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gave big birthday bashes, and everyone in town would turn out for them. The only problem was that there wasn’t a drop of anything alcoholic at them. There’s a guy still on the paper who went to one, I think it was in ’50. He took his own hip flask. Old Estes Graham spotted it and he got his son-in-law, that would be Leander Crystal, he got Crystal to toss this guy out personally. But that’s about the only thing I have offhand. I can tell you that the Crystals, both of them, live very quiet lives. None of the usual society, charity stuff most folks with their kind of cash get roped into.”
    â€œThat’s it?”
    â€œThat’s all I have off the top of my head. I can put my staff on it and give you a lot more detail. We have quite a research organization, if you can give us a little help on whatever it is you really want.”
    â€œI’m afraid that for the moment I’ll have to leave it at that. How much?”
    â€œOh, just a token. Whatever you think is fair. Generous, but fair.”
    We hung up.
    I went to my living-room desk and got an envelope. I thought about putting a dime in it, but for the future’s sake I decided not to fun around. I wrote out a check for five dollars and sent it to Miss Simmons, care of the Indianapolis Star .
    Maude is quite a gal. Ancient, profane, hard-drinking and avaricious. She’s also a boon to the thirty or so private-detective offices in Indianapolis. From her nerve center as Sunday features editor at the Star her real business is supplying news to private parties. The stuff that’s not fit to print: personal backgrounds, credit information, household secrets. She has a network of people with ears and talents. And she makes money with it. Not usually from two-bitters like me, though I’ve done some real business with her too. She says the police have used her services; I am not accustomed to disbelieve.
    I left my notebook at the phone table, but my mind was just not on the crossword wavelength. I wished it were Thursday, instead of Wednesday. Not so much because I would know better where I stood with Eloise et al ., but because the Pacers would be playing. First game of the season as defending champs of the American Basketball Association. I am a basketball fan and the Pacers’ radio broadcasts come in very handy for passing the long winter nights. Sometimes, when I am lucky and the sports photographers are indisposed, I get a call to take some basketball pics. I develop black and white in my office closet, and apart from spot free-lancing, the camera stuff helps in the PI work too. Bits of a life can dovetail.
    I tried to put aside my thoughts of Crystals. But there weren’t too many concrete thoughts to put aside. From what Maude had given me it seemed that Fleur was a quiet one. And therefore, perhaps, dangerous?
    And Eloise? A girl-woman. Adolescence makes for a biologically based dual personality. Perhaps the real question was: Which half was the one that wanted to hire me? And how much chance there was that the blood typings turned out to be exactly as advertised. But mine was not to weep and wonder. I could wait until the morrow.
    I set aside my crossword puzzle for the last time and wrote a letter to my daughter. I told her about some rabbits and bears I talked to recently. Very nice, unsymbolic rabbits and bears who got along well and slapped their knees after they told jokes. My daughter is nine now. Maybe a little old to talk to rabbits and bears. Fathers can’t be expected to know everything.
    Taking the book I’d used in the afternoon, I went to bed.

3
    I woke up about eight and made myself a cheese omelet. It was a poor imitation of the ones my ex-wife used to make but one makes sacrifices to preserve integrity.
    I thought about how to pass the day. Not real thought; I’d already decided to put in a little time on Miss Crystal against the chance I took her offer of employment. It’s not