'Archie, I warn you, some day you are going to become dispensable.' He stirred a little. 'If you were a woman and I were married to you, which God forbid, no amount of space available on this globe, to separate us, would put me at ease. I regret the necessity for my rudeness to Miss Hibbard. It was desirable to get rid of her without delay, for there is a great deal to be done.' ' 'Good. If I can help any -'
'You can. Your notebook, please. Take a telegram.'
I sat down. I wasn't within a hundred miles of it, and that always irritated me.
Wolfe dictated:
'Regarding recent developments and third Chapin warning you are requested to attend meeting this address nine o'clock Monday evening November fifth without fail. Sign it Nero Wolfe and address.'
'Sure.' I had it down. 'Just send it to anybody I happen to think of?'
Wolfe had lifted up the edge of his desk blotter and taken a sheet of paper from underneath and was pushing it at me. He said, 'Here are the names. Include those in Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington; those farther away can be informed later by letter. Also, make a copy of the list; two – one for the safe. Also -'
I had taken the paper from him and a glance showed me what it was. I stared at him, and I suppose something in my face stopped him. He interrupted himself,
'Reserve your disapproval, Archie. Save your fake moralities for your solitude.'
I said, 'So that's why you had me get the Spenser, so she would have something to look at. Why did you steal it?'
'I borrowed it.'
'You say. I've looked in the dictionary.
That's what I mean, why didn't you borrow it? She would have let you have it.'
'Probably not.' Wolfe sighed. 'I didn't care to risk it. In view of your familiarity with the finer ethical points, you must realize that I couldn't very well accept her as a client and then propose to others, especially to a group -' j 'Sure, I see that all right. Now that the notion you entertained has drifted in on me, I'd have my hat off if I had one on.
But she'd have let you have it. Or you could have got the dope -' | 'That will do, Archie.' He got a faint tone on. 'We shall at any rate be acting in her interest. It appears likely that this will be a complicated and expensive business, and there is no reason why Miss Hibbard should bear the burden alone. In a few minutes I shall be going upstairs, and you will be fairly busy. First, send the telegrams and copy the list. Then – take this, a letter to Miss Hibbard, sign my name and mail it this evening by special delivery: I find that the enclosed paper did not get back into your file this afternoon, but remained on my desk. I trust that its absence has not caused you any inconvenience. If you are still of a mind to see me next Wednesday, do not hesitate to call upon me.ff 'Yes, sir. Send her the list.'
'Naturally. Be sure your copies are correct. Make three copies. I believe you know the home address of Mr. Higgam of the Metropolitan Trust Company?'
I nodded. 'Up at Sutton -'
'Find him tomorrow and give him a copy of the list. Ask him to procure first thing Monday morning a financial report on the men listed. No history is required; their present standing is the point. For those in other cities, telegraph. We want the information by six o'clock Monday.'
'Hibbard's name is here. Maybe the other dead ones.'
'The bank's ingenuity may discover them, and not disturb their souls. Get in touch with Saul Panzer and tell him to report here Monday evening at eightthirty.
Durkin likewise. Find out if Gore and Gather and two others – your selection – will be available for Tuesday morning.'?
I grinned. 'How about the Sixty-first
Regiment?';, „
'They will be our reserve. As soon as you have sent the telegrams, phone Miss Hibbard at her home. Try until you get her. Employ your charm. Make an appointment to call on her this evening. If you get to see her, tell her that you regret that I refused her commission, and that you have my leave to offer her your assistance if she wishes it. It will save time. It will afford you an opportunity to amass a collection of facts from her, and
[possibly even a glance through the papers and effects of Mr. Hibbard. Chiefly for any indication of an awareness on his part that he would not soon return. We are of course in agreement with some of the tendencies of the law; for instance, its reluctance to believe a man dead merely because he is not visible on the spot he is accustomed to occupy.' m 'Yes, sir. Take my own line with her?' I 'Any that suggests itself.'
'If I go up there I could take the list along.'
'No, mail it.' Wolfe was getting up from his chair. I watched him; it was always something to see. Before he got | started for the door, I asked:
'Maybe I should know this, I didn't get it. What was the idea asking her about the life insurance?' • 'That? Merely the possibility that we | were encountering a degree of vindictive finesse never before reached in our experience. Chapin's hatred, diluted of course, extended from the uncle to the niece. He learned of the large sum she would receive in insurance, and in planning Hibbard's murder planned also that the body would not be discovered; and the insurance money would not be paid her.'
'It would some day.'
'But even a delay in an enemy's good fortune is at least a minor pleasure. Worth such a finesse if you have it in you. That was the possibility. And another one: let us say Chapin himself was the beneficiary.
