always do the work. Of course the next question, my question, was about money, and I asked it. She said she had two thousand dollars in the bank, left to her by her mother, and that's all. No other resources and no prospects. Since the job would be complicated and might take months and no telling what expenses, I told her nothing doing, I wouldn't even mention it to you. I was sorry because-'
'Pfui.' He grunted. 'Why do you mention it now?'
'I'll finish the sentence. I was sorry because the job
would probably be interesting, and tough, and it has none of the aspects that you won't touch. I mention it now because she is in the front room with a package wrapped in newspaper containing two hundred hundred-dollar-bills, twenty thousand dollars, which she wants you to take as a retainer.'
'Where did she get it?'
'I don't know. She says it's in her possession legally.'
He put his bookmark, a thin strip of gold that was a gift from a client, at his page and put the book down. 'What was said yesterday. In full.'
I had expected that. He hates to take on a job; anything to hold off a commitment. Also, there was the chance that there might be one or more details that he could find unacceptable. I reported. It had taken a lot of practice to get to where I could give a long conversation verbatim, but it was a cinch now, even with three or four talking. As usual, he leaned back and closed his eyes, and didn't interrupt. There was no reaction even to the 'pigheaded and high-nosed and toplofty.' I omitted nothing except the irrelevant chatter while we were eating. When I finished he stayed put for a minute and then opened his eyes and straightened up.
He regarded me. 'That's not like you, Archie. It's hardly even a sketch. Barely a start.'
'Certainly. There was no point in going deeper with a poor little poor girl.'
He looked up at the wall clock and back at me. 'You could have-no matter. Very well. Bring her.'
I went and opened the connecting door. She was still in the chair by the window, and hadn't returned the parcel to her bag; it was in her lap. I told her to come.
Wolfe seldom rises when someone enters the office, and never if it's a woman. His expression is always the same if it's a woman, no matter who or what she is; he is concentrating on not making a face. There is no telling what he notices or doesn't; for instance, whether he noticed that the skirt of Amy Denovo's brown- striped summer dress wasn't really a mini; it was only about two inches above her knees. Certainly he didn't notice that the knees were worthy of notice, though they were, since that had no bearing on her acceptability as a client. The seat
of the red leather chair near the end of his desk was too deep for her to settle back, so she sat on the front half, straight, and put her bag on the stand at her elbow, with the parcel in her lap.
Wolfe, his chair swiveled to face her, his fingers curled over the arm ends, spoke. 'So Mr. Goodwin impressed you at first sight.'
Her eyes, meeting his, widened a little. 'Yes. He did.'
'That may be a point for you and it may not. It is nothing new for him to impress a young woman. He has reported his conversation with you yesterday, to its conclusion. He says that you now have in your possession, you say legally, twenty thousand dollars in cash, and you offer it to me as retainer for the job you want me to do. Is that correct?'
'Yes, if Mr. Goodwin does the work.'
'He would do his share, directed by me except when urgency forbids. The money is in that parcel? May I see it?'
She got up and handed it to him and returned to the chair. He removed the rubber bands and wrapping and took a look at each batch, all twenty of them, stacking them neatly on his desk. He turned to me. 'I see no indication of source. Did you?'
I said no.
He turned to her. 'Did Miss Lily Rowan supply it?'
'Of course not!'
'But of course someone did. In view of what you told Mr. Goodwin yesterday, I would have to know the source of this money. Where and how did you get it?'
Her lips were tight. She opened them to say, 'I don't see why you have to know that. There's nothing wrong with the way I got it. It's mine. If I went to a store to buy something and gave them one of those bills they wouldn't ask me where I got it.'
He shook his head. 'Not a parallel, Miss Denovo. Yesterday you told Mr. Goodwin that two thousand dollars in the bank was all you had, and you rejected his suggestion that you ask Miss Rowan to help you.' He tapped the stack. 'This is ten times two thousand. If it was a loan or a gift I would have to know from whom. If you sold something I would have to know what you sold and
to whom. You may not know, at your age, that that is merely reasonable prudence. To accept a substantial retainer for a difficult and complicated operation without assurance of its legitimacy would be asinine, and if you won't tell me where you got this money I won't take it. If you do tell me it will have to be verified, with proper discretion, but to my satisfaction.'
She was frowning again, not at him, at me, but it wasn't really for me; it was for the problem she had been handed. But when she spoke it was to me and for me, a question: 'Is he right, Mr. Goodwin? Or is he just shutting the door, as you did?'
