“The coded books are informal, simplified copies of other books held elsewhere, and my guess is that he worked on those other books, returned to his office, and transcribed what he could remember. In the letters and documents are cross-references attesting to his memory. Some people would say out of hand that he could not have done it, but I’ve seen it. Adding that double column of figures had to be nothing to him. Letters and documents refer to appliances; in his books they turn up as kitchen sinks. In the letters are references to payments; in his books they turn up as C12H22O11.”

“What is that?”

“I looked it up. Sugar.”

“You said a sense of humor.”

“Very much so. In total, the ‘sugar’ items run into thousands. The books don’t specify where the payments went, but that can be deduced from the letters and memoranda.”

“Where?”

“You name it, Joe. I’m not kidding.”

“Swell.”

“I believe he kept up the codes to entertain himself and to ward off casual snoopers, such as his secretary. A few of his personal papers, his gambling records, for example, had little games in them.”

“How did he do with the gambling?”

“He dropped forty-six thousand in two years.”

“Lost it?”

“That’s right.”

“What about his taxes? Maybe he anticipated having to conceal winnings.”

“No. MacIver was like the little girl with the curl. At some things he was a model citizen. His tax returns show that he absorbed his losses completely, paying his taxes on them in full. He claimed the usual entertainment and other expenses that businessmen claim, and they do seem legitimate. Put it another way. He was too smart to cheat on his taxes. Under the law, Colin MacIver is absolutely clean.”

“What about bribery?”

“Not him. The payments were made, but not by him. Not by any man. The payments went to bagmen as consultation fees—for example. That’s the way the payments will appear on the books of the corporations that made them. MacIver kept those books. That’s how he knew that it really was sugar.”

“So he kept their books and they paid him well,” Leland said.

“Don’t try to guess ahead,” Mike said. “As I went through the correspondence and memoranda, I had to start lists of names. One list is of the people in the Port Smith municipal departments who had contact with the conspiracy. Another is of the bagmen and other small fry. The third is a list of the principals themselves. There are thirty-eight names on that list and it is logical to assume that MacIver did not know everybody. You’ll see what I mean. There is a fourth list, of people whose roles are unclear. Oh, everything is clear on the surface; it’s just that the nature of the thing makes you start questioning. It makes you sick with yourself. You want to see the financial records of everyone you come across. By the way, number one on the fourth list is your old friend, Herbert A. Davis. His connection would seem legitimate under any circumstance, but there is so much dirt around that you have to ask.