Wolfe lifted his shoulders an eighth of an inch, lowered them, and turned to Cramer. Im afraid youre wasting your time, Mr Cramer. And mine.
I was yawning.
Cramers red face was getting redder, a sure sign that he had reached the limit of something and was about to cut loose, but a miracle happened: he put on the brake in time. Its a pleasure to see self-control win a tussle. He moved his eyes to me.
Im not taking this as final, Goodwin. Think it over. Of course, were going on with the investigation. If we find anything at all that points to homicide well follow it up. You know that. But its only fair to warn you. If our final definite opinion is that it was suicide, and we say so, and you give your friend Lon Cohen of the Gazette a statement for publication saying that you know it was murder, youll regret it. That, or anything like it. Why in hell it had to be that you were there, God only knows. Such a statement from you, as an eye-witness
The doorbell rang. I arose, asked Cramer politely to excuse me, stepped to the hall, and through the one-way glass saw a recent social acquaintance, though it took me a second to recognize him because his forty-dollar fedora covered the uncombed hair. I went and opened the door, confronted him, said, Ssshhh, patted my lips with a forefinger, backed up, and beckoned him in. He hesitated, looking slightly startled, then crossed the threshold. I shut the door and, without stopping to relieve him of his hat and coat, opened the door to the front room, which is on the same side of the hall as the office, motioned him in, followed him, and shut the door.
Its all right here, I told him. Soundproofed, doors and all.
All right for what? Edwin Laidlaw asked.
For privacy. Unless you came to see Inspector Cramer of Homicide?
I dont know what youre talking about. I came to see you.
I thought you might have, and I also thought you might prefer not to collide with Cramer. Hes in the office chatting with Mr Wolfe, and is about ready to go, so I shunted you in here.
Im glad you did. Ive seen all I want of policemen for a while. He glanced around. Can we talk here?
Yes, but I must go and see Cramer off. Ill be back soon. Have a chair.
I went to the door to the hall and opened it, and there was Cramer heading for the front. He didnt even look at me, let alone speak. I thought if he could be rude I could too, so I let him get his own hat and coat and let himself out. When the door had closed behind him I went to the office and crossed to Wolfes desk. He spoke.
I will make one remark, Archie. To bedevil Mr Cramer for a purpose is one thing; to do so merely for pastime is another.
Yes, sir. I wouldnt dream of it. Youre asking me if my position with you, privately, is the same as it was with him. The answer is yes.
Very well. Then hes in a pickle.
Thats too bad. Someone else is too, apparently. Yesterday when I was invited to the party and given the names of the male guests, I wanted to know who they were and phoned Lon Cohen. One of them, Edwin Laidlaw, is a fairly important
citizen for a man his age. He used to be pretty loose around town, but three years ago his father died and he inherited ten million dollars, and recently he bought a controlling interest in the Malvin Press, book publishers, and apparently he intends to settle down and
Is this of interest?
It may be. Hes in the front room. He came to see me, and since my only contact with him was last night it could be of interest. I can talk with him there, but I thought I should tell you because you might possibly want to sit inor stand in. At the hole. In case I need a witness.
Pfui.
Yeah, I know. I dont want to shove, but we havent had a case for two weeks.
He was scowling at me. It wasnt so much that he would have to leave his chair and walk to the hall and on to the alcove, and stand at the holeafter all, that amount of exercise would be good for his appetiteas it was that the very best that could come of it, getting a client, would also be the worst, since he would have to work. He heaved a sigh, not letting it interfere with the scowl, muttered, Confound it, put his palms on the desk rim to push his chair back, and got up and went.
The hole was in the wall, at eye level, eight feet to the right of Wolfes desk. On the office side it was covered by a picture of a pretty waterfall. On the other side, in a wing of the hall across from the kitchen, it was covered by nothing, and you could not only see through but also hear through. I had once stood there for four solid hours, waiting for someone to appear from the front room to snitch something from my desk. I allowed Wolfe a minute to get himself posted and then went and opened the door to the front room and spoke.
In here, Laidlaw. Its more comfortable. I moved one of the yellow chairs around to face my desk.
Chapter 5
I thought it was a nice party up to a point, didnt you? Even with the protocol.
I cant remember that far back. He leaned forward. His hair was still perfectly uncombed. Look, Goodwin. I want to ask you a straight question, and I hope youll answer it. I dont see why you shouldnt.