Chapter 3: Egocentric Interests
Sean was sixty-ish, short and chunky, with a fringe of white hair around his bald skull with wrinkles all over his brow.
He peered suspiciously at Roger through his thick-lensed, black-ribboned glasses with his wide mouth curved downward at the corners in an expression that was probably intended to be stern and succeeded only in being pompous.
"Mr. Roger," he began accusingly, "when your secretary called to make this appointment, she informed me that you had been contracted by Mrs. Christiana Cooper."
"That's correct." Roger slowly slotted a tobacco stick into his mouth and lit it. "Mrs. Cooper wants me to look after some interests of hers, and as you're the executor of her late husband's estate, I thought I ought to talk to you before I begin my work."
"Mr. Roger, if you're investigating the death of John Cooper, you're wasting your time and Mrs. Cooper's money. There is nothing whatever for you to find out that is not already public knowledge. Mr. Cooper was accidentally killed by the discharge of an old revolver he was cleaning. I don't know what foolish feminine impulse led Mrs. Cooper to employ you, but you'll do nobody any good in this matter, and you may do a great deal of harm." he interjected.
"Did my secretary tell you I was making an investigation? She doesn't usually make mistakes of that sort.", Roger quizzed with a stern look on his face.
The wrinkles moved up Grover's brow like a battalion advancing in platoon front. He looked even more narrowly at Roger, his suspicion compounded with bewilderment.
"Why should I investigate the death of John Cooper?" Roger continued. "As far as I know, Mrs. Cooper is satisfied that it was an accident. She never expressed any other belief to me. Do you think it was anything else?"
"Why, of course not! That's just what I was telling you. Though there are rumors that John had taken his own life, those are without foundation— they are nothing but baseless rumors. I had thought that perhaps Mrs. Cooper might have heard them, and decided, on her own responsibility, to bring you in to scotch them; I was afraid that such a step might, by giving these rumors fresh currency, defeat its intended purpose.", Sean explained.
"Oh, nothing of the sort!" Roger told him. "I'm not in the least interested in how Mr. Cooper was killed, and the question is simply not involved in what Mrs. Cooper wants me to do."
Roger stuttered for a minute; Grover was looking at him sideways, sucking in one corner of his mouth and pushing out the other. It was not a facial expression that impressed Roger in any way. Roger began to suspect that Grover might be just another self-righteous, opinionated and egotistical windbag. To the best of his knowledge, such men could be dangerous, unscrupulous, and were almost always unpleasant to deal with.
"Then why did Mrs. Cooper employ you?", Sean asked trying to figure out what brought Roger into the picture. "As you know the Cooper car collection, now the joint property of Mrs. Cooper and her two stepdaughters is an extremely valuable asset. Mr. Cooper spent the better part of his life gathering it. At one time or another, he must have owned between fifty and sixty different exotic cars."
Grover couldn't wait for him to finish. He wanted Roger to hit the nail right on the head but it seemed he, Roger had no intention of doing that anytime soon. "Well? Surely Mrs. Cooper doesn't think...?" Before he could say another word, Roger continued, "Mrs. Cooper thinks that expert advice is urgently needed in disposing of that collection."
Carefully picking his words to fit what he estimated to be Grover's probable interest in his new relationship with the Cooper family, Roger added, "She has the utmost confidence in your ability and integrity, as an attorney; however, she realized that you could hardly describe yourself as an expert in this issue."
He puffed a large amount of smoke into his face. Sean seemed a bit relaxed unlike when Roger had walked in.
"It happens that I am an expert in cars, particularly such exotic cars. I even have myself a small collection and I am recognized as something of an authority. I know the value and understand market conditions. Furthermore, not being a dealer, or connected with any museum, I have no motive for undervaluing the collection. That's all there is to it; Mrs. Cooper has retained me as an expert, in connection with the collection."
Grover was looking at Roger as though the latter had just taken a facial mask off his face revealing another and entirely different set of features underneath. The change seemed to be a pleasant one, but he was evidently having trouble adjusting to it.
"Well, Mr. Roger, that alters the situation considerably," he said. Roger noticed that he sounded less hostile this time around, however, he was still a bit resentful.
"Now understand, I'm not trying to be offensive, but it seems a little unusual for a private detective also to be an authority on car collections, that just doesn't sound right to me."
"Mr. Cooper was widely known for his car collection and was estate developer isn't that right?", Roger countered. "My own business does not occupy all my time, any more than John's did. But if there's any doubt in your mind as to my qualifications, you can check with some of the famous car collectors and, at the State Museum for Exotic Collections."
"I see. And as you point out, being a sort of non-professional expert, you should be free from mercenary bias.", Grover replied while nodding his head and tapping his fingers on his table. "Frankly, now that I understand your purpose, Mr. Roger, I must say that I am quite glad that Mrs. Cooper took this step. I was perplexed about how to deal with that collection. I realized that it was worth a great deal of money, but I haven't the slightest idea how much, or how it could be sold to the best advantage. At a rough guess, Mr. Roger, how much do you think it ought to bring?", Grover asked.
Roger shook his head. "I only saw it twice, the last time two years ago. Ask me that after I've spent a day or so going over it, and I'll be able to give you an estimate. I will say this, though: It's probably worth a lot more than you could ever bargain for or what those swindlers would have offered to pay."
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