It was five minutes past three Tuesday morning when Phillips, the expert with less than his share of chin, entered the office with objects in his hands. In his right was a gray topcoat, and in his left was a silk scarf with stripes of dark brown and terra cotta. It was obvious that even an expert is capable of having feelings. His face showed plainly that he had something.
He looked at Wolfe and me and asked, “Do I report here, Inspector?”
“Go ahead.” Cramer was impatient. “What is it?”
“This scarf was in the right-hand pocket of this coat. It was folded as it is now. Unfolding one fold exposes about forty square inches of its surface. On that surface are between fifteen and twenty particles of matter which in our opinion came from that piece of pipe. That is our opinion. Laboratory tests-”
“Sure.” Cramer’s eyes were gleaming. “You can test from hell to breakfast. You’ve got a microscope up there, and you know what I want right now. Is it good enough to act on, or isn’t it?”
“Yes, sir, it is. We made sure before-”
“Whose coat is it?”
“The tag says Alger Kates.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “That’s Kates’s coat.”
Chapter 22
SINCE THEY WERE A strategy council, naturally they didn’t send for Kates immediately. They had to decide on strategy first-whether to circle him and get him tangled, or slide it into him gently, or just hit him on the head with it. What they really had to decide was who was going to handle it; that would determine the method, and they started to wrangle about it. The point was, as it always is when you’ve got a crusher like that scarf in his pocket, which way of using it was most likely to crumble him and get a confession? They hadn’t been going long when Travis interposed:
“With all this top authority present, and me not in it officially anyhow, I hesitate to make a suggestion.”
“So what is it?” the D.A. asked tartly.
“I would suggest Mr. Wolfe for it. I have seen him operate, and if it means anything I freely admit that he is my superior at it.”
“Suits me,” Cramer said at once.
The other two looked at each other. Neither liked what he was looking at, and neither liked Travis’s suggestion, so simultaneously they said nothing.
“Okay,” Cramer said, “let’s go. Where do you want the coat and scarf, Wolfe, in sight?”
Wolfe half opened his eyes. “What is this gentleman’s name?”
“Oh. Phillips. Mr. Wolfe, Mr. Phillips.”
“How do you do, sir. Give the coat to Mr. Goodwin. Archie, put it behind the cushions on the couch. Give me the scarf, please.”
Phillips had handed me the coat without hesitation, but now he balked. He looked at Cramer. “This is vital evidence. If those particles get brushed off and scattered…”
“I’m not a ninny,” Wolfe snapped.
“Let him have it,” Cramer said.
Phillips hated to do it. He might have been a mother instructed to entrust her newborn infant to a shady character. But he handed it over.
“Thank you, sir. All right, Mr. Cramer, get him in here.”
Cramer went, taking Phillips with him. In a moment he was back, without Phillips and with Alger Kates. We all gazed at Kates as he stepped across and took the chair indicated by Cramer, facing Wolfe, but it didn’t visibly disconcert him. He looked to me as he had up in my room, as if he might bust out crying any minute, but there was no evidence that he had done so. After he had sat down all I had was his profile.
“You and I have hardly spoken, have we, Mr. Kates?” Wolfe asked.
Kates’s tongue came out to wet his lips and went back in again. “Enough to satisfy-” he began, but his thin voice threatened to become only a squeak, and he stopped for a second and then started over. “Enough to satisfy me.”
“But my dear sir.” Wolfe was gently reproachful. “I don’t believe we’ve exchanged a word.”
Kates did not unbend. “Haven’t we?” he asked.
“No, sir. The devil of it is that I can’t honestly say that I don’t sympathize with your attitude. If I were in your position, innocently or not, I would feel the same. I don’t like people piling questions on me, and in fact I don’t tolerate it.” Wolfe let his eyes open another millimeter. “By the way, I am now, momentarily, official. These gentlemen in authority have deputized me to talk with you. As you doubtless know, that doesn’t mean that you
