involuntarily. I had my hand behind me ready to pull the curtain aside, and back I went, and let the curtain fall again, with me behind. 111 had ducked going in, in case there happened to be a hat shelf at the usual height, but the shelf was further back; the closet was all of three feet deep and I had plenty of room. I held my breath for a few seconds, but heard none of the bloodhounds baying. I eased the black bag onto the floor in a corner and got behind what felt like a woman's fur coat. One thing there had been no help for: the cripple had seen me. His light-colored eyes had been right at me as I backed in. If he should decide to open his trap I hoped he would find something else to talk about.
I stood there in the dark, and after a while wished I had remembered to bring an oxygen tank. To amuse me I had the voices of the dicks outside, but they were low and I couldn't pick out many words.
Somebody came in, some woman, and a little later a man. It was all of half an hour before Cramer returned. I heard the double door opening, close to my curtain, and then Cramer handing out orders. He sounded snappy and satisfied. A dick with a hoarse voice told another one, right in front of me, to carry Chapin's stick and he'd help him walk; they were taking him away. There were noises; and directions from Cramer, about removing the corpse, and in a couple of minutes heavy feet as they carried it out. I was hoping to God that Cramer or someone else hadn't happened to hang his coat in my closet, but that wasn't likely; there had been three or four piled on the table. I heard a voice telling someone to go ask for a rug ^ put over the soiled place where Burton had been, and Cramer and others shoving °tf. It sounded like there were only two ^ft, after the guy came back with the rug; they were kidding each other about somekind of a girl. I began to be afraid Cramer had spotted them to stay for some reason or other, but pretty soon I heard them going to the door, and it opened and closed.
I'd been in the closet long enough as far I as my lungs were concerned, but I thought | it was just possible one was still inside the I main apartment, and I waited five minutes, counting. Then I pulled the edge of the curtain a little and took a slant. I opened it up and stepped out. Empty. All B gone; -The double doors were closed. 'I went over and turned the knob and pushed, and walked through. I was in a room about five times the size of the reception hall, dimly lighted, furnished up to the hilt. There was a door at the far – end and a wide open arch halfway down | one side. I heard voices from somewhere.
I went on in a ways and called:
–'Hello! Mrs. Burton!' The voices stopped, and there were footsteps coming. A guy appeared in the arch, trying to look important. I grinned inside. He was just a kid, around twentytwo, nice and handsome and dressed up.
He said, 'We thought you had all gone.'
'Yeah. All but me. I have to see Mrs.
Burton.',
'But he said… the Inspector said she wouldn't be bothered.',, ‹,
'I'm sorry, I have to see her.'
'She's lying down.'
'Tell her just a few questions.'
He opened his mouth and shut it, looked as if he thought he ought to do something, and turned and beat it. In a minute he came back and nodded me along. I followed.-, We went through a room and a sort of a hall and into another room. This was not so big, but was better lit and not so dolled up. A maid in uniform was going out another door with a tray. A woman was sitting on a couch, another woman in a chair, and the daughter I had seen in the reception hall was standing behind the couch. I walked over there.
I suppose Mrs. Loring A. Burton wasn't at her best that evening, but she could have slipped a few more notches and still have been in the money. A glance was enough ^ show you she was quite a person. She had a straight thin nose, a warm mouth, fine dark eyes. Her hair was piled in braids at the back, pulled back just right for you to see her temples and brow, which maybe made most of the effect; that and the way she held her head. Her neck knew some artist's trick that I've seen many a movie star try to copy without quite getting it. It had been born in her spine. c With her head up like that I could see it would take more than a murdered husband to overwhelm her into leaving decisions to daughters and so on, so I disregarded the others. I told her I had a few confidential questions to ask and I'd like to see her alone. The woman in the chair muttered something about cruel and unnecessary.
The daughter stared at me with red eyes.
Mrs. Burton asked: ^ r 'Confidential to whom?' 2 'To Paul Chapin. I'd rather not…'
I looked around.
She looked around too. I saw that the kid wasn't the son and heir after all, it was the daughter he was interested in, probably had it signed up. Mrs. Burton said, 'What does it matter? Go to my room – you don't mind, Alice?' | The woman in the chair said she didn't, and got up. The kid took hold of the daughter's arm to steer her, by golly he wasn't going to let her fall and hurt herself. They went on out., 01,, Mrs. Burton said, 'Well?'
I said, 'The confidential part is really about me. Do you know who Nero Wolfe is?' ^ -. – . – , …,
'Nero Wolfe? Yes.' ^
'Dr. Burton and his friends entered into an agreement -' fc She interrupted me. 'I know all about it. My husband…' She stopped. The I way she suddenly clasped her fingers tight _ and tried to keep her lips from moving | showed that a bust-up was nearer to coming through than I had supposed. But she soon got it shoved under again. 'My husband told me all about it.'
I nodded. 'That saves time. I'm not a
Gity detective, I'm private. I work for
Nero Wolfe, my name's Goodwin. If you ask me what I'm here for there's lots of ways to answer you, but you'd have to help me pick the right one. It depends on how you feel.' I had the innocence turned on, the candid eye. I was talking fast. 'Of course you feel terrible, certainly, but no matter how bad it is inside of you right now, you'll go on living. I've got some questions to ask for Nero Wolfe, and I can't be polite and wait for a week until your nerves have had a chance to grow some new skin, I've got to ask them now or never. I'm here now, just tell me this and get rid of me. Did you see Paul Chapin shoot your husband?' ' 'No. But I've already -' ^ 'Sure. Let's
