“You understand,” he said, “that we want to do everything we can to accommodate Mr. Carter. We consider his account a valuable one, and he can rest assured we will give him the very best of service.”
“When I see Mr. Carter,” said Sidney Zoom, “I shall tell him that your cooperation with me has left nothing to be desired.”
The clerk thanked him, and Sidney Zoom left the bank and entered his automobile. His forehead was furrowed in frowning concentration as he drove rapidly to the float where his yacht was moored.
Nell Benton, looking rather white, her eyes dark with mingled emotions, wore some lounging pajamas which Vera Thurmond had found for her and surveyed Sidney Zoom with puzzled eyes. Burt Samson, attired in his new suit, seemed somehow to be more certain of himself, to have taken on a certain added vitality which radiated from him in an atmosphere of positive assurance.
Zoom nodded to Vera Thurmond.
“I want you,” he said, “to ring the residence of Finley Carter, Tell whoever answers the phone that you’re one of the bookkeepers at the Second National Affiliate, that you desire to ask him a question about his account Ask him if a check for twenty-two thousand dollars, issued to the Wheeling Construction Company, is regular. And I want you, Miss Benton, to listen on an extension telephone. I want you to listen carefully to the sound of Finley Carter’s voice. I want you to tell me if it sounds natural.”
Nell Benton stared at him with eyes that grew wider.
“Why, he couldn’t issue a check for twenty-two thousand dollars on that account,” she said. “He doesn’t keep anything in it except enough money for housekeeping.”
“He’s keeping plenty in it now,” Sidney Zoom said grimly, “and apparently is keeping in constant communication with the bank over the telephone.”
Vera Thurmond put through the call. The yacht had a private switchboard which was connected with a telephone cable at a private connection Zoom had arranged at the mooring float, and Zoom was able to listen on one extension while Nell Benton listened on the other. Vera Thurmond followed his instructions to the letter, making an inquiry about the validity of the check.
Sidney Zoom, listening, could find no faintest trace of tension, no lack of spontaneity. The voice seemed edged with impatience as it announced that the validity of the check had already been confirmed in a telephone communication to the cashier.
“I will,” said the voice with petulant impatience, “be forced to transfer my account if these telephone calls continue. Certainly the check is good. Checks that come in over my signature should be honored.”
“Yes,” said Vera Thurmond in a patient voice, “but you see, the amount was rather large and the Wheeling Construction Company secured what was virtually a cash payment...”
“What the devil do I care what they did with it?” rasped the voice. “The check was given to them for a consideration. I received the benefit of it. They’re entitled to the cash. That’s what the check is for. Any time you people feel that you can’t cash my checks, all you’ve got to do is to say so.”
“It’s not that,” Vera Thurmond said sweetly, “but the fact that the check was rather large in its amount. We simply wanted to protect you and your account, Mr. Carter.”
“The amount isn’t large,” said the voice, “that is, it’s not unusually large. My account is an active account and a large account.”
“Thank you,” said Vera Thurmond, and hung up.
Sidney Zoom glanced inquiringly at Nell Benton.
“It’s his voice all right,” she said, “but I can’t understand it. I don’t think it’s like him to talk that way, and yet there can be no mistaking his voice.”
“Did he sound as though he might be under a strain, or as though he were being threatened?” asked Sidney Zoom.
She shook her head slowly.
“No,” she said, “he sounded exactly natural — that is, his voice did — but I don’t think he would have adopted that attitude toward a check for that amount. There’s something funny about it.”
Sidney Zoom nodded.
“Just who of the servants,” he asked, “comes into personal contact with Finley Carter?”
“The chauffeur,” she said, “doesn’t unless he’s called. Exter is in constant contact with him. The housekeeper comes when she’s summoned, otherwise she does the cooking and has charge of the house. A woman comes in to do the cleaning.”
Zoom turned to Burt Samson.
“Samson,” he said, “you will take this letter. The signature is forged. It purports to be a letter from Finley Carter, written to you some two weeks ago, asking you to be sure and drop in and see him when you arrive in the city. The dictation marks show that it was dictated to Nell Benton. No one else will know about it.”
Samson stared curiously.
“Carter will know about it, won’t he?”
Zoom nodded.
“Carter will know about it,” he said. “If Carter makes any trouble about it, you are to get in touch with me at once on the telephone. I will stand back of you. But I don’t think Carter is going to make any trouble about it. I don’t think you’re going to see Carter.”
Samson nodded slowly.
“What I want,” said Zoom, “is to find out just who it is that keeps you from seeing Carter.”
Samson took the letter, slipped it in the inside pocket of his coat.
“Okay,” he said, and moved purposefully toward the companionway. Food and clothes had made a big difference in him.
When he had gone, Nell Benton said slowly, “What do you think has happened, Mr. Zoom?”
Sidney Zoom’s voice was as crisp as the cracking of a lash.
“There’s no question about what’s happened,” he said. “In some way, Exter planned to get complete control of Finley Carter. He knew that there were checks signed in advance and drawn on the housekeeping account that you supervised. Naturally, he wanted to get rid of you. He did that by seeing that you were accused of crime, and knew that Carter would discharge you. What I can’t understand is how he has been able to get Carter to talk over the telephone, unless he has an accomplice who is a very finished actor and who is able to mimic Carter’s tones over the telephone. That is the probable solution. We’ve got to get Burt Samson’s report in order to find out.”
“But,” she pointed out, “Samson doesn’t know Finley Carter. They might have someone posing as Finley Carter and let Samson go in to see him.”
“That,” said Sidney Zoom, “is why I phrased the forged letter so it would appear that Samson was quite intimately acquainted with Carter.”
She frowned thoughtfully.
“They wouldn’t try withdrawals from the bank where Carter regularly keeps his large deposits,” Zoom said slowly. “They started building up deposits in the Second National Affiliate, which probably has been very anxious to get Carter’s account.”
She nodded slowly.
“Should we,” she asked, “notify the police?”
Zoom shook his head.
“Not yet,” he said. “In the first place, we have nothing to go on except suspicions; in the second place, I am not entirely certain that Finley Carter has a generous disposition.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I am not entirely certain,” he said, “that he would make proper restitution to you.”
“He wouldn’t,” she said. “He’s obstinate, and he’s tight.”
“He pays plenty for his original paintings, doesn’t he?” Zoom asked.
“Yes,” she said bitterly, “but that’s all he does pay out for. He never paid me a decent salary all the time I worked for him. I’d have gone to some other position if it hadn’t been that jobs were so scarce.”
“Yet,” said Zoom slowly, “if we save Carter from exploitation at the hands of a bunch of crooks, we are entitled to a reward, and the fact remains that Carter, himself, will not care to pay that reward. Therefore, it remains for us to do it for him.”