Murder In the Gunroom by Henry Beam Piper

It was hard to judge Jeff Rands age from his appearance; he was certainly over thirty and considerably under fifty. He looked hard and fit, like a man who could be a serviceable friend or a particularly unpleasant enemy. Women instinctively suspected that he would make a most satisfying lover. One might have taken him for a successful lawyer (he had studied law, years ago), or a military officer in mufti (he still had a Reserve colonelcy, and used the title occasionally, to impress people who he thought needed impressing), or a prosperous businessman, as he usually thought of himself. Most of all, he looked like King Charles II of England anachronistically clad in a Brooks Brothers suit. At the moment, he was looking rather like King Charles II being bothered by one of his mistresses who wanted a peerage for her husband. But, Mrs. Fleming, he was expostulating. There surely must be somebody else.... After all, youll have to admit that this isnt the sort of work this agency handles. The would-be client released a series of smoke-rings and watched them float up toward the air-outlet at the office ceiling. It spoke well for Rands ability to subordinate esthetic to business considerations that he was trying to give her a courteous and humane brush-off. She made even the Petty and Varga girls seem credible. Her color-scheme was blue and gold; blue eyes, and a blue tailored outfit that would have looked severe on a less curvate figure, and a charmingly absurd little blue hat perched on a mass of golden hair. If Rand had been Charles II, she could have walked out of there with a duchesss coronet, and Nell Gwyn would have been back selling oranges. Why isnt it? she countered. Your doors marked Tri-State Detective Agency, Jefferson Davis Rand, Investigation and Protection. Well, I want to know how much the collections worth, and wholl pay the closest to it. Thats investigation, isnt it? And I want protection from being swindled. And dont tell me you cant do it. Youre a pistol-collector, yourself; you have one of the best small collections in the state. And youre a recognized authority on early pistols; Ive read some of your articles in the Rifleman. If you cant handle this, I dont know who can. Rands frown deepened. He wondered how much Gladys Fleming knew about the principles of General Semantics. Even if she didnt 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.