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his suspicions. He was a private man and he didn’t give anything up easily, especially about his family. It took a while to draw the whole dark truth out of him. He’d asked his son Cary, an investment banker, about the notes. The young man had turned white. Obviously, this was not a case of ‘like father like son.’
    “Any idea what your son’s hiding?” I asked.
    Pokin’ around a man’s family is touchy business especially if the man was used to getting his way like General Hunt. He just glared at me. I imagined him staring down his Vietnamese serial killer the same way. He pushed his sunglasses up to pinch the bridge of his nose as his tired eyes closed for a moment.
    “I haven’t … but …”
    “Sir, if I’m going to help, you have to trust me,” I said as kindly as I could. A man was entitled to his secrets, but no one could hide much from me.
    After a few moments of tense silence he said, “I believe my son was having an affair.” He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself,’ Proverbs six, verse thirty-two. I don’t know who she was, but all the signs were there. I’ve seen them before. I’m afraid I’ve got Van Gogh’s ear for music when it comes to my son. I’ve bailed him out for years. You don’t get to choose your family, but they’re not just important, family is everything.”
    “That’s what parents do, isn’t it sir, protect their children. A good officer does the same thing. No shame in that,” I replied.
    “Maybe… maybe it’s the right thing, maybe not. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a good man and smart as a whip, but when it comes to women, trouble has a knack for finding him. There’s nothing new in history. Churchill said. ‘Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it’. My son repeatedly shows lapses in judgment yet I keep bailing him out.”
    The quote was actually from George Santayana, but I saw no point in antagonizing him. We're doomed to repeat the past no matter what. People are just plain stupid. “Has he been into anything serious?” I asked.
    “He’s had a few scrapes with the law, DUI mostly. There were a couple fast women…well bred, but ambitious women I’d call social climbers. There was an underage one, but she looked and dressed like she was twenty-five,” he said.
    “Nothing major?” I asked.
    He shook his head no and said, “No big deals and there’s been nothing in the almost three years he’s been married, until recently that is.”
    “What happened recently?”
    “He…,” the general took a deep breath. “He and his wife had some troubles, but he said they patched things up,” he responded.
    “An affair?”
    “That’d be my guess,” the general replied. “I don’t know which one of them …”
    “Or maybe both,” I added. “That’s a good reason for blackmail, don’t you think?”
    “Why come after me? My son’s a wealthy man in his own right.”
    “Deeper pockets, be my guess,” I replied, “deeper pockets and your well known aversion to publicity. Look, I don’t care why. You called me. Tell me what you want done and I’ll do my damndest to do it.”
    “How would you start?” the general asked, knowing what I’d say. He was an experienced cop and knew how to work a case.
    “I’d start with your son. I’d do some background then have a chat with him, I’d talk to his friends and coworkers, check out the places he frequents, that sort of stuff,” I replied. “I’d look for people who know his secrets. Isn’t that what you’d do?”
    “Yeah, I suppose I would. I’d look at his wife too, but I’m betting you were just being gentlemanly. My son’s out of town; left this morning. He’ll be back late next week. You can do your background work, check out his contacts and haunts, and then talk to him when he gets back. I’ll square it with him. He’ll cooperate. Hold off on talking to his wife until I clear it with him.”
    “I will fulfill my obligations,