“No.” I pushed back against him. “You'll scalp yourself or cut your throat. Wait here till I get a light.” He bellowed past my shoulder. “Theodore! Theodore!” A voice came from the dim starlit ruins. “Yes, sir! What happened?” “Are you all right?” “No,sir! What-” “Are you hurt?” “No, I'm not hurt, but what happened?” I saw movement in the direction of the corner where Theodore's room was, and a sound came of glass falling and breaking.
“You got a light?” I called.
“No, the doggone lights are all-” “Then stay still, damn it, while I get a light.” “Stand still!” Wolfe roared.
I beat it down to the office. By the time I got back up again there were noises from windows across the street, and also from down below. We ignored them. The sight disclosed by the flashlights was enough to make us ignore anything. Of a thousand panes of glass and ten thousand orchid plants some were in fact still whole, as we learned later, but it certainly didn't look like it that first survey. Even with the lights, moving around through that jungle of jagged glass hanging down and protruding from Plants and benches and underfoot wasn't really fun, but Wolfe had to see and so had Theodore, who was okay physically but got so damn mad I thought he was going to choke.
Finally Wolfe got to where a dozen Odontoglossum harryanum, his current pride and joy, were kept. He moved the light back and forth over the gashed and fallen stems and leaves and clusters, with fragments of glass everywhere, turned, and said quietly, “We might as well go downstairs.” “The sun will be up in two hours,” Theodore said through his teeth.
“I know. We need men.” When we got to the office we phoned Lewis Hewitt and G. M. Hoag for help before we called the police. Anyway by that time a prowl car had come.
CHAPTER Six
Six hours later I pushed my chair back from the dining-table, stretched all the way, and allowed myself a good thorough yawn without any apology, feeling that I had earned it. Ordinarily I have my breakfast in the kitchen with Fritzy, and Wolfe has his in his room, but that day wasn't exactly ordinary.
A gang of fourteen men, not counting Theodore, was up on the roof cleaning up and salvaging, and an army of glaziers was due at noon. Andy Krasicki had come in from Long Island and was in charge. The street was roped off, because of the danger from falling glass. The cops were still nosing around out in front and across the street, and presumably in other quarters too, but none was left in our house except Captain Murdoch, who, with Wolfe, was seated at the table I was just leaving, eating griddle cakes and honey.
They knew all about it, back to a certain point. The people who lived in the house directly across the street were away for the summer. On its roof they had found a hundred and ninety-two shells from an SM and a tommy-gun, and they still had scientists up there collecting clues to support the theory that that was where the assault had come from, in case the lawyer for the defence should claim that the shells had been dropped by pigeons. Not that there was yet any call for a lawyer for the defence, since there were no defendants. So far there was no word as to how they had got to the roof of the unoccupied house. All they knew 34 Was that persons unknown had somehow got to that roof and from it, at 2.24 a.m., had shot hell out of our plant rooms, and had made a getaway through a passage into Thirty-sixth Street, and I could have told them that much without ever leaving our premises.
I admit we weren't much help. Wolfe didn't even mention the name of Sperling or Rony, let alone anything beginning with Z. He refused to offer a specific guess at the identity of the perpetrators, and it wasn't too hard to get them to accept that as the best to be had, since it was quite probable that there were several inhabitants of the metropolitan area who would love to make holes not only in Wolfe's plant rooms but in Wolfe himself. Even so, they insisted that some must be more likely to own tommy guns and more willing to use them in such a direct manner, but Wolfe said that was irrelevant because the gunners had almost certainly been hired on a piece-work basis.
I left the breakfast table as soon as I was through because there were a lot of phone calls to make- to slat manufacturers, hardware stores, painters, supply houses, and others. I was at it when Captain Murdoch left and Wolfe took the elevator to the roof, and still at it when Wolfe came down again, trudged into the office, got himself lowered into his chair, leaned back, and heaved a deep sigh.
I glanced at him. “You'd better go up and take a nap. And I'll tell you something. I can be just as stubborn as you can, and courage and valour and spunk are very fine things and I'm all for them, but I'm also a fairly good book-keeper. If this keeps up, as I suppose it will, the balance sheet will be a lulu. I have met Gwenn socially and therefore might be expected to grit my teeth and stick; but you haven't, and all you need to do is return his retainer. What I want to say is that if you do I promise never to ride you about it. Never.
Want me to get the Bible?” “No.” His eyes were half closed. “Is everything arranged for the repairs and replacements?” “As well as it can be now.” “Then call that place and speak to the elder daughter.” I was startled. “Why her? What reason have you-” “Pfui. You thought you concealed the direction your interest took-your personal interest-but you didn't. I know you too well. Call her and learn if all the family is there-all except the son, who probably doesn't matter. If they are, tell her we'll be there in two hours and want to see them.” “We?” “Yes. You and I.” I got at the phone. He was not really smashing a precedent. It was true that he had an unbreakable rule not to stir from his office to see anyone on business, but what had happened that night had taken this out of the category of business and listed it under struggle for survival.
One of the help answered, and I gave my name and asked for Miss Madeline Sperling. Her husband's name had been Pendleton, but she had tossed it in the discard. My idea was to keep to essentials, but she had to make it a conversation. Rony had called Gwenn only half an hour ago and told her about the hold-up, and of course Madeline wanted it all over again from me. I had to oblige. She thought she was worried about my head, and I had to assure her there were no bad cracks in it from the bandit's blow. When I finally got her on to the subject at hand, though, and she knew from the way I put it that this was strictly business and deserved attention, she snapped nicely into it and made it straight and simple. I hung up and turned to Wolfe.
“All set. They're there, and she'll see that they stay until we come. We're invited for lunch.” “Including her sister?” “All of 'em.” He glanced at the clock, which said 11.23. “We should make it by one-thirty.” “Yeah, easy. I think I know where I can borrow an armoured car. The route goes within five miles of where a certain man has a palace on a hill.” He made a face. “Get the sedan.” “Okay, if you'll crouch on the floor or let me put you in the trunk. It's you he's interested in, not me. By the way, what about Fred and Orrie? I've phoned Saul and warned him that there are other elements involved besides the law boys, and I should think Fred and Orrie
