Lilian Jackson Braun - Cat 17 Who Blew The Whistle

His next stop was the office of MacWhannell & Shaw. There was a question he wanted to ask an accountant.

Big Mac, as he was called, met him with a welcoming hand. "Just thinking about you, Qwill. We're planning Scottish Night at the lodge, and we'd like you to be our guest again."

"Thank you. I enjoyed it last year - even the haggis."

"I was telling the committee that your mother was a Mackintosh, and Gordie Shaw said you ought to join the clan officially, as a tribute, you might say, to her memory. The Shaws had Mackintosh connections, you know."

The suggestion hit Qwilleran in a tender spot. He had grown up with a single parent, and now that he was maturing he realized how much she had done for him. He could forget the piano lessons, and drying the dishes, and two- handed games of dominoes; he owed her a great deal. "What would it entail?" he asked.

"According to Gordie, you apply for membership, pay your dues, and receive a periodic newsletter. After that you probably start attending Scottish Gatherings and Highland Games."

"Sounds okay," said the writer of the "Qwill Pen" column, sensing a source of material. "Ask Gordie to send me an application."

"But I've been doing all the talking," the accountant said. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Just answer a question, Mac. How do you react to the Lumbertown fraud - or alleged fraud?"

"Fortunately, I have no clients who would be affected, but I sympathize with the Sawdusters. When a white-collar crime is committed in a blue-collar community, it seems particularly reprehensible - to me, that is. Don't ask me why."

"At the risk of sounding financially naive, may I ask how a guy like Trevelyan can abscond with millions belonging to his customers? I'm sure he doesn't carry it out in a suitcase."

"Basically, he has to be a crook," said MacWhannell, "but if you're talking about ways and means, well... there are such practices as juggling the books, forging documents, falsifying financial statements, and so forth."

"Floyd is, or was, a carpenter by trade," Qwilleran pointed out. "Would he have such educated tricks in his toolbox?"

"Sounds as if there was an accomplice, doesn't it? This will be an interesting case. With today's crime information networks, he'll be found soon enough."

Leaving the accountant's office, Qwilleran passed the department store and saw Carol Lanspeak on the sidewalk, waving her arms and shouting. She was directing the setup of a clothing display in the main window, giving terse but loud instructions to an assistant inside the glass, while the young woman mouthed replies.

Catching Qwilleran's reflection in the plate glass, Carol turned and explained, "The one inside the window can hear the one outside, but not vice versa." She waved to her helper and told her to take a break. "This is our last window before back-to-school, Qwill. How time flies! And oh! Weren't you shocked by the news from Sawdust City? Some of our employees live there, and they're Lumbertown depositors. What will happen? When this has occurred elsewhere in the country, it's been a real disaster."

Qwilleran said, "If the guy is a swindler and a fugitive, can't his assets be liquidated to cover debts and embezzled funds? He has a big house in the Hummocks near you, and a model train layout that's worth a mint, and the Party Train. That alone must be valued in the millions."

"But the justice system is so slow, Qwill! And the victims are families with children, and factory workers subject to layoffs, and retirees with nest eggs on deposit. What will they do when emergencies arise?"

"Well, let me tell you something surprising," Qwilleran said. "This morning I was helping to man the phones at the paper, when our reporters were calling in man-on-the-street opinions, and the victims, as you call them, weren't blaming Trevelyan; they were blaming the government for deception and injustice! They called it a plot, a conspiracy, a dirty trick! They refused to believe that Floyd would take their money and skip. They said he'd been a high school football hero and a good carpenter; his picture hung in the lobby of the credit union; he paid daily interest; he was crazy about trains."

Carol shook her head. "Everyone in Sawdust City must be nutty from exposure to industrial pollution."

Before leaving for the rehearsal that evening, Qwilleran started to read the first few scenes of A Midsummer Night's Dream aloud. Both cats enjoyed the sound of his voice, whether he was reading great literature or the baseball scores. On this occasion Koko was particularly attentive and even got into the act a few times.

The first scene opened with an indignant father hauling his disobedient daughter before the duke for reprimand. Full of vexation am I, with complaint against my daughter, Hermia.

"Yow!" said Koko.

"That's not in the script," Qwilleran objected.

After the father had raved and ranted, the duke argued with gentle reasonableness. What say you, Hermia? Be advised, fair maid.

"Yow!" Koko said again.