“The committee didn’t so understand it — the committee also said that you were in error.”
“I know they did, but it worked out. It actually held water.”
He rocked back and forth in his swivel chair, chuckling. “It did for a fact,” he admitted. “I happen to know one of the members of the grievance committee. I called the matter to his attention. He found it an embarrassing subject.”
“You cover a lot of territory yourself,” I observed.
“At times I do — not physically, but mentally. I find that a person keeps his mind keyed to a higher pitch if he conserves his physical energy as much as possible.”
I said, “All right, let’s quit beating around the bush. Where’s Esther Clarde?”
He stroked the long angle of his bony jaw with gnarled fingers. “I’m glad you’ve brought that up. I was wondering just how to broach the subject. I—”
The secretary popped her head in the door. “A long-distance call,” she said, “from—”
The smile left Crumweather’s face as though he’d ripped off a mask. His lips were ugly and snarling, his eyes hard and intolerant. “I told you I wasn’t to be interrupted. I told you what to do. Get out there and do it, and don’t—”
“It’s a long-distance call from Valleydale. The man says it’s terribly important.”