'Yep. Why, did I spill salt?'
'No. On the contrary. Do you know where Miss Alving can be found?'
I nodded. 'She's the toy buyer at Meadow's. But you certainly have changed the subject. What about that Grade A lie, do we want it at the price? Phoebe will be after me as soon as she gets through breakfast.'
'We'll see. That can wait. How do you know it's a lie? Come in the potting room where we can sit down. I have some instructions.'
IX
Never to find yourself in a situation where you have to enter a big department store is one of the minor reasons for not getting married. I guess it would also be a reason for not being a detective. Anyway, Meadow's is unquestionably a big department store, and that Thursday morning I had to enter it in the practice of my profession. The toy department is on the fourth floor, I suppose to give the kids more fun on the escalators. By the time I got there the sweat on my back was starting to freeze in the conditioned air, and I had to resist an impulse to go up another flight and buy a topcoat.
The salesperson I approached said she thought Miss Alving was busy and would I wait. I found an empty chair over by the scooters. I thought contact with the chair's back might melt the ice on mine, but it was plastic, so I sat straight. After a while a woman came hurrying to me, and I arose.
'Miss Julie Alving?'
'Yes, I'm Miss Alving.'
When Marko had told us about Floyd Whitten's former love whom he had ditched when he married the boss, I had made a casual mental comment that there was something droll about a man living in sin with a toy buyer, but one look at Julie Alving showed me that such casual comments can be silly. She was forty and looked it, and she was not an eyestopper in any obvious way, but everything about her, the way she walked, the way she stood, her eyes and mouth and whole face, seemed to be saying, without trying or intending to, that if you had happened to be hers, and she yours, life would be full of pleasant and interesting surprises. It wasn't anything personal, it was just her. I was so impressed, in spite of her age, that I was smiling at her before I knew it.
I spoke. 'My name's Archie Goodwin, Miss Alving, and I work for Nero Wolfe. You may have heard of him? The detective?'
'Yes, I've heard of him.' Her voice was a little thin.
'He would like to see you. He would appreciate it very much if you can get away for an hour and come to his office with me. He has something to say to you on behalf of Mrs. Floyd Whitten.'
I thought for a second she was going to topple. The way her head jerked up and then came down again as all her muscles sagged, it was as if I had landed an uppercut. My hand even started to reach, to be there if the muscles really quit, but she stayed upright.
'Mrs. – Mrs. Whitten?' she stammered.
I nodded. 'You used to know her husband. Here, sit down.'
She ignored that. 'What does she want?'
'I don't know, but Mr. Wolfe does. She came to see him last night and they talked. He said to tell you it's important and urgent, and he has to see you this morning.'
'But I – I'm here at work.'
'Yeah, I know. I work too and know how it is. I told him you might not be able to make it until after the store closes, but he said that wouldn't do.'
'What did Mrs. Whitten talk to him about?'
I shook my head. 'You'll have to ask him.'
She got her teeth on her lower lip, kept them there a while, said, 'Wait here, please,' and left me. She passed behind a counter and disappeared through a partition opening. I sat down. When my watch showed me that I had waited twenty-two minutes I began to wonder if I was being imposed on, but no, she returned.
She came to me and said, 'I'll leave right away. What's the address?'
I told her we might as well go together, and when she objected that she must go out by the employees' entrance I hurdled that by arranging for us to meet outside. My instructions were to bring her, and I'm great for instructions. My guesses on the role Wolfe was casting her for were nothing but guesses, and they contradicted one another, but if by any chance he had her down for top billing I didn't want to be responsible for her not showing up. So I was really pleased to see her when she reached the meeting place on the sidewalk not more than a minute after I did.
On the way down in the taxi she sat with a tight two-handed grip on her bag, and had no comments or questions. That suited me, since I hadn't the faintest idea what she was heading into and therefore would have been able to make no contribution except grunts.
Since I had been instructed not to tell her that Mrs. Whitten and Phoebe were our house guests, I wouldn't have been surprised to see them both there in the office when I entered with Julie Alving, but Wolfe was alone, in his chair behind his desk, with a newspaper. He put the paper down, got to his feet, and bowed, which was quite a tribute, either to Julie or the part she was supposed to take. I've seen him react to a woman's entrance in that office with nothing but a ferocious scowl. So I participated by giving Miss Alving the red leather
