'Probably. I'll ask Miss Rowan. When I went to bed at two o'clock Sunday morning it was thirty-six above. I'll make a concession. I'll drive you to Helena. To catch that plane we'll have to leave by seven o'clock, and I'd better phone if you want to be sure of a seat.'
He took in air through his nose, all he had room for, say half a bushel, and let it out through his mouth. That wasn't enough, and he did it again. He looked at the bed, then at the dresser, then at the door to the bathroom, and then at me. 'Who slept in this room last night?'
'Nobody. It's a spare.'
'Bring Miss Rowan and- No, you're on leave. Will you please ask Miss Rowan if it will be convenient for her to join us?'
'Glad to.' I went. As I passed the door of Wade's room the sound of his typewriter, not the Underwood, came through. In the big room Diana, with a magazine, and Lily, with a book, were on chairs near the fireplace, where six-foot logs were burning as usual of evenings. I told Lily her new guest wanted to know if it would be convenient for her to join us, and she put the book down and got up and came. On the way down the hall she asked no questions, which was like her and therefore no surprise. She knew from experience that if I knew something she should know, I had a tongue.
I was supposing that he was going to ask her something about Harvey's character, but he didn't. When she crossed to him and asked if she could do something he tilted his head back and said, 'You'll oblige me if you sit. I don't like to talk up to people, or down. I prefer eyes at a level.'
I moved the third chair up for her, and as she sat she spoke. 'If I had known in advance you were coming I would have had a vase of orchids in the room.'
He grunted. 'I'm not in a humour for orchids. I'm in a predicament, Miss Rowan. I am indeed at your mercy. It is necessary for me to be in this immediate neighbourhood, in easy touch with Mr Goodwin, and I don't know how long. That place near Timberburg is not a sty, it's moderately clean, but it would be an ordeal, and it's at a distance. A self-invited guest is an abomination, but there is no alternative for me. May I occupy this room?'
'Of course.' She was controlling a smile. 'Archie has quoted you as saying once that a guest is a jewel on the cushion of hospitality. I know too much about you to expect you to be a jewel, but neither will you be an abomination. You could have just told Archie to come and tell me you were going to stay, instead of getting me in and asking me. You did it very nicely. I know how you feel about guests and hosts; I have dined at your house. Before you go to bed, tell me if you want anything.'
'I presumed to ask Mr Goodwin if there is an electric blanket.'
'Certainly.' She rose. 'What else?'
'At the moment, nothing. Sit down-if you please. Mr Goodwin is going to tell me what he has done and we're going to discuss what's to be done now. I'll ask questions, and you may know the answers to some of them better than he does. Will you remain?'
'Yes. I would like to.'
'Very well. My first question deals with you. It must, if I am to be a guest in your house. How and where did you spend the afternoon of Thursday, July twenty-fifth?'
I don't want to give the impression that I am trying to sell the idea that Lily Rowan, in all respects and circumstances and 365 days in the year, is a perfect female biped. Anyone who tried to sell me that idea would have an argument. But there aren't many women who wouldn't have wasted time and words, one way or another, in reacting to that question, and she didn't react at all, she merely answered it.
'Most of it fishing,' she said, 'in the Fishtail River. In midsummer trout are scarce in the creek and to fill a creel you have to go to the river. Around one o'clock that day Archie and I were sitting at the edge of Cutthroat Pool eating a picnic lunch. We had left our horses at the end of the trail.' She turned to me. 'How far were we from Blue Grouse Ridge?'
'Oh, ten or twelve miles.'
Back to Wolfe. 'Blue Grouse Ridge is where Philip Brodell was killed. After lunch we caught fish and took a dip in the river, which a polar bear would love, and watched beavers repairing a dam in a creek, and Archie threw a rock at a bear-black, not polar-who jumped into a pool to swim across when he had a cutthroat on. It was nearly dark when we got home, and Diana-she's a guest-said that Bill Farnham had phoned to ask if Philip Brodell was here.'
'What's a cutthroat?'
'A trout with a red mark under the jaw. If I had a cap, that would be a feather in it, using a word you didn't know.'
'There are thousands of words I don't know.' He turned to me. 'I concede that you may reasonably object that that was unnecessary. If you had not conclusively eliminated Miss Rowan, you would not have remained as her guest. I've had a long hard day and I'm tired, and my wits are slow. I haven't even asked you if you shot that man. Did you?'
'No. I was wondering why you didn't ask.'
'I'm tired. But go ahead. If I find I can't keep up with you I'll say so. Report.'
'I'll have to know what for,' I said. 'You said you don't know how long you'll stay. If you intend just to check our conclusion on Harvey and wish us luck, there's no point in-'
'How can I check your conclusion? I can only accept it or reject it. Very well, I accept it. The length of my stay depends on how long it will take us to establish his innocence.'
' 'Us'?'
'Yes.'
I raised a brow. 'I don't know. You mean well and I deeply appreciate it, but there are a couple of snags. One, we have never worked together like this. We're equals, fellow guests of Miss Rowan. You wouldn't be paying me to run errands and follow instructions and bring anybody you wanted to see, and I would be free to balk if I thought-'
