Wolfe grunted. 'I'm not a ptomaine scholar, but this afternoon I looked them up a little. Do you know how thoroughly the possibility of the presence of a true alkaloid was excluded?' 'No. I don't know what you mean.' 'Isn't ptomaine an alkaloid?' Dorothy Riff asked. 'Yes,' Wolfe conceded, 'but cadaveric. However, for that there is the record. You were here the night of Mrs. Huck's death, Miss Riff?' 'I was here for the party. I left around eleven o'clock.' 'Did you know that she was fond of pickled artichokes?' 'We all did. It was a kind of standing joke.' 'How did you know that ptomaines are alkaloids?' She flushed a little. 'When Mrs. Huck died I read up about them.' 'Why? Was there something about her 78 death or about the artichokes that made you suspect something?' 'No! Of course not!' Wolfe's head went right and left. 'Did any of you suspect that Mrs. Huck's death was not accidental?' He got a unanimous negative with no abstentions, but he insisted, 'Have any of you felt, at any time, that the possibility of foul play was insufficiently explored?' Unanimous again. Mrs. O'Shea snapped, 'Why should we feel that if we didn't suspect anything?' Wolfe nodded. 'Why indeed?' He leaned back, cleared his throat, and looked judicious. 'I am impressed, naturally, by the total absence of any currents of mistrust among you. Three women like you--young, smart, alive to opportunity, inevitably competitive in a household like this--are ideal soil for the seeds of suspicion if there are any around, but evidently none have sprouted in you. That is more than indicative, it is almost conclusive, and I could not expect, here in an hour or so, to reach the haven of certainty. It would be unreasonable to challenge you to convince me utterly; the law itself assumes innocence until guilt is ^demonstrated; and that leaves us only with 79 the question, how much is it worth to you IF to have me employ my talent and energy to persuade Mr. Lewent that his suspicions are unfounded, and to keep him persuaded? Shall we say one hundred thousand dollars?' They were unanimous again, this time with gasps. Miss Riff, quickest to find words, cried, 'I told you it was blackmail!'
Wolfe showed them his palms. 'If you please. I am indifferent to what you call it, blackmail or brigandage, but it would be childish for you to suppose I would perform so great a service for you as a benefaction. My spring of philanthropy is not so torrential. The sum I named would surely not be exorbitant. I'll be considerate on details; I don't even insist on an IOU; it will be sufficient if Mr. Huck will state, all of us hear- . ing him, that he guarantees payment of the full amount to me within one month. With one provision, which I insist on, that no word of this arrangement ever reaches Mr. Lewent. On that I must have explicit and firm assurance. I require the guarantee from Mr. Huck because I know he is good for it and I know nothing of the financial status of any of the rest of you, and of course it is to his interest as well as yours that Mr. Lewent 80 [ should be persuaded that his suspicions are unfounded.' He took them in. 'Well?' 'It's blackmail,' Miss Riff said firmly. Paul Thayer muttered, 'Lewent picked a lulu when he picked you.' Miss Marcy and Mrs. O'Shea were silent. They were looking at Huck, obviously wanting a lead. Huck, his head cocked to one side, was frowning at Wolfe, studying him, as if in doubt whether he had heard correctly.
He spoke. 'What makes you think,' he asked, 'that you can manage my brother-in- law?' 'Mainly, sir, my self- conceit. I undertake it, and I too am financially responsible. You guarantee to pay, and I guarantee to deliver. You guarantee to pay me one hundred thousand dollars within one month, and I guarantee that Mr. Lewent will not again accuse any person here present of serious misconduct prior to this moment; and if he does so I forfeit the entire amount paid me.' 'Is there a time limit to your guarantee?' 'No.' 'Then I accept it. I guarantee to pay you one hundred thousand dollars within one month, as consideration for the guarantee 81 you have given, as stated by you. Is that satisfactory?' 'Perfectly. Now the provision. It is understood by all of you that no word of this arrangement is ever to get to Mr. Lewent. You agree that you will give him no hint of it either directly or indirectly. To indicate your agreement please raise your hands.' Mrs. O'Shea's hand went up first, then Miss Marcy's, then Miss Riff's. Wolfe asked, 'Mr. Huck?' 'I thought it unnecessary. Certainly I agree.' 'Mr. Thayer?' With all eyes on him, Paul Thayer looked highly uncomfortable. He glanced at his uncle. 'Oh, nuts,' he said, and raised both hands as high as they would go. 'Then that's settled.' Wolfe made a face. 'Now I must go to work, and I must have your help. First I'll speak with Mr. Lewent privately, but it may be that after a preliminary I'll want to bring him in here for a brief colloquy. So you will please remain here a while--not long, I think.' He got to his feet. 'Archie, you said Mr. Lewent is in his room on this floor?' I was a little tardy answering and moving because I was trying to see all their faces at 82 once as they heard that we were going for Lewent. But Wolfe repeated my name, and I was up and with him, detouring around him to get to the door and open it. I led the way to Lewent's room, opened that door too, and, entering, flipped the wall switch for light and then stepped over Lewent's legs to get out of the way for Wolfe to come in. He did so and shut the door and stood looking down at his client. 'Lift him so I can see the back of his head.' That was no great strain, considering the size of the corpse and the fact that it was fairly stiff by then. When Wolfe finished his inspection and straightened up, I lowered it to the rug again, to its former position. 'As you know,' Wolfe said, 'it is regarded as undesirable to leave a corpse unguarded, especially when violence is indicated. I'll stay here. You will go and tell them what we have found, instructing them to remain together in Mr. Huck's room, and then call the police.' 'Yes, sir. Call from Huck's rooms or go down to the study?' 'Either. As you choose.' 'When the cops go into details with me, 83 does my memory fail me anywhere besides my one trip to this room?' 'No. Everything else as it was.' 'Including the way I got up here?' 'Yes. Confound it, go.' I went. It had been twenty minutes to ten when Wolfe and I had left the gathering in Huck's room to go and have a talk with our client. It was a quarter past twelve, more than two and a half hours later, that we were in Huck's room again with a gathering--the same cast of characters with a few additions. Meanwhile some two dozen highly trained city employees, including a deputy police commissioner and two assistant district attorneys, had put on an expert performance in the house that Herman Lewent's father had built and that Herman had after all managed to die in. I witnessed very little of the performance, since for most of the 155 minutes I was up in the sewing room answering questions and explaining previous answers, but I knew it was expert because 1 had seen most of them in action bef ore. I11 84 ^yay at least it was too damn expert to uit me, because at a couple of points I wouldn't have minded a chance to exchange ^ words with Wolfe, but I wasn't allowed to. We were expertly kept apart, and I had no sight or sound of him between nine-forty-five, when I left him guarding the corpse, and twelve-fifteen, when Sergeant Purley Stebbins, who has called me Archie eight times over the years in fits of absent-mindedness, came up to the sewing room for me and escorted me down to Huck's room. It was the same cast of characters, but they were visibly the worse for wear. Huck himself, in his chair, still in the maroon tie and jacket, looked so pooped that I was surprised the official brass wasn't showing more consideration for a guy in his bracket whose bum legs gave them such a good excuse. It seemed likely that Paul Thayer had shown some temperament which required a little handling, since his tie was crooked and his hair mussed and a dick was standing at his elbow. On the whole the '^e women were apparently taking it a ue better than the men, but they were by n0 means jaunty. Mrs. O'Shea sat stiff, her u b^e eyes directed at Inspector Cramer, 85 who was seated near Wolfe. She didn't bother to glance at Purley and me as vp entered. And damned if Miss Riff and Miss Marcy weren't holding hands! They were side by side on a couch, sharing it with Assistant DA Mandelbaum and Deputy Po. lice Commissioner Boyle. I had to hand it to Wolfe. He had the big chair he had had before, and this time I hadn't been there to nab it for him. And he didn't look fagged. As I came into range and caught his eye, I thought, oh-oh, here we go. I knew that look well. He was about to make some fur fly, or thought he was. He snapped at me, 'Archie!' 'Yes, sir.' 'Sit down. I have told Mr. Cramer I want to go home, and as an inducement have offered some comments on this affair, insisting on your presence. You have of course answered all questions and given all the information you have.' 'Yes, sir.' 'So have I. Move your chair?it obstructs my view of Mr. Thayer. That's better. Mr. Cramer, I could have done this much earlier?indeed, immediately after your arrival?but you were not then ready to listen? and besides, there was the possibiL ^lat 86 nr men would uncover something that would weaken or even negate my assumptions. I don't know that they haven't, so I need to ask a few questions.' Inspector Cramer's round red face was not sympathetic. He rasped, 'You didn't say you had questions, you said you had comments. You practically said you know who killed Lewent.' 'I do, unless you know better. That's all my questions are for. Are you ready to charge anyone?' 'No.' 'Have you found a weapon that satisfies you?' 'No.' 'Have you any evidence that would contradict an assumption that Lewent was killed elsewhere and his body was transported to his room and dumped there?' 'No.' 'Have you evidence pointing to any other place in this house as the spot where he was killed?' 'No.' Have you for any reason, evidential or ^Peculative, excluded any of these people 'from suspicion?' 'No.' 87 Boyle cut in from the couch. 'How long do you intend to let this go on. Inspector?' 'You could have stopped it before it started,' Wolfe said dryly. 'But here's a comment. It is close to unbelievable that Lewent was killed where he was found. From such a blow he died instantly, and surely it was not struck in that narrow passage, particularly since it was moving upward at the moment of impact. With no sign of any struggle, with no displacement of the rug even,
