Did she ever mention her mother again?
No, just that once.
Well. We have recalled one contact, perhaps we can recall another.
But they couldnt. He contrived other questions that didnt parrot the police, but all he got was a collection of blanks, and finally he gave it up.
He moved his eyes to include the others. Perhaps I should have explained, he said, exactly why I wanted to talk with you. First, since you had been in close association with Miss Usher, I wanted to know your attitude towards Mr Goodwins opinion that she did not kill herself. On the whole you have supported it. Miss Varr has upheld it on valid grounds, Miss Yarmis has opposed it on ambiguous grounds, and Miss Turtle is uncertain.
That was foxy and unfair. He knew damn well Helen Yarmis wouldnt know what ambiguous meant, and that was why he used it.
He was going on. Second, since I am assuming that Mr Goodwin is right, that Miss Usher did not poison her champagne and that therefore someone else did, I wanted to look at you and hear you talk. You are three of the eleven people who were there and are suspect; I exclude Mr Goodwin. One of you might have taken
that opportunity to use a lump of the poison that you all knew
But we couldnt! Rose Turtle blurted. Ethel was with Archie Goodwin. Helen was with that publisher, whats-his-name, Laidlaw, and I was with the one with big ears Kent . So we couldnt!
Wolfe nodded. I know, Miss Turtle. Evidentially, nobody could, so I must approach from another direction, and all eleven of you are suspect. I dont intend to harass you ladies in an effort to trick you into betraying some guarded secret of your relationship with Miss Usher; thats an interminable and laborious process and all night would only start it; and besides, it would probably be futile. If one of you has such a secret it will have to be exposed by other means. But I did want to look at you and hear you talk.
I havent talked much, Ethel Varr said.
No, Wolfe agreed, but you supported Mr Goodwin, and that alone is suggestive. Thirdand this was the main pointI wanted your help. I am assuming that if Miss Usher was murdered you would wish the culprit to be disclosed. I am also assuming that none of you has so deep an interest in any of the other eight people there that you would want to shield him from exposure if he is guilty.
I certainly havent, Ethel Varr declared. Like I told you, Im sure Faith didnt put anything in her champagne, and if she didnt, who did? Ive been thinking about it. I know it wasnt me, and it wasnt Mr Goodwin, and Im sure it wasnt Helen or Rose. How many does that leave?
Eight. The three male guests, Laidlaw, Schuster, and Kent. The butler. Mr Grantham and Miss Grantham. Mr and Mrs Robilotti.
Well, I certainly dont want to shield any of them .
Neither do I, Rose Turtle asserted, if one of them did it.
You couldnt shield them, Helen Yarmis told them, if they didnt do it. There wouldnt be anything to shield them from.
You dont understand, Helen, Rose told her. He wants to find out who it was. Now, for instance, what if it was Cecil Grantham, and what if you saw him take the bottle out of Faiths bag and put it back, or something like that, would you want to shield him? Thats what he wants to know.
But thats just it, Helen objected. If Faith did it herself, why would I want to shield him?
But Faith didnt do it. Ethel and Mr Goodwin were both looking at her.
Then why, Helen demanded, did she take the bottle to the party when I told her not to?
Rose shook her head, wiggling the pony tail. Youd better explain it, she told Wolfe.
I fear, he said, that its beyond my powers. It may clear the air a little if I say that a suspicious word or action at the party, like Mr Granthams taking the bottle from the bag, was not what I had in mind. I meant, rather, to ask if you know anything about any of those eight people that might suggest the possibility of a reason. why one of them might have wanted Miss Usher to die. Do you know of any connection between one of them and Miss Ushereither her or someone associated with her?
I dont, Rose said positively.
Neither do I, Ethel declared.
Theres so many of them, Helen complained. Who are they again?
Wolfe, patient under stress, pronounced the eight names.
Helen was frowning again. The only connection I know about, she said, is Mrs Robilotti. When she came to Grantham House to see us. Faith didnt like her.
Rose snorted. Who did?
Wolfe asked. Was there something definite, Miss Yarmis? Something between Miss Usher and Mrs Robilotti?
I guess not, Helen conceded. I guess it wasnt any more definite with Faith than it was with the rest of us.
Did you have in mind something in particular that Miss Usher and Mrs Robilotti said to each other?
Oh, no. I never heard Faith say anything to her at all. Neither . did I. She thought we were harlots.
Did she use that word? Did she call you harlots?
Of course not. She tried to be nice but didnt know how. One of the girls said that one day when she had been there, she said that she thought we were harlots.