The Investigators (Badge of Honor 7)

“Yes, sir. I understand. If, however, there is an account—are accounts—matching the names on my list, I understand the courts have held that it is not a violation of the client’s confidentiality if a bank were to review the account and tell me if there were unusual deposits, or unusual activity. Without divulging the amounts involved, of course. With that, something out of the ordinary, I’m sure we can go back to the judge and get additional search authorization.”

“You know your business, don’t you?” Chase asked, and went on without giving Matt a chance to reply. “What I’ll do, Mr. Pay—Would you mind if I called you by your first name?”

“Not at all, sir. ‘Matt.’ ”

“What I’ll do, Matt, is get you a desk, and then I’ll get a list of our account holders and box holders, and you can start your search.”

“That’s very kind of you, sir.”

“May I see your list of names?”

“Yes, sir, of course,” Matt said, reached in his pocket for it, and handed it to him.

“I’ll have my girl make a Xerox of this, and start the process rolling.”

“I think you’re set up here, Payne,” Deitrich said. “When you finish here, give me a ring, and I’ll take you around to First National.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Matt said.

“Mr. Chase,” Deitrich said, nodded at the banker, and left the room.

When he was out of earshot, Chase looked at Matt and smiled.

“He doesn’t talk very much, does he?”

“No, sir.”

“But he’s a good man. We’ve had some—what do I say, ‘business’?—together, and I must confess I was very impressed with him.”

“He gives me that impression, too, sir.”

“Ordinarily, Matt, I’d install you in a small room off the lobby, but I think I can, for my old friend’s son, do a little bit better than that.”

He walked to the glass door of his office and waved Matt through. Then he walked ahead of Matt across the lobby to another glass-walled office like his own, but somewhat smaller.

A middle-aged woman sat at a desk outside it.

“Dolores,” Mr. Chase said, “I can’t believe you’ll find anything, but would you have a quick look for anything of a confidential nature in Mr. Hausmann’s desk? This is Mr. Payne, who will be using it for a while while Mr. Hausmann is in Boston.”

“I’ll check,” she said, getting up and smiling at Matt. “You’re from First Chicago, Mr. Payne?”

“No, ma’am.”

“What Mr. Payne is doing here is confidential, Dolores.”

“I see,” she said. “Well, this won’t take me a moment. Mr. Hausmann is very careful about things of a confidential nature.”

She went into the office and came out in less than a minute.

“Nothing on top, and everything else is locked.”

“Thank you,” Chase said. “Now, I’m sure that you would have done everything you could to make Mr. Payne welcome, even if I didn’t tell you his father and I are old friends. Classmates, as a matter of fact.”

“Of course.”

“In that case, I’ll leave him with you, and try to make the bank some money.”

She laughed dutifully.