Free Shadow of a Broken Man by George C. Chesbro Page B

directory—just a long antiseptic-green corridor with small offices on either side. I ambled down the corridor, hands in my pockets, trying not to look like a lost tourist. I rounded a corner and almost bumped into a man who was wearing a pale blue, three-piece suit. His full auburn beard just reached the top button of his vest.
    "Excuse me," the man said as he backed up, gripped my shoulder solicitously, and limped around me.
    "Mr. Thomas?"
    He turned and smiled quizzically. "Yes?" He had a kind face with kind eyes that were the wrong color—brown. But he could have been wearing contact lenses; the hair and the beard could be dyed, or phony altogether. I knew very well what wondrous things could be done with cosmetics and plastic surgery.
    "Elliot Thomas?"
    "Yes," he said easily. "Can I help you?"
    "My name's Frederickson," I said quickly, stepping forward and offering my hand. "I'd like to talk to you if you have a few minutes."
    "Sure," he said, shaking my hand tentatively. The hair around his mouth parted slightly to reveal a set of even, white teeth. "What is it that you'd like to talk to me about?"
    "I, uh ... uh ..." Clever detective that I am, this marvelous stroke of luck found me totally unprepared; I hadn't thought up a cover story. I went right at him with, "I'm looking for Victor Rafferty."
    It got a response. The teeth disappeared, and I thought I saw something move behind the earth-brown eyes. But then, I was looking pretty hard; I didn't want to be fooled by my own expectations.
    "Interesting," he said pleasantly. "Why don't you come into my office?"
    He led the way into a small but neatly appointed office with a nice view overlooking Manhattan. My reflexes were quicker than my thinking had been; as he moved around his desk, back to me, I reached out and snatched a cheap plastic protractor from the midst of a pile of papers and drafting tools. I was hoping he wouldn't miss it as I dropped it into my inside jacket pocket.
    "Is this a joke?" Thomas asked as he sat down. His smile was wearing thin, but that seemed understandable. "Victor Rafferty has been dead for some years."
    "But you are familiar with the name?"
    "Of course," Thomas said, gesturing to indicate that the answer was obvious. "I'm a stress engineer."
    "I'm sorry, but I don't know what a stress engineer does."
    " I'm sorry," Thomas said evenly, still smiling, "but I don't know what you do, either."
    A quick search of my mental resources still failed to turn up a plausible cover story. "I'm a private detective," I said. "I've been hired to investigate the death—or, uh, disappearance—of Victor Rafferty. I thought you might be able to help me."
    Thomas' chuckle was easy, good-natured. "What ever gave you the idea that I could help you? I never even met the man."
    "But you asked about him at the dedication ceremony for the Nately Museum."
    He thought a moment, then snapped his fingers. "Patern! The architect! That's where you got my name. But I didn't ask about Victor Rafferty; I said the building reminded me of his work." He reached inside his beard, tugged at his lower lip, frowned. "I don't remember telling Patern where I work."
    "Mr. Thomas," I said quickly, "will you tell me how you happen to know so much about Rafferty's work?"
    A shrug. "Why not? You see, a stress engineer evaluates the structural requirements of a given design, and the geographical location where the proposed building is to be erected. First, I tell the architect whether it's possible to build from his design; if it is, I give him the strength requirements of the materials to be used, depending on the location. For example, any building erected in an earthquake zone is going to have to be stronger than garden apartments in, say, Hoboken. I'm the person who makes those kinds of judgments."
    "Then you're not an architect yourself?"
    "No. But any stress engineer would be absolutely familiar with Rafferty's work. His 'Rafferty angles' made possible a whole new approach to the