As Byne entered his eyes went to Mrs Usher and saw what I had seen, and then he too was satisfied. They took the seats they had had before. Wolfe looked from one to the other and back again.
'I don’t want to prolong this beyond necessity,' he said, 'but I would like to congratulate you. You were taken in that place by surprise and brought here with no chance to confer, but you have both lied so cleverly that it would have taken a long and costly investigation to impeach you. It was an admirable performance- If you please, Mr Byne. You may soon speak, and you will need to. Unfortunately, for you, the performance was wasted. Fresh ammunition has arrived. I have just finished reading a document that was not intended for me.' He looked at Mrs Usher. 'It states, madam, that if you disclose its contents you will suffer a severe penalty, but you have not disclosed them. On the contrary, you have done your best to safeguard them.'
Mrs Usher had sat up. 'What document? What are you talking about?'
'The best way to identify it is to quote an excerpt-say, the fourth paragraph. It goes: ‘So I have taken steps that should meet the situation. I have given my nephew, Austin Byne, a portfolio of securities the income from which is tax exempt, amounting to slightly more than $2,000,000. The yield will be about $55,000 annually. My nephew is to remit half.’ '
Byne was on his feet. The next few seconds were a little confused. I was up, to be between Byne and Wolfe, but the fury in his eyes was for Mrs Usher. Then, as he moved towards her, Saul was there to block him, so everything was under control. But then, with Saul’s back to her and me cut off by Saul and Byne, Mrs Usher shot out of her chair and streaked for Wolfe. I might have beat her to it by diving across Wolfe’s desk, but maybe not, from where I was, and anyway, I was too astonished to move-not by her, but by him. He had been facing her, so his knees weren’t under the desk and he didn’t have to swivel, but even so, he had a lot of pounds to get in motion. Back went his bulk, and up came his legs, and just as she arrived his feet were there, and one of them caught her smack on the chin. She staggered back into Saul’s arms and he eased her on to the chair. And I’ll be damned if she didn’t put both hands to her jaw and squawk at Wolfe, 'You hit me!'
I had hold of Byne’s arm, a good hold, and he didn’t even know it. When he realized it he tried to jerk loose but couldn’t, and for a second I thought he was going to swing with the other fist, and so did he.
'Take it easy,' I advised him. 'You’re going to need all the breath you’ve got.'
'How did you get it?' Mrs Usher demanded. 'Where is it?' She was still clutching her jaw with both hands.
Wolfe was eyeing her, but not warily. Complacently, I would say. You might think that for a long time he had had a suppressed desire to kick a woman on the chin.
'It’s in my pocket,' he said. He tapped his chest. 'I got it just now from the man who took it from your hotel room. You’ll probably get it back in due course; that will depend; it may-'
'That’s burglary,' Byne said. 'That’s a felony.'
Wolfe nodded. 'By definition, yes. I doubt if Mrs Usher will care to make the charge if the document is eventually returned to her. It may be an exhibit in evidence in a murder trial. If so-'
'There has been no murder.'
'You are in error, Mr Byne. Will you please sit down? This will take a while. Thank you. I’ll cover that point decisively with a categorical statement: Faith Usher was murdered.'
'No!' Mrs Usher said. Her hands left her jaw but remained poised, the fingers curved. 'Faith killed herself!'
'I’m not going to debate the point,' Wolfe told her. 'I say merely that I will stake my professional reputation on the statement that she was murdered-indeed, I have done so. That’s why I am applying my resources and risking my credit. That’s why I must explore the possibilities suggested by this letter.' He tapped his chest and focused on Byne. 'For instance, I shall insist on seeing the agreement between you and Mr Grantham. Does it provide that if Faith Usher should die your remittances to her mother are to be materially decreased, or even cease altogether?'
Byne wet his lips. 'Since you’ve read the letter to Mrs Usher you know what the agreement provides. It’s a confidential agreement and you’re not going to see it.'
'Oh, but I am.' Wolfe was assured. 'When you came here my threat was only to tell the police of your rendezvous. Now my threat is more imperative and may even be mortal. Observe Mrs Usher. Note her expression as she regards you. Have you seen the agreement, madam?'
'Yes,' she said, 'I have.'
'Does it contain such a provision as I suggested?'
'Yes,' she said, 'it does. It says that if Faith dies he can pay me only half as much or even less. Are you telling the truth, that she was murdered?'
'Nuts,' Byne said. 'It’s not the truth he’s after. Anyhow, I wasn’t even there. Don’t look at me, Elaine, look at him.'
'I thought,' Wolfe said, 'that it might save time to see the agreement now, so I sent Mr Gather to your apartment to look for it. It will expedite matters if you phone him and tell him where it is. He is good with locks and should be inside by this time.'
Byne was staring. 'By God,' he said.
'Do you want to phone him?'
'Not him. By God. You’ve been threatening to call the police. I’ll call them myself. I’ll tell them a man has broken into my apartment, and he’s there now, and they’ll get him.'
I left my chair. 'Here, Dinky, use my phone.'
He ignored me. 'It’s not the agreement,' he told Wolfe. 'It’s your goddamn nerve. He won’t find the agreement because it’s not there. It’s in a safe-deposit box and it’s going to stay there.'
'Then it must wait until Monday.' Wolfe’s shoulders went up an eighth of an inch and down again.
