“No. They can investigate as much as they damn please.”
“Have you been summoned?”
“No.”
“Had Mr. Holt been summoned?”
“No.”
“Have any officials of your union been summoned?”
“No.” Korby’s pudgy face and bald top were pinking up a little. “You’re barking up the wrong tree again.”
“But at least another tree. You realize, sir, that if Mr. Delaney starts after us in earnest, the affairs of the United Restaurant Workers of America will be one of his major concerns. For the murder of Philip Holt we all had opportunity, and the means were there at hand; what he will seek is the motive. If there was a vulnerable spot in the operation of your union, financial or otherwise, I suggest that it would be wise for you to disclose it now for discussion.”
“There wasn’t anything.” Korby was pinker. “There’s nothing wrong with my union except rumors. That’s all it is, rumors, and where’s a union that hasn’t got rumors with all the stink they’ve raised? We’re not vulnerable to anything or anybody.”
“What kind of rumors?”
“Any kind you want to name. I’m a crook. All the officers are crooks. We’ve raided the benefit fund. We’ve sold out to the big operators. We steal lead pencils and paper clips.”
“Can you be more specific? What was the most embarrassing rumor?”
Korby was suddenly not listening. He took a folded handkerchief from his pocket, opened it up, wiped his face and his baldness, refolded the handkerchief at the creases, and returned it to his pocket. Then his eyes went back to Wolfe.
“If you want something specific,” he said, “it’s not a rumor. It’s a strictly internal union matter, but it’s sure to leak now and it might as well leak here first. There have been some charges made, and they’re being looked into, about kickbacks from dealers to union officers and members. Phil Holt had something to do with some of the charges, though that wasn’t in his department. He got hot about it.”
“Were you the target of any of the charges?”
“I was not. I have the complete trust of my associates and my staff.”
“You said ‘dealers.’ Does that include importers?”
“Sure, importers are dealers.”
“Was Mr. Griffin’s name mentioned in any of the charges?”
“I’m not giving any names, not without authority from my board. Those things are confidential.”
“Much obliged, Jim,” H. L. Griffin said, sounding the opposite of obliged. “Even exchange?”
“Excuse me.” It was Dick Vetter, on his feet. “It’s nearly twelve o’clock and Miss Korby and I have to go. We’ve got to get some lunch and I can’t be late for that conference. Anyway, I think it’s a lot of hooey. Come on, Flora.”
She hesitated a moment, then left her chair, and he moved. But when Wolfe snapped out his name he turned. “Well?”
Wolfe swiveled his chair. “My apologies. I should have remembered that you are pressed for time. If you can give us, say, five minutes?”
The TV star smiled indulgently. “For my autobiography? You can look it up. It’s in print-
“You could indeed, Mr. Vetter. But if inquiry reveals that you have lied or have omitted something plainly relevant that will be of interest. The magazine articles you mentioned-do they tell of your interest in Miss Korby?”
“Nuts.” Many of his twenty million admirers wouldn’t have liked either his tone or his diction.
Wolfe shook his head. “If you insist, Mr. Vetter, you may of course be disdainful about it with me, but not with the police once they get interested in you. I asked you before if you and Miss Korby are friends, and you asked what that had to do with it, and I said possibly nothing. I now say possibly something, since Philip Holt was hounding her-how savagely I don’t know yet. Are you and Miss Korby friends?”
“Certainly we’re friends. I’m taking her to lunch.”
“Are you devoted to her?”
His smile wasn’t quite so indulgent, but it was still a smile. “Now that’s a delicate question,” he said. “I’ll tell you how it is. I’m a public figure and I have to watch my tongue. If I said yes, I’m devoted to Miss Korby, it would be in all the columns tomorrow and I’d get ten thousand telegrams and a million letters. If I said no, I’m not devoted to Miss Korby, that wouldn’t be polite with her here at my elbow. So I’ll just skip it. Come on, Flora.”
“One more question. I understand that your father works in a New York restaurant. Do you know whether he is involved in any of the charges Mr. Korby spoke of?”
“Oh, for God’s sake. Talk about hooey.” He turned and headed for the door, taking Flora with him. I got up and went to the hall and on to the front door, opened it for them, closed it after them, put the chain-bolt on,
