I took it, unfolded it, and read. I read it through. 'You know,' I said, 'this is a new experience. I can't remem-
The Homicide Trinity 193
ber that we have ever been served with an order from a Federal court. Mr. Wolfe will be glad to add it to his collection.' I stuck it in my pocket.
'You note,' he said, 'that I am empowered to search for the object specified if necessary.'
'You won't have to. You heard me tell Cramer yes- terday that I put it in the safe, and it's still there. Come in.' I gave him room.
He had excellent manners. He entered, removed his hat, stood while I shut the door, and followed me to the office. I swung the safe door open, got a comer of the wrapping paper with my thumb and forefinger, carried it dangling and put it on my desk, and went back and brought the lettuce and the string. 'There you are,' I said. 'I didn't rewrap it after I lifted the prints.'
His lips tightened. 'You said nothing to Inspector Cramer about lifting prints.'
'No? I thought I had. Of course that was routine after Miss Annis told us how and where she found it. You won't find any except hers and mine. I couldn't, and I was pretty thorough.'
'You tampered with evidence.'
'What was it evidence of-then?' My feelings were hurt. 'Anyway, the prints are still there. I'll give you a bag to carry it in, but first we'll have to count it and I want a receipt. It's still the property of Miss Hattie Annis.'
He opened his mouth and closed it again. It was a situation. He knew that I knew that he knew that I knew it was counterfeit, and therefore we both knew that Hattie would never see it again, but he was still keeping it off the record. 'I'll make a concession,' I offered. 'We'll weigh it on the postal scale. Put it on.'
He picked it up and put it on the scale, and we looked. Just under seventeen ounces. I brought a shopping bag from the kitchen and gave it to him, got at the type- writer, and tapped out a receipt for 16-11/12 oz. of twenty-dollar bills. I was tempted to add 'in good con- dition,' but remembered that he had warned me not to try any fancy tricks with the Secret Service. As I
194 Rex Stout
handed him the receipt and my pen the doorbell rang, and I stepped to the hall.
It was Inspector Cramer. I went and opened the door. He entered. I shut the door. When I turned his hand was emerging from inside his coat with a folded paper. He handed it to me. I read it through. It wouldn't be worth keeping as a souvenir-just the State of New York.
'You'll notice,' he said, 'that I can search for it if I have to.'
'You won't have to. You know where it is.'
He strode to the office door and on in. I stopped on the sill. Leach, at my desk, with the shopping bag in one hand and the bills in the other, turned.
'It's a problem,' I said. 'Leach has signed a receipt for it, but I can tear it up. Why don't you split it half and half?'
Cramer stood at arm's length from the T-man. A muscle in the side of his neck was twitching. 'That's evidence in a murder case,' he said. 'I have a court order for it.'
'So have I,' Leach said. 'From a Federal court.' He put the bills in the bag, taking his time, and tucked the bag under his arm. 'If you'll send a man to our office he'll be allowed to examine it, Inspector. We are always ready to cooperate with the local authorities.'
He moved, detouring around Cramer. Cramer wheeled and followed him, and I stepped aside to let them by. As Cramer passed he gave me a glare that would have withered a lesser man. I didn't cooperate by going to open the door because I wasn't sure I could keep my face straight, and when they were out and the door had closed I quit trying. A whoop had wanted out the second Cramer produced the paper, and now I let it come. I laughed so loud and so long that Fritz appeared at the kitchen door to ask what had happened.
There was no point in disturbing Wolfe in the plant rooms, so I let it wait until he came down at eleven o'clock. He never whoops, but when I reported and showed him the court orders he allowed himself an
The Homicide Trinity 195
all-out chuckle and there was a twinkle in his eye. He said it was just as well he hadn't been present, since Cramer would probably have accused him of staging it, and I agreed. I said I was glad the stuff was out of the house, and he agreed.
Calls came from Saul and Fred and Orrie during the next half hour. Nothing promising. Orrie had spoken with Max Eder, the janitor of the building, and three other tenants. Fred had bought a squirrel and a kanga- roo and had spent an hour in the workroom in the rear of the shop. Saul hadn't been inside the building that contained the Mushroom Theater. From the outside it looked as if it might collapse if you leaned against it. He had spent the two hours covering the neighborhood. When I relayed the reports to Wolfe, who was doing a crossword puzzle in the London Observer, all I got was a grunt. I had about decided it was time to go to work on him when the doorbell rang and I went to answer it.
It was our lawyer and our client. I hadn't told him to bring her. I was in no mood for her, and Wolfe certainly wasn't. All I could tell her was that Wolfe either had an inkling or hadn't, and he was spending her money at the rate of fifty bucks an hour. I went and opened the door but occupied the threshold.
'Greetings,' I said heartily. 'This is a relief! I'm sorry we couldn't make it sooner, Hattie, but Mr. Parker did his best. You'll take her home, Nat? I'm tied up here.'
'Don't call me Hattie,' she said, 'until I find what you're up to.'
'I brought her here,' Parker said, 'because she in- sisted.' He looked harassed. 'I'll be going. I've canceled two appointments and I'm late for another one. Let me know if you need me.' He went.
