was bending over a sort of suitcase he had on the running-board of his coupй. One that opened at the top with a lot of vials and bottles and envelopes, and little racks and clips to hold them.
'I'm afraid there's not much to work on,' I said, looking around.
'Oh, I've got everything I need already,' he said. 'I cleaned up the last of it yesterday evening. Just making a final check this morning.'
'Did you-find anything to help you?' I asked.
'Don't know yet.' He grinned. 'I've got it all, though, up at the hotel. I've signed enough receipts for your county attorney to fill a bushel basket.'
'I'm glad you've had cooperation,' I said. 'If there's anything I can do let me know.'
'Swell,' he said, 'just pass the word along to the C.A. and the sheriff and their cohorts that the quicker I'm satisfied the quicker you'll get your dough.'
'I'm not in any particular hurry to get the money,' I said.
'Oh, hell,' he said, 'we're all in a hurry to get the money. What's your opinion on the origin of the fire?'
'I don't know,' I said. 'According to the paper, rats-'
He threw back his head and laughed. 'I'll bet that tied you in knots, didn't it? Would rats be in a metal-lined room? Wouldn't your wife have known if there were rats? And would she have put herself within a hundred yards of them?'
'I've not had any experiences with fires,' I said. 'What's your idea?'
'I've got a couple. One is that it was incendiary.' He grinned, watching my face. 'The other, that it was an accident.'
'Well-'
'Pretty good, huh? All I've got to do is get rid of one of 'em, and I can hand you a check or have you slapped in the jug.'
And before I could say anything, he laughed and clapped me on the back to show that he was joking.
'I'm sorry, Mr. Wilmot,' he said. 'I know how you must feel at a time like this, and I don't mean to be flippant. I see so much tragedy that I'm a little hardened to it. Don't pay any attention to me.'
'That's all right,' I said.
'I'll be frank with you, Joe-Mr. Wilmot-'
'Joe's okay.'
'I'm kind of puzzled, Joe. Now, you didn't have any knob-and-tube wiring in here? It was all in conduit, right?'
'Sure. Just like it is in my show.'
'What about the cord on the rewind motor?'
'It was all right. So far as I know.'
He shook his head reproachfully. 'You mean to say you're not sure?'
'Well, of course I'm sure,' I said. 'Mrs. Wilmot would have been sure, anyway. She'd been doing this for almost ten years. If there was anything wrong with the cord she'd have known it.'
'It looks like she would have, Joe,' he nodded. 'She didn't smoke, I understand?'
'No, she didn't.'
'Well, there you are,' said Appleton. 'Apparently there wasn't any cause for the fire. And yet there was a fire. You see why I'm puzzled, Joe?'
'Yeah,' I said. 'I see.'
'How long did you say Mrs. Wilmot had been doing this sort of work?'
'Ten years or so. Almost ever since we were married.'
'Why did she do it? Don't get me wrong. We're not denying liability.'
'I suppose she did it because she wanted to.'
'Just like that, huh?' He laughed.
'Yes.'
'You screen your stuff before you play it, don't you? Running it through the rewind here didn't save any time or money.'
'I wouldn't say that. Every once in a while she'd run across a reel that was wound backward or needed splicing, and-'
'But not very often. Not often enough to justify so much time and expense. It strikes me that this setup would have been more of a nuisance than anything else.'
Well, it was. I couldn't deny it.
'Tell me. Did she do any other work connected with the show?'
'Yes. She did quite a bit. Worked on the books now and then. Made out the deposit slips. Things like that.'
'Why?'
'Why?' I said. But I knew what he meant.
'Sure. From what I've learned of you, Joe, you didn't need that kind of help. You're a first-rate businessman. I happen to know that Mrs. Wilmot was anything but an expert businesswoman.'
'I don't see what that has to do with the fire.'
'Maybe it hasn't got anything to do with it.' He was still grinning, but his eyes were hard. 'For twenty-five thousand bucks I could even ask foolish questions.'
'I think I see what you're driving at,' I said slowly. 'You're implying that my wife was butting in where she wasn't wanted and that I resented it.'
'Well, Joe?'
I nodded. Something seemed to nod my head. And when I spoke it was as though someone were whispering the words to me. The right words.
'It's probably pretty hard for you to understand,' I said. 'You see, Mrs. Wilmot was quite a bit older than I was. We didn't have any children. I think she felt from the beginning that she wasn't pulling her weight in the partnership-'
He cleared his throat, sort of embarrassed like. I went on.
'Her work didn't help me,' I said-I heard myself saying. 'It was a nuisance. I've spent hours undoing some of the things she did; and I used to get impatient and bawl her out. But I guess I was always ashamed afterward. She was trying to make up for things-for the things she couldn't give me and felt that she should-
'I wish she was back here, now. She could turn the show into a bathhouse and I'd never say a word. Anyway-well, that's the way it was. She did butt in, and I resented it. But we understood each other in spite of everything. That's all I've got to say.'
Appleton blew his nose. 'I think-I-I understand the situation, Joe. I'm sorry if I put the wrong interpretation on it.'
'You've got your job to do,' I said.
'I'll be frank with you. We don't like the looks of these fires where everything is so completely destroyed. Now, this Farmer girl-' He lowered his voice. 'She was the last person to see Mrs. Wilmot alive. How did they get along together?'
'Why, all right, I believe,' I said. 'I can tell you this much. If Elizabeth hadn't wanted her here, she wouldn't have stayed one minute.'
He nodded again. 'That jibes with my information.'
'If I had the slightest idea that Carol-'
'Now, don't let me put ideas into your head,' he said quickly. 'I'm just groping in the dark.'
I glanced at my watch.
'I've got to be getting into town pretty quick,' I said. 'I suppose you'll be around for a while?'
'Oh, sure. You'll be seeing a lot of me before we get this thing settled.'
I knew he meant just what he said, nothing more. I'd sold myself to him as much as I could be sold under the circumstances. He'd swallowed everything I'd said about Elizabeth.
Carol was fixing some breakfast when I went into the house. I sat down at the kitchen table and waited, and I think I said something about the coffee smelling good. She didn't answer me or turn around. Pretty soon I saw her hand go up to her face.
