'Will she find it?'
'No. If she misses it she won't even look. My understanding of attractive young women. She might lam. If she does I'll have a problem. If she's gone and I tell Cramer about the gun I'll be up a tree. If I don't tell him I'll lie awake nights.'
He shut his eyes. In two moments he opened them. 'You should have told me you were going.'
'I should not. It was a personal errand in which a quart of milk was involved. Even if she stays put I'll have a problem, if tomorrow night is a turkey. If and if. Just now I wanted to ring Hewitt from a booth and ask him if the orchids are packed. Shall I?'
'No. He's busy. I believe guns can be identified?'
'Sure. Scientists can do it now even if the number has been filed off. And Cramer will have the number of the one Althaus had a permit for.'
'Then there will be no problem. I must see about that sturgeon.' He left his chair and headed for the door. Short of it he stopped and turned, said, 'Satisfactory,' and went. I shook my head and went on shaking it as I replaced the yellow chair. 'There will be no problem,' for God's sake. I thought if I had an ego that size I'd be the boss of the FBI, and then realized that that wasn't exactly the way to put it. I returned the keys and gloves to the cabinet, went to the kitchen to get a glass of milk, since lunch would be late, and to listen to them discuss sturgeon.
With a couple of hours to go, possibly more, after the milk was down I made the rounds-first two flights up to my room, to see that everything was in order for the guests who would occupy my bed. Fritz isn't supposed to touch my room; it's mine, including the responsibility. It was okay, except that the two pillows I had got from the closet that morning weren't the same size, but that couldn't be helped. Then to the South Room, which is above Wolfe's, where two more guests would sleep on the twin beds. That visit was unnecessary, since Fritz never makes mistakes, but I had time to kill.
It got killed somehow.
I wasn't expecting them until two at the earliest, but I should have known better, since Saul was in charge. Wolfe was in the kitchen and I was in the front room, which adjoins the office, checking that blankets were on the sofa, when the doorbell rang and I glanced at my watch. Twenty to two, so it couldn't be the truck.
But it was. Going to the hall, I saw a big bozo in a leather jacket on the stoop. When I opened the door he boomed at me, 'Nero Wolfe? Orchids for you!'
I stepped out. At the curb was a big green truck with red lettering on its side: NORTH SHORE TRUCKING CORPORATION. Another big bozo was at its rear, opening the doors. I said fairly loud that it was pretty damn cold for orchids and I would come and help. By the time I got my coat on and went out they had a box on the edge at the back and were pulling it around. I happened to know its exact size-three feet wide, five feet long, and two feet high-because I had packed boxes exactly like it with orchid plants on their way to dealers or exhibitions. On its side it was marked:
FRAGILE PERISHABLE
TROPICAL PLANTS
KEEP AS WARM AS POSSIBLE
I descended to the sidewalk, but they lifted it off and got the handles at the ends, obviously not needing any help, even up the steps. Above, Wolfe had the door open and they entered. The natural thing for me was to stay and guard the truck, so I did. There were five more boxes inside, all the same. One of the five would be quite a load even for those two huskies, but I didn't know which one. It proved to be the next to the last. As they eased it down and took the handles one of them said, 'Jesus, these must be in lead pots,' and the other one said, 'Naw, gold.' I wondered if there was a G-man close enough to hear. They got it up the stoop without a stumble, though it was close to three hundred pounds, counting the box-or I hoped it was. When they took the last one in I went along. Wolfe signed a receipt, and I gave each of them two bucks and got thanked and waited until they were on the sidewalk to shut the door and bolt it.
The boxes were strung along the hall, the radio in the office was on loud, and Wolfe was using a screwdriver on the third box from the end. I asked him if he was sure, and when he said yes, an X was chalked on it, I got another screwdriver. There were only eight screws, and in a couple of minutes we had them out. I lifted the top off, and there was Saul Panzer, on his side with his knees pulled up. I started to tilt the box, but Saul, who is undersized except for his ears and nose, twisted around and was on his knees and then his feet.
'Good afternoon,' Wolfe said.
'Not very.' Saul stretched. 'I can talk?'
'Yes, with the radio.'
He stretched again. 'That was a ride. I hope they're alive.'
'I want to be sure,' Wolfe said, 'that I have their names right. Mr Hewitt gave them to Archie on the phone.'
'Ashley Jarvis. That's you. Dale Kirby is Archie. We'd better get them out.'
