murderer, and you-you a wild beast when you are smelling prey? Ha!' He turned. 'Mrs. Jaffee, one of my functions as your attorney is to keep you away, as far as practicable, from dangerous persons and influences, and these two men together represent all the perils and pitfalls of all the catalogues. Will you have lunch with me?'
They left together. That made me proud of her some more from another angle-or should I say curve?-because Nat Parker, a bachelor, was well and widely known for his particular taste in women and did not invite one to lunch absentmindedly; and I was not jealous. I had too good a head start, since there was no more coat and hat in her foyer for him to cart off to the Salvation Army.
Now, of course, Wolfe was committed. He didn't move a finger toward a book or crossword puzzle or any of his other toys. Until lunch time he sat leaning back with his eyes closed, his lips moving now and then, pushing out and pulling in, and I left him to his misery, which I knew was fairly acute. When the going gets really hot and we're closing in, he can get excited as well as the next one, though he refuses to show it, but on this one he was still trying to get set for some kind of a start, and I had to admit he was working on it. Before lunch I phoned Pan-Atlantic and was told that Flight 193 was expected in early, around two-thirty; and I called Irby to tell him that if he could get Eric Hagh to our place by half-past three he should bring him, but otherwise make it six o'clock.
After lunch it was more of the same, with Wolfe being so patient and uncomplaining it was painful, and I would have welcomed a couple of nasty remarks. Shortly before three Parker phoned to say that he had just talked with Helmar and the party was on. The Softdown five would arrive at nine o'clock, and he and Mrs. Jaffee a little earlier. I asked if he was escorting Mrs. Jaffee.
'Certainly,' he said virtuously. 'She is my client. What's that noise you're making?'
'It's something special,' I told him, 'and takes a lot of practice. Don't try it offhand. It's a derisive chortle.'
I went to the kitchen to discuss the supply of liquid refreshments with Fritz. It was a strict rule that for an evening gathering in that house, whatever the business at hand, assorted drinks must be available, and Fritz and I always collaborated on it unless I was too busy. It always got into an argument, with Fritz insisting that two wines, a red and a white, should be included, and me maintaining that wine was out because it puts Americans to sleep and we wanted them wide awake. We were about ready for the usual compromise-a couple of bottles of white but no red-when the doorbell rang and I went to answer it.
It was Dewdrop Irby with a companion in a white linen suit, somewhat wrinkled and none too clean. I slipped the bolt and opened up and they stepped in.
'Mr. Archie Goodwin,' Irby said. 'Mr. Eric Hagh.'
There had been so much talk of South America that I had been expecting something like a cross between Diego Rivera and Peron, but if this bird had been thoroughly bleached to fit his blond hair and blue eyes I couldn't have told him from a Viking if it hadn't been for his clothes. He was maybe a little older than me, and also, as I would have conceded in spite of his looking fagged and puffy, maybe a little handsomer.
Leaving his luggage, a bag and a suitcase, in the hall, I took them to the office and introduced Hagh to Wolfe. Hagh was inclined to boom when he spoke, but otherwise didn't seem specially objectionable, and I resented it. I was prepared to object to a guy who had married an heiress and got her to sign that document as described, and naturally I felt it was up to him to supply evidence to support my objection. He disappointed me. He did speak with an accent I couldn't place, but I couldn't very well hold that against him with the United Nations only a mile and a half away.
Apparently they were expecting an extended session, from the way they settled in their chairs, but Wolfe made it short and not too sweet. Actually, from our standpoint, those two were now nothing but supers. Irby had been a godsend the day before, when he had come from nowhere to bring us a rake to pull in the Softdown stockholders, but now that Sarah Jaffee had furnished us with a much better one, he and his client were just extras.
Wolfe was moderately polite. 'Did you have a tolerable journey, Mr. Hagh?'
'Not too bad,' Hagh replied. 'A bit bumpy.'
Wolfe shuddered. 'I congratulate you on your safe arrival.' He went to Irby. 'There has been a new development. I'm not free to describe it in detail, but it concerns Mr. Helmar and his associates sufficiently for them to have agreed to come here this evening at nine o'clock to discuss the matter. Although-'
'I want to meet them,' Hagh said emphatically.
'I know you do. Although they are not coming on your affair, there is no reason why it cannot be broached, since the other matter is closely related. But if you come this evening it must be understood that the proceedings are entirely in my hands. You will take part only if and when invited, and you may not be invited at all. Do you wish to be present under those conditions?'
'But,' Irby protested, 'you said there should be a meeting to discuss my client's claim! I must insist-'
'You are in no position to insist, sir. By making me that silly offer yesterday you forfeited your right to equity. Do you wish to be present this evening?'
'I want only,' Hagh said, 'what belongs to me-what I can prove belongs to me!'
'I may have worded my offer badly,' Irby admitted. 'I may have misunderstood the nature of your interest in the matter. But it would be imprudent for us to meet those people here unless we have some assurance that you and Mr. Goodwin are going to testify to the authenticity-'
'Then don't come,' Wolfe snapped.
Hagh pulled an envelope from his pocket and waggled it. 'I have here the document that my wife signed and Margaret Caselli witnessed. I was present when she wrote it and signed it. It has been in my possession ever since, and there is no honest question that it is genuine. All we want is your help for the truth.'
He was absolutely in earnest, probably as much so as he had been on August 12,1946, when he had finagled Priscilla into signing it. His appeal did not bring tears to my eyes.
Nor to Wolfe's. He said flatly, 'There will be no assurance, gentlemen, and no hint of a covenant. I am engaged for the rest of the afternoon. Under the conditions I have proposed, you will be welcome here at nine this evening if you care to come.'
