The Madman Theory by Ellery Queen Read Free Book Online

Or suppose some hopped-up kid gets sore because Earl turned him off—see what I mean?”
    â€œIt’s something to look into.” Collins made a note. “Apparently he got on well with Bob Vega.”
    â€œBob has outlasted every man that’s ever worked for Earl. He’s a real careful manager. In fact you could call him a bunny except where the ladies are concerned. There Bob throws caution to the winds. I don’t know how many times he’s been married—I doubt if he knows himself. Anyway, Vega’s energy is pretty well sopped up by his wives and ex-wives and wives-to-be. He doesn’t have time for juggling the accounts.” Kershaw spoke in a tone of amiable contempt, as if any ordinary man would find the time.
    â€œWho else would want to shoot Mr. Genneman beside his ex-managers? What about his main business, Genneman Laboratories?”
    â€œNo dice. That runs like a big clock. Earl’s only problem there was what to do with all his money.”
    â€œHe and his wife got along well?”
    â€œCertainly.”
    â€œAs I understand it, he has a son and a daughter. What of them?”
    â€œSon and stepdaughter. Earl Junior is in high school. A funny kid, I can’t make him out. Jean is Opal’s daughter by her first husband—a real nice girl, a senior at Stanford. She and Buck James got some kind of off-again, on-again thing going. In fact, she introduced Buck to Earl, and Earl put him to work. Buck seems to have done pretty good. Earl was buying a drug company back in Wisconsin just to put Buck in charge of it, or something on that order; I never did get it straight.”
    â€œWhat about the Westco salesmen? Did they finagle with drugs, like the managers?”
    â€œI never heard of anything along those lines. Westco has two other salesmen besides Buck, and they’ve been with the company for years, through manager after manager.”
    Collins frowned. “Do you seriously mean that each of the previous managers at Westco dealt in illegal drugs?”
    â€œOne of them did for sure. He’s in jail. Another one did, but Earl couldn’t prove it. There was a big shortage in the barbiturates. The man broke a window and called it robbery. Earl fired him. The first one Earl fired on sheer hunch, and sure enough, the books were cooked. I forget all the ins-and-outs.”
    â€œAnd how does Mr. Retwig fit into the picture?”
    â€œHe’s an old friend of Earl’s. In fact, he used to work for Genneman Laboratories. Three or four years ago some other outfit hired him out from under Earl’s nose.”
    â€œThat didn’t bother Mr. Genneman?”
    â€œHell, no. Myron said he’d stay if Earl wanted to meet the other people’s offer; Earl wouldn’t do it. So Myron left. But they both go in—went in—for model railroads. I guess you’d have to say Myron Retwig was Earl’s best friend.”
    Collins made more notes. “That seems to cover things pretty well. You can’t guess the identity of the man who followed you up the trail?”
    Red Kershaw shook his head. “I owe people money, but that’s collecting the hard way. Besides, it was Earl Genneman he got mad at and shot, not me.”
    â€œPerhaps you’d step out and ask—oh, Mr. James to step in.”
    Kershaw went outside, and a moment later Buck James came in. He looked haggard; a sparse stubble of blond beard covered his chin. He seated himself and waited while Collins consulted his notes.
    Collins leaned back in his chair. “Do you have any ideas about this case, Mr. James?”
    Buck looked up at the ceiling as if sorting them out. “Naturally I’ve been thinking about it. I wind up in the same place every time: it just doesn’t make sense.”
    â€œDo you know of any enemies Mr. Genneman might have had?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œDid he oppose your courtship of his daughter?”
    Buck