surprise anyone who gave her any trouble. I thought it might be something like Mace. I’d heard about that. Some people carry it to throw in the eyes of a mugger if they get attacked on the street.”
“Can you remember if she was wearing this when she and your father went out last night?”
The boy shook his head. “I didn’t notice particularly. But she always wore it when she went out, like a good-luck charm. I guess I just stopped looking for it when they were going somewhere. I just took it for granted.”
I think I guessed what was coming and wished I could put it off. “Where did you find it?” I asked Chambrun.
“Room 17E, the next room on the same side of the corridor as the Willises’ suite. Do you know someone named Henry Graves, Guy?”
The boy shook his head. “I don’t think so, sir.”
“A friend of your father’s?”
“Gee, sir, Dad has so many friends all around the world that I’ve never heard of. There was no one named Henry Graves who was an ‘at home’ friend, a social friend.”
“About eight o’clock last night your father made a phone call to the front desk. Do you remember hearing him?”
“No, sir.”
“Had he left your suite for a while?”
“No, sir. But I was in the living room. He could have made a call from the bedroom phone.”
“Your father told the desk clerk that an old friend of his had arrived in town unexpectedly. He hoped we could find a room for him, preferably near 17C. By coincidence the guest in 17E had checked out earlier than expected. We’d normally have held that room for someone on the waiting list, but everyone knew that I’d want Major Willis given special treatment, so 17E was made available for his friend, Henry Graves.” Chambrun’s eyes focused on the boy. “Your father didn’t mention this friend of his, Henry Graves, to your mother in your presence, Guy?”
“No, sir.”
“You say you found that brooch in 17E, Graves’s room?” I asked.
Chambrun was obviously thinking way ahead of me. He sounded almost irritated as he answered. “We began the search for Willis and his wife on seventeen, working down,” he said. “I gave orders to search again the rooms we’d already checked out.”
“The possibility that the Willises could have been moved back to a place we’d already searched?”
Chambrun nodded. “So we started on seventeen again. There was no one in 17E either time we searched.”
“But the brooch wasn’t there the first time around?”
“Can’t be sure,” Chambrun said. “We were looking for people, not small objects like this. Second time around one of Jerry’s men just happened to see the brooch lying in the corner of the room. It could have been there the first time.”
“How does Henry Graves explain it?” I asked. “It certainly suggests that Mrs. Willis was in 17E at some point.”
“Mr. Graves doesn’t explain it because Mr. Graves is among the missing,” Chambrun said. “He wasn’t there the first time we searched the room, nor the second.”
“When did he check in?”
“Just after eight o’clock, just after Major Willis’s phone call to the front desk. Karl Nevers, the chief night clerk, was involved with a group that had just come in from Kennedy Airport. Miss Jacobs handled Graves’s registration. He had no luggage. He told her he hadn’t expected to be in town overnight. He said he’d buy himself a toothbrush and borrow a razor and some pajamas from his friend Major Willis.”
“Did your father leave some things—a razor, pajamas—for someone to pick up?” I asked Guy.
“No, sir.”
Chambrun sat down on the edge of the bed beside the boy. “There is no way to hide certain ugly possibilities from you, Guy,” he said. “If I’m not honest with you now you’ll hear it all in the morning on the radio, the TV, or read it in the morning papers. I think Henry Graves is a phony, like your priest. I don’t think your father called to reserve him a room. No way the
“Can you remember if she was wearing this when she and your father went out last night?”
The boy shook his head. “I didn’t notice particularly. But she always wore it when she went out, like a good-luck charm. I guess I just stopped looking for it when they were going somewhere. I just took it for granted.”
I think I guessed what was coming and wished I could put it off. “Where did you find it?” I asked Chambrun.
“Room 17E, the next room on the same side of the corridor as the Willises’ suite. Do you know someone named Henry Graves, Guy?”
The boy shook his head. “I don’t think so, sir.”
“A friend of your father’s?”
“Gee, sir, Dad has so many friends all around the world that I’ve never heard of. There was no one named Henry Graves who was an ‘at home’ friend, a social friend.”
“About eight o’clock last night your father made a phone call to the front desk. Do you remember hearing him?”
“No, sir.”
“Had he left your suite for a while?”
“No, sir. But I was in the living room. He could have made a call from the bedroom phone.”
“Your father told the desk clerk that an old friend of his had arrived in town unexpectedly. He hoped we could find a room for him, preferably near 17C. By coincidence the guest in 17E had checked out earlier than expected. We’d normally have held that room for someone on the waiting list, but everyone knew that I’d want Major Willis given special treatment, so 17E was made available for his friend, Henry Graves.” Chambrun’s eyes focused on the boy. “Your father didn’t mention this friend of his, Henry Graves, to your mother in your presence, Guy?”
“No, sir.”
“You say you found that brooch in 17E, Graves’s room?” I asked.
Chambrun was obviously thinking way ahead of me. He sounded almost irritated as he answered. “We began the search for Willis and his wife on seventeen, working down,” he said. “I gave orders to search again the rooms we’d already checked out.”
“The possibility that the Willises could have been moved back to a place we’d already searched?”
Chambrun nodded. “So we started on seventeen again. There was no one in 17E either time we searched.”
“But the brooch wasn’t there the first time around?”
“Can’t be sure,” Chambrun said. “We were looking for people, not small objects like this. Second time around one of Jerry’s men just happened to see the brooch lying in the corner of the room. It could have been there the first time.”
“How does Henry Graves explain it?” I asked. “It certainly suggests that Mrs. Willis was in 17E at some point.”
“Mr. Graves doesn’t explain it because Mr. Graves is among the missing,” Chambrun said. “He wasn’t there the first time we searched the room, nor the second.”
“When did he check in?”
“Just after eight o’clock, just after Major Willis’s phone call to the front desk. Karl Nevers, the chief night clerk, was involved with a group that had just come in from Kennedy Airport. Miss Jacobs handled Graves’s registration. He had no luggage. He told her he hadn’t expected to be in town overnight. He said he’d buy himself a toothbrush and borrow a razor and some pajamas from his friend Major Willis.”
“Did your father leave some things—a razor, pajamas—for someone to pick up?” I asked Guy.
“No, sir.”
Chambrun sat down on the edge of the bed beside the boy. “There is no way to hide certain ugly possibilities from you, Guy,” he said. “If I’m not honest with you now you’ll hear it all in the morning on the radio, the TV, or read it in the morning papers. I think Henry Graves is a phony, like your priest. I don’t think your father called to reserve him a room. No way the
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