a hell of a trip overl Someone tried to kill her the first night out on the
ship. Oh, you can bet your life it would have been suicidel They would have
said she had tearfully thrown herself overboard. No trace at all…. A week
ago we let out a story to the newspapers saying she’d gone to a retreat in
a place called York, in England. Two days ago the heating system blew up
and killed Christ knows how many peoplel An accident, of coursel”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Do you want me to finish, or do you still want me to
90?1*
There was a sadness about Ulster Scarletes wife as she tritd to smile. “I
guess you’d better stay and . . . finish.”
They sat on the sofa and Canfield talked.
He talked as he had never talked before.
198
CHAPTER 24
Benjamin Reynolds sat forward in his chair, clipping a week-ola article from
the Sunday supplement of the New York Herald. It was a photograph of Janet
Saxon Scarlett being escorted by “sportingoods executive, M. Canfield” to a
dog show at Madison Square Garden. Reynolds smiled as he recalled Canfield’s
remark on the telephone.
“I can stand everything but the God damn dog shows. Dogs are for the very
rich or the very poor. Not for anyone in betweent”
No matter, thought Group Twenty’s head. The newspapers were doing an
excellent job. Washington had ordered Canfield to spend an additional ten
days in Manhattan thoroughly establishing his relationship with Ulster
Scarlett’s wife before returning to England.
The relationship was unmistakable and Benjamin Reynolds wondered if it was
really a public facade. Or was it something else? Was Canfield in the
process of trapping himself? The ease with which he had engineered a col-
laboration with Elizabeth Scarlatti bore watching.
“Ben”–Glover walked briskly into the office—-~’I think we’ve found what
we’ve been looking forl” He closed the door firmly and approached
Reynolds’s desk.
“What have you got? About what?”
“A link with thi Scarlatti business. I’m sure of it.”
“Let me see.”
Glover placed several pages on top of the spread-out newspaper. “Nice
coverage, wasn’t it?” he said, indicating the photograph of Canfield and
the girl.
199
“Just what us dirty old men ordered. He’s going to be the toast of society
if he doesn’t spit on the floor.?’
“He’s doing a good job, Ben. They’re back on board ship now, aren’t they?”
“Sailed yesterday. . . . What is thisr,
“Statistics found it. From Switzerland. Zurich area. Fourteen estates all
purchased within the year. Look at these latitude and longitude marks.
Every one of the properties is adjacent to another one. A borders on B, B
on C, C on D, right down the line. Hundreds of thousands of acres forming
an enormous compound.”
“One of the buyers Sr-arlatti?”
“No. . . . But one of the estates was bought in the name of Boothroyd.
Charles Boothroyd.”
“You’re sure? What do you mean ‘bought in the name of ?”