He paused. Wolfe said, "But, Mr. Perry, surely, as the directing head of your corporation, you are its fount of justice-or its opposite?"

Perry smiled. "Not absolutely. At best, a constitutional monarch. Let me explain. Our executive offices are on the thirty-second floor of our building- the Seaboard Building. We have some thirty private offices on that floor, officers of the corporation, department heads, and so on. Last Friday one of the officers had in his desk a sum of money in currency, a fairly large sum, which disappeared under circumstances which led him to suspect that it had been taken by- by the employee I spoke of. It was not reported to me until Saturday morning. The officer requested immediate action, but I could not bring myself to believe the employee guilty. She has been-that is, she has always seemed to merit the most complete confidence. In spite of appearances…"

He halted. Wolfe asked, "And you wish us to learn the truth of the matter?"

"Yes. Of course. That's what I want." Perry cleared his throat. "But I also want you to consider her record of probity and faithful service. And I would like to ask you, in discussing the affair with Mr. Muir, to give him to understand that you have been engaged to handle it as you would any investigation of a similar nature. In addition, I wish your reports to be made to me personally."

"I see." Wolfe's eyes were halt closed. "It seems a little complex. I would like to avoid any possibility of misunderstanding. Let us make it clear. You are not asking us to discover an arrangement of evidence that will demonstrate the employee's guilt. Nor are you engaging us to devise satisfactory proof of her innocence. You merely want us to find out the truth."

"Yes," Perry smiled. "But I hope and believe that the truth will be her innocence."