rest of them; and, besides that, what was his motive, and where would that leave us on the first two murders? Do you argue with that?'
'No, I've got no arguments left.'
'And arguments don't catch murderers anyway. I agree. We want to make an all-out effort to get a line on the lifting of the keys. More questions won't do it. We want to take them to Nero Wolfe's office and have them go through it, with Wolfe and you taking part, of course. Words and actions. We want them to repeat, as closely as they can, everything they said and did Thursday evening, with three or four of us present, and we want to take a tape recording of it.'
I lifted my brows at him.
'Mostly,' he said, 'to try to spot who took the keys, but there's another thing. If someone wanted to kill Mrs. Jaffee, why did he wait until then to do it? Why didn't he kill her before? Was it because he had no motive before? Was it something that happened that evening that gave him the motive? We want to watch for that too. We haven't found it in any of the reports or statements, but we might possibly get it this way. We want to try, and we'll have to have Wolfe's and your cooperation. We can't compel him to let us in his place with them, much less compel him to do his part. We want you to phone him or go to see him, whichever you think is better, and make the request of him.'
'I want to say, Goodwin,' the DA put in, 'that I regard it as extremely important that this be done. It
'You guys,' I said emphatically, 'have one hell of a nerve.'
'Come on,' Cramer rasped, 'don't start that hard-to-get stuff, and don't be witty.'
'Poops.' I took them in. 'Last Tuesday, six days ago, I sat on a bench in this building with handcuffs on. You may remember also that Mr. Wolfe was conveyed to Leonard Street under a warrant, and you know how he felt about that. Wanting to make a scene, he announced that I was his client, and he was stuck. He had to go through some motions, and he did; and acting for him, I pulled Sarah Jaffee in, and she got it. That threw me off balance, and I made a mistake. I asked to work with you because I thought that way I would be in it more, and I guess I have been, but where are we? And Mr. Wolfe is sore as a pup, and you know damn well he is, and yet you have the gall to ask me to ask him this, because you think if you ask him he'll say no. I think so too, but I also think he'll say no if I ask him. Take your pick-would you rather have him say no to you or to me?'
'We want him to say yes,' Skinner declared.
'So do I, but I don't think there's a glimmer. Do you want me to try?'
'Yes.'
'When do you want to stage it? Today?'
'As soon as possible. We can have them there in half an hour.'
I looked at my wrist; it was ten to nine. I might catch him before he went up to the plant rooms. 'Which phone do I use?'
Skinner indicated one of the five on his desk, even going so far as to lift the receiver and hand it to me as I stepped over. I gave the number and soon had Wolfe's voice.
'Archie. Have you finished breakfast?'
'Yes.' He didn't sound so peevish. I knew him so well, and all the thousand shades and keys of his voice, that one 'yes' gave me the tune. He added, 'Fritz tells me you had yours here.'
'Yeah, I needed to rinse off. I'm calling you at the request of the People of the State of New York.'
'Indeed.'
'As requested by quite a mixture-the Police Commissioner and two of his deputies, the District Attorney, a bunch of inspectors and deputy inspectors, not to mention Sergeant Purley Stebbins. I'm talking from the private office of the Commissioner-you know it; you've been here. After these days and nights of camaraderie with them-is that the way to pronounce it?'
'Almost.'
'Good. I am held in high esteem by the whole shebang, from Commissioner all the way down to Lieutenant Rowcliff, which is quite a distance. Wanting to show me what they think of me, they are bestowing a great honor on me. Having a request to make of you, they are letting me make it. They're all sitting here gazing at me so tenderly I've got a lump in my throat. You ought to see them.'
'How long are you going to drag this out?'
'I'm through dragging. Here's the point. We're flumped. We have got to try something different-like this, for instance. We want to do a playback of the session at the office Thursday evening, with the original cast, and take a tape recording of it. We'll bring the personnel, with the exception of Sarah Jaffee, and the recorder, and all you will have to do is let us in and play your part. I have told my associates, who have done me the favor of letting me make this phone call, that I am practically certain you will tell us to go to hell; and since nothing gives you more pleasure than to prove me wrong, here's a chance for some good clean fun. All you have to do-'
'Archie.'
'Yes, sir.'
'When do you want to do this?'
'Today. As soon as possible. Of course you won't be down from the plant rooms until eleven-'
'Very well.' He was gruff but not wroth. 'As you know, I have stated before witnesses that you are my client in this instance, and I never refuse a reasonable request from a client. This request seems reasonable. Therefore I grant it.'
It was unexpected, no doubt about that, but my chief reaction was not surprise. It was surmise. His
