Gambit

desk at my office, and the bottle too, with what's left in it.' 'Well.' I took a moment to look at it. 'You didn't suspect that someone else had put arsenic in the chocolate, you knew it. Didn't you? Since you knew they had found arsenic in Jerin?' 'Of course I knew it.' 'Did you have any idea who?' 'No.' 'Have you any idea now?' 'Apparently it must have been one of four men, the four who acted as messengers, because they were the only ones who entered the library. That didn't seem possible because none of them could have had any reason. Then 176 last week Kalmus had the idea that the purpose had been to get me?to get me where I am. But who? Of course not Kalmus, and which one of the other three could possibly have wanted to get me? They're my friends. One of them is my wife's nephew.' 'Are you telling me you still have no idea which one it was?' 'I am.' I turned a hand over. 'Look. Last night Kalmus was murdered, and almost certainly by the man who killed Jerin to get you. If so Kalmus had an idea, and a damn good one? too good. He tried to do something about it, which wasn't very bright since he had got you to hire Nero Wolfe, and he got slugged and strangled. He came yesterday afternoon and talked you into hiring Nero Wolfe, didn't he?' 'He didn't have to talk me into it. I didn't oppose it.' 'But he talked, and he had some one man in mind. He must have. Didn't he say who?' 'No. He only said that he would have to tell Nero Wolfe about it, about what I had put in the chocolate, because he had to have an expert investigator and Wolfe was the best. If he had any one man in mind he didn't say so. He just?wait a minute. He did say one thing. He asked me if I didn't see what might have happened, and I said no and asked him what he meant, and he said he would tell me after he had discussed it with Wolfe. You think he had 177 t a particular man in mind?' 'Of course he did.' 'Who?' That was one of the biggest temptations I have ever had to strangle. It would have been highly satisfying to show the client then and there that while Wolfe had the best brain he didn't have the only brain, not to mention the additional pleasure of telling Wolfe what I had told the client. But I had to skip it; there was one chance in a thousand that I was wrong,-and I needed to examine it for possible holes. So I shook my head. 'Search me,' I said. 'There may have been something in his apartment that would give a hint, but if so the cops have got it now. I could go on asking you questions, plenty of them, but I've got what I came for, the fact that was known only to Kalmus and you, and it's quite a fact, and Kalmus would be alive now if he had waited to consult Nero Wolfe instead of going ahead on his own.' I picked up the notebook that had nothing in it. 'When Mr Wolfe decides how to proceed he may let you know and he may not. With you here it's complicated and it takes time.' I rose and got my hat and coat from a chair. 'He can't consult with your lawyer because even if you had one you wouldn't want him to know about this.' 'But how will he?what will he do?' 'I don't know. That's for him. One thing sure, he'll do something, but first he may send 178 I J, me back to you with questions. You may see I me again tomorrow.' I stuck an arm in the coat. He was on his feet. 'My God,' he said. 'My whole?I'm completely in the hands of a man I've never seen. Remember what I said, I'd rather stay here a month, a year, than have my wife and daughter know what an utter fool I was.' That was what was on his mind as we parted, with a handshake, but not on mine. Was it possible that it was as simple as it looked? Wasn't there a catch somewhere? As I went along the corridor, under escort, and on out to the sidewalk, and nagged a taxi, I looked it over from every angle, and by the time the taxi turned into Thirty-fifth Street I had decided that it was a hundred to one on two conclusions: one, I knew exactly what had happened that evening at the Gambit Club; and two, it would take a better man than even Nero Wolfe to prove it. There was positively no crack anywhere to get a wedge started. But at least I could jostle him. Whatever he might have expected me to bring back, if anything, he hadn't expected this. It was two minutes past six as the taxi rolled to the curb in front of the old brownstone, so he would be down from the plant rooms. I paid the hackie and got out, mounted the stoop and used my key, put my hat and coat on the hall rack, and went to the office. He was at his desk, opening a 179 1 book with a blue binding; apparently African Genesis was finished. As I crossed to my desk he closed it. I put the unused notebook in the drawer, sat and faced him, and said, 'I can name the man who killed Paul Jerin and Clan Kalmus.' 'Flummery,' he growled. 'No, sir. Any odds you name. But I prefer to see if you're as sharp as I am, so I'll just report, and I'll begin by giving you the jolt Blount gave me. He poisoned the chocolate.' 'Pfui. Who killed Kalmus?' 'You'll soon know. Verbatim?' 'Yes.' I gave it to him, straight through. Usually he closes his eyes when I start a report and keeps them closed, but that time they opened when I asked Blount if he had poisoned the chocolate himself and he said yes, he did, and they didn't close again until Blount said the report and the bottle were in a drawer in his office desk. When I finished he opened them, cocked his head, and said, 'No wonder you can name him.' 'Yes, sir. I guess it's a tie. I have a question. Had this possibility occurred to you Tuesday noon when you had Sally phone and get them to come, including him?' 'No. How could it? It was the chocolate that made Jerin ill, indubitably. Now that is accounted for.' He took a deep breath. 'I am inexpressibly relieved. It has been all but intolerable, the strain of insulting my S 180 intelligence by forcing it to assume that one of them tampered with the chocolate when he entered to report a move, with Jerin there, and with the likelihood?no, certainty?that someone would interrupt at any instant. I knew it was egregious, and so did you. This is satisfactory, Archie.' He breathed deep again. 'An analeptic for my self-esteem. Has it any flaws?' That showed how hard he had been taking it, asking me if it had any flaws instead of telling me. As I reported he had been so busy enjoying the feel of the pressure going that he hadn't concentrated, though he had got the main point. 'None that I can see,' I said. 'Of course his killing Kalmus is what settles it. With Kalmus and Blount out, and with your inexpressible relief that we can forget the other three messengers, what else is there? The arsenic got in him somehow. Of course there's plenty to guess about, for instance what Kalmus said or did that told him that Kalmus had figured it out, but that's not a flaw, it's only a gap. The only flaw I see is that there's no possible way you can ever prove that he killed Jerin. He's absolutely airtight. On Kalmus there may be a chance. He goes to Kalmus's apartment, maybe invited and expected, maybe not. Anyhow Kalmus lets him in, no doorman or hallman, and the elevator is do-it-yourself. He [catches Kalmus off guard, knocks him out 181 with the ash tray, gets the cord and uses it, and leaves. Fingerprints were no problem; they're no problem any more for anyone with an ounce of brains. The only chance would be if someone saw him enter or leave, and naturally the cops are working on that, though not with him in mind. In order to get motive you'd have to prove that he killed Jerin and Kalmus knew it or suspected it, and that's hopeless. As for his motive for killing Jerin, why not your theory, to get Blount because he wanted his wife. He had had more contacts with her person and personality than any of the others. As for taking some arsenic with him when he went to the club that night, that's easy. He knew what Blount was going to do because Kalmus had asked him what to use to get the effect Blount wanted. He would be the natural one for Kalmus to ask.' I nodded. 'Perfect. Not a flaw except the one little detail that you and Homicide and the FBI all put together will never hang it on him. He was a sap to kill Kalmus because they might possibly tag him for that if they find someone who saw him enter or leave, and no matter how well Kalmus had it mapped, his killing Jerin, he couldn't possibly have had any evidence to back it up. There just couldn't be any. He could have told Kalmus to go soak his head.' Wolfe grunted. 'An adequate exposition.' 'I like it.' 'Adequate as far as it goes. But granting thai 182 Kalmus had no evidence that would convince the police, even if he revealed the fact that Blount was determined to keep secret, his knowledge or suspicion presented another threat. What if he convinced Blount? Or, more to the point, Mrs Blount?' I raised a brow. 'Yeah. Sure. That would have been a nuisance, no matter what happened to Blount. But while that may explain why he killed Kalmus, it doesn't alter the main?' I stopped. He had leaned back and closed his eyes and started his lips going, out and in, out and in. As I said before, the lip exercise is not to be interrupted, and I crossed my legs and got comfortable for a two-minute wait, maybe three, glancing at my watch. It was nearer thirty than three. Twenty-one minutes and ten seconds had passed when he opened his eyes and straightened up, setting a record. As always, I had exercised my mind by trying to decide where and what he was headed for, and as usual, I ended up with an assortment of possibilities, worth a dime a dozen. What he did that time was not in my assortment. No wonder he had taken a while to make up his mind; he had decided he had to call a woman on the phone. 'I must speak with Mrs Blount,' he said. 'What's her number?' I swiveled and reached for the phone, but he snapped, 'No. The number. I'll dial it. You 183 aren't here.' I turned. 'Where am I?' 'I don't know. You have been dismissed, discharged by me for dereliction of duty immediately after you reported to me on your conversation with Mr Blount. Don't leave the house. Don't answer the telephone or doorbell. Tell Fritz that if anyone asks for you, you have gone out?that's all he knows. I'll give you instructions after I have spoken with Mrs Blount. What's her number?' I told him, and sat and watched him dial it. As I said, that had not been in my assortment, getting fired just after I had brought him inexpressible relief. CHAPTER THIRTEEN Three hours later, at twenty minutes to ten, I stood in the alcove at the end of the hall next to the kitchen, observing, through the hole in the wall, the cast that had been assembled for what I consider one of the best charades Wolfe has ever staged. On the office side the hole is covered by a pretty picture of a waterfall on the wall five feet to the right ofWolfe's desk. On the alcove side it is covered by a metal panel at eye level which slides open without a hint of a noise, and, standing there, you find that the made-to-order 184 waterfall is no obstruction to your view of the office or to your hearing. It wasn't quite as clear for either my