“Why isn’t it?” she countered.  “Your door’s marked Tri-State Detective Agency, Jefferson Davis Rand, Investigation and Protection.  Well, I want to know how much the collection’s worth, and who’ll pay the closest to it.  That’s investigation, isn’t it?  And I want protection from being swindled.  And don’t tell me you can’t do it.  You’re a pistol-collector, yourself; you have one of the best small collections in the state.  And you’re a recognized authority on early pistols; I’ve read some of your articles in the Rifleman.  If you can’t handle this, I don’t know who can.”

Rand’s frown deepened.  He wondered how much Gladys Fleming knew about the principles of General Semantics.  Even if she didn’t know anything, she was still edging him into an untenable position.  He hastily shifted from the attempt to identify his business with the label, “private detective agency.”

“Well, here, Mrs. Fleming,” he explained.  “My business, including armed-guard and protected-delivery service, and general investigation and protection work, requires some personal supervision, but none of it demands my exclusive attention.  Now, if you wanted some routine investigation made, I could turn it over to my staff, maybe put two or three men to work on it.  But there’s nothing about this business of yours that I could delegate to anybody; I’d have to do it all myself, at the expense of neglecting the rest of my business.  Now, I could do what you want done, but it would cost you three or four times what you’d gain by retaining me.”

“Well, let me decide that, Colonel,” she replied.  “How much would you have to have?”

“Well, this collection of your late husband’s consists of some twenty-five hundred pistols and revolvers, all types and periods,” Rand said.  “You want me to catalogue it, appraise each item, issue lists, and negotiate with prospective buyers.  The cataloguing and appraisal alone would take from a week to ten days, and it would be a couple more weeks until a satisfactory sale could be arranged.  Why, say five thousand dollars; a thousand as a retainer and the rest on completion.”

That, he thought, would settle that.  He was expecting an indignant outcry, and hardened his heart, like Pharaoh.  Instead, Gladys Fleming nodded equably.

“That seems reasonable enough, Colonel Rand, considering that you’d have to be staying with us at Rosemont, away from your office,” she agreed.  “I’ll give you a check for the thousand now, with a letter of authorization.”

Rand nodded in return.  Being thoroughly conscious of the fact that he could only know a thin film of the events on the surface of any situation, he was not easily surprised.

“Very well,” he said.  “You’ve hired an arms-expert.  I’ll be in Rosemont some time tomorrow afternoon.  Now, who are these prospective purchasers you mentioned, and just how prospective, in terms of United States currency, are they?”