written it: his performance in Los Angeles made it obvious that he had never read the manuscript. But it could have been written by you, Mr. Kustin, or you, Mr. Phelps, or you, Mr. Briggs. It could have been any one of you, instead of Corrigan, who had done the deeds which this document attributes to Corrigan. That was why it was of first importance to learn if any of you had had access to the typewriter at the Travelers Club. Learning that you hadn't, and therefore had not exposed O'Malley, it was clear that if one of you had committed three murders it must have been for some other motive than concealment of a betrayal of your former partner.'
'Get down to it,' Cramer growled.
Wolfe ignored him. He looked over the heads of the lawyers and inquired abruptly, 'Is one of you ladies named Dondero?'
I twisted my neck. Sue was one of the four on the couch. Startled, she stared at him. 'Yes, I am.' She was a little flushed and pretty as a picture.
'You are Mr. Phelps's secretary?'
'Yes.'
'A week ago Saturday, nine days ago, Mr. Phelps dictated a brief letter to me, to be sent by messenger. There were en›-closures for it-items of material written by Leonard Dykes, from the files, including a letter of resignation he wrote last July. Do you remember that incident?'
'Yes. Certainly.'
'I understand that you have recently been questioned about it by the police; that you have been shown the Dykes letter and your attention has been called to a certain notation, 'Ps one-forty-six, three,' in a corner of it, in pencil, in a handwriting resembling Corrigan's; and that you state flatly that the notation was not on the letter that Saturday morning when it was sent to me. Is that correct?'
'Yes, it is,' Sue said firmly.
'Are you positive the notation was not on the letter at the time you enclosed it in the envelope with the other material?'
'I am.'
'You're a positive person, aren't you, Miss Dondero?'
'Well-I know what I saw and what I didn't see.'
'Admirable and remarkable.' Wolfe was terse but not hostile. 'Few of us can say that and support it. How many typewriters did you use that morning?'
'I don't know what you mean. I used one. Mine.'
'Mr. Phelps dictated the letter to me, and you typed it on your machine. Is that right?'
'Yes.'
'And you addressed an enevelope to me on the same machine?'
'Yes.'
'How positive are you of that?'
'I'm absolutely positive.'
'How much chance is there that for some trivial reason, no matter what, you used a different machine for addressing the envelope?'
'Absolutely none. I was there at my desk, and I did the envelope right after I typed the letter. I always do.'
'Then we have a problem.' Wolfe opened a drawer of his desk and took out a sheet of paper and an envelope, handling the envelope gingerly, holding it by a corner. 'This is the letter and the envelope; Mr. Goodwin will attest that and so will I. The variation is apparent to the naked eye, and I have examined them with a glass. They were not typed on the same machine.'
'I don't believe it!' Sue exclaimed.
'Come here and look at them. No, please, only Miss Don-dero. The envelope must not be touched.'
I made room for her to get by. She went to his desk and leaned over for a close-up. She straightened. 'That's a different envelope. I didn't type that. I always put 'By Messenger' in caps and lower case and underline it. That's all in caps and it's not underlined. Where did you get it?' ^
• 'If you please, Miss Donderq, take your seat.' Wolfe returned the sheet and envelope to the drawer, touching only the tip of the envelope. He waited until Sue was back on the couch and he had her face before he told lier, 'Thank you for being positive. That's a help. But you're sure you put the letter and enclosures into the envelope you had typed?'
'Yes, lam.'
'And sealed it?'
'Yes.'
'And left it lying on your desk, perhaps, or in a basket?'
'No, I didn't. It was to go by messenger, and I had sent for one. I went immediately to the anteroom and put it on Blanche's desk and asked her to give it to the messenger when he came.'
'Who is Blanche?'
'The receptionist. Miss Duke.'
Wolfe's eyes moved. 'Which of you is Miss Duke?'
