would suspect a car like this with two good-looking well-dressed women in it.'
The driver looked grim. 'In that case,' she declared, 'it is our duty.'
And by gum she crawled along behind that bus for a good three-quarters of an hour, to Riverside Drive, the whole length of the Drive, over to Broadway, and on downtown. I thought the least I could do was furnish diversion, which I did with tales of my experiences with gangsters and kidnappers and so forth. When Daniel was still on the bus after crossing 42nd Street I decided in disgust that he was probably bound for Headquarters, and I was so deeply considering the feasibility of intercepting him before he got there that I nearly missed it when he hopped to the sidewalk at 34th Street. Paying the ladies with thanks and a cordial smile, I jumped out and dodged through the midday shopping mob, and almost lost him. I picked him up going west on 34th.
At Eighth Avenue he turned uptown. I kept twenty yards behind.
At 35th he turned west again.
That was when I got suspicious. Naturally. On he went, straight as a bullet. When he kept on west of Ninth Avenue, there was no question about it. I closed up. He began looking at the numbers on buildings, and came to the stoop and started up. Boy, I'm telling you, they don't get away from me. I get my man. I had trailed this one the length of New York, hanging on like a bulldog, right to Nero Wolfe's door.
Chapter 5
I had been thinking fast the last two blocks. I had considered, and rejected, three different maneuvers to keep Wolfe from finding out. They all seemed good, but I knew damn well none of them was good enough. He would find out all right, no matter what I did. So I bounded up the steps past Daniel, greeted him, let us in with my key, and took him to the office.
Wolfe, at his desk, frowned at us. 'How do you do, Mr. Huddleston. Archie. Where have you been?'
'I know,' I said, 'it's about lunch time, so I'll make it brief. First cast a glance at this.' I took the knife, the trowel, and the paper bags from my pockets and put them on his desk.
Daniel stared and muttered something.
'What is this flummery?' Wolfe demanded.
'No flummery,' I asserted. 'Tools. It still didn't rain last night. So I went to Riverdale to get the piece of turf where the orangutan poured the iodine. Brother Daniel had the same idea. He was just ahead of me. He's got it in that newspaper. I thought he might be going to toss it in the river, so I tailed him and he led me here. So I look foolish but not dumb. Now you can laugh.'
He didn't. He looked at Daniel. 'Is that what you have in that package, Mr. Huddleston?'
'It is,' Daniel said. 'I want-'
'Why did you bring it to me? I'm not a chemist. You are.'
'Because I want to authenticate it. I want-'
'Take it to the police.'
'No.' Daniel looked and sounded determined. 'They think I'm nothing but a nuisance. Maybe I am. But if I analyze this myself, without someone to-'
'Don't analyze it yourself. You have colleagues, friends, haven't you?'
'None I would want to give this to.'
'Are you sure you have the piece where the iodine was poured?'
'I am. A few drops were on the edge of the flagstone. I also have pieces taken from each side of that piece, for comparison.'
'Naturally. Who suggested this step to you?'
'No one. It occurred to me this mornhtg, and I immediately went up there-'
'Indeed. I congratulate you. Take it to the Fisher Laboratories. You know them, don't you?'
'Certainly.' Daniel flushed. 'I happen not to have any cash at the moment. They are expensive.'
'Establish credit. Your sister's estate. Aren't you her nearest relative?'
'There is no estate. The liabilities greatly exceed the assets.'
Wolfe looked annoyed. 'You are careless not to have cash. Confound it, you should have cash. You understand, sir, my finger is not in this pie. I am not concerned. My lunch is ready. I should bid you good day. But you seem to be capable of using your brains, and that is so rare a phenomenon it is a pity to waste it. Archie, phone Mr. Weinbach at the Fisher Laboratories. Tell him to expect Mr. Huddleston, to rush the analysis he requires, and to charge it to me. You can pay the bill, sir, at your convenience.'
Daniel hesitated. 'I have a habit-I am extremely backward about paying bills-'
'You'll pay this one. I'll see that you do. What is argyrol?'
'Argyrol? Why-it's a silver-protein compound. Silver vietllin.'
'It stains like iodine. Could tetanus bacilli live in it?'
Daniel considered. 'I believe they could. It's far weaker-'
