'I'm sorry. I apologize. I should have-' He was out of his chair. 'Scotch or rye?'
I said just water would do but scotch would be welcome if it wanted in, and he went to a copper- coloured refrigerator in a corner and took things out. A woman would have found only one flaw: he didn't use a tray. I found none. When he returned to his chair there was on the desk in front of me a man-sized glass containing two ice cubes immersed in whisky, and a pitcher of water, and he had a glass too. I filled mine to the top, put the pitcher in his reach, took a healthy sip, and cleared my throat.
'That helps,' I said, and took another sip. 'Now connecting the two murders. Of course the first point is that Mr Wolfe and I want them to be connected, but there are other points. There at Farnham's Friday evening Mr Wolfe let them all hear him concentrate on Sam Peacock, and he made it obvious that he was by no means through with him. It could be that one of them knew that Sam had seen or heard something that Mr Wolfe must not know about, but it doesn't have to be. All of Farnham's crowd were there last night, and one of them may have told somebody how Nero Wolfe had concentrated on Sam.' I took a swallow and put the glass down. 'The shortest way to say what I'm saying is to repeat what Mr Wolfe once told a man: 'In a world of cause and effect, all coincidences are suspect.' There were more than two hundred people there last night, maybe three hundred, and one of them was murdered, and which one was it? It was the man who had been alone with Brodell the two days before he was murdered and who was going to be worked on by an expert. I not only suspect that coincidence, I reject it.'
Jessup nodded. 'So does Wolfe.'
'Sure. He thinks things through like me. Did my report match his fairly well?'
'Not fairly. Perfectly.'
'He has a good memory. This drink has reminded me that I'm hungry. When I smelled the Sunday dinner downstairs I decided to fast. Mr Wolfe never talks business during a meal, but I do.' I rose. 'May I open that carton?'
He said certainly, and I went and got it and put it on the desk. The knot looked complicated, and I borrowed his knife to cut the cord, opened the flaps, and unpacked. When I finished there was an imposing spread lined up on the desk:
1 can pineapple
1 can purple plums
10 (or more) large paper napkins
8 paper plates
1 jar caviar
1 quart milk
8 slices Mrs Barnes's bread
6 bananas
1 plastic container potato salad
4 deviled eggs
2 chicken second joints
1 slab Wisconsin cheese
1 jar pвtй de foie gras truffe
1 huckleberry pie
6 paper cups
2 knives
2 forks
4 spoons
1 opener combo
1 salt shaker
I said I hoped he was hungry too, and he said he had told Miss Rowan that he would also have me brought on Monday, if circumstances permitted.
'Of course,' he said, 'there will be people coming and going tomorrow and it would be a little complicated. Miss Rowan tried all morning to get Luther Dawson but couldn't reach him. He's not accessible weekends. He may not get to his office before noon tomorrow but Miss Rowan has his home telephone number, and it's about a three-hour drive here from Helena. But there will be a judge available tomorrow at any hour. You realize that my position is a little-well, difficult. In a court proceeding in this county I represent the people of the State of Montana, and Haight will insist that I ask for high bail. He may even want me to ask that you be held without bail, but of course I won't. I have explained the situation to Wolfe and Miss Rowan.'
My mouth was busy with deviled egg. I had the caviar jar open and was working on the pвtй. I swallowed. 'It's not the being in that hurts,' I said, 'it's the not being out. After being completely useless for two weeks, I could now do some detective work with a real chance of ringing the bell if I wasn't locked up.' I slid some of the items toward him. 'Help yourself to something. Everything.'
'Thanks.' He reached for a slice of bread and the caviar. 'What would you do if you were out?'
'What Haight should be doing but probably isn't-and Welch too, instead of chaperoning me. Do you want me to describe it?'
