seem as flat as a pool table. If they ask why he hit you don't say you don't know, say it's a mystery. People love a mystery. Now-'
'That's it!' She was delighted. 'That's the kind of thing!'
'Sure. Tell 'em that. Now we've got to consider the cops. Stebbins is a cop, and they won't want it hung on him. They've had one cop killed here today already. They'll try to tie this up with that. I know how they work, I know them only too well. They'll try to make it that somebody here killed Wallen, and he found out that you knew something about it so he tried to kill you. They may even think they have some kind of evidence?for instance, something you were heard to say. So we have to be prepared. We have to go back over it. Are you listening?' 104
'Certainly. What do I say when the reporters ask me if j^m going to go on working here? Couldn't I say I don't want ?desert Mr. Fickler in a time of trouble?'
took control to stay in that chair. I would have given a deal to be able to get up and walk out, go to Purley and tier at their eavesdropping posts, tell them she was all ftheirs and they were welcome to her, and go on home. But | at home there were the guests locked in the front room, and ' sometime, somehow, we had to get rid of them. I looked at | her charming enchanting comely face, with its nice chin and straight little nose and the eyelashes, and realized that the matter would be approached from her angle or not at all.
'That's the ticket,' I said warmly. 'Say you've got to be f, loyal to Mr. Fickler. That's the main thing to work on, how to handle the reporters. Have you ever been interviewed before?'
'No, this will be the first, and I want to start right.' 'Good for you. What they like best of all is to get the jump on the police. If you can tell them something the cops don't know they'll love you forever. For instance, the fact that Stebbins crowned you doesn't prove that he's the only one involved. He must have an accomplice here in the shop, or why did Wallen come here in the first place? We'll call the accomplice X. Now listen. Sometime today, some time or other after Wallen's body was found, you saw something or heard something, and X knew you did. He knew it, and he knew that if you told about it?if you told me, for exampleit would put him and Stebbins on the spot. Naturally both of them would want to kill you. It could have been X that tried to, but since you say you saw Stebbins reflected in the glass we'll let it go at that for now. Here's the point: if you can remember what it was you saw or heard that scared X, and if you tell the reporters before the cops get wise to it, they'll be your friends for life. Now for God's sake don't miss this chance. Concentrate. Remember everything you saw and heard here today, and everything you did and said too. Even if this takes us all night we've got to work it out.'
105
She was frowning. 'I don't remember anything that would scare anybody.'
'Don't go at it like that. It was probably some little thing that didn't seem important to you at all. We may have to start at the beginning and go over every?'
I stopped on account of her face. The frown had left it, and she was looking past me, not seeing me, with an expression that told me plainly, if I knew her half as well as I thought I did, what was going on inside. I snapped at her, 'Do you want the reporters hating you? Off of you for good?'
She was startled. 'Of course not! That would be awful!'
'Then watch your step. This has got to be all wool. A girl with a fine mind like you, so much imagination, it would be a cinch for you to be creative, but don't. They'll double-check everything you say, and if they find it's not completely straight you're ruined. They'll never forgive you. You'll never need a manager.'
'But I can't remember anything like that!'
'Not right off the bat, who could? Sometimes a thing like this takes days, let alone hours.' Her hand was right there, and I patted it. 'I guess we'd better go over it together, right straight through. That's the way Nero Wolfe would do it. What time did you get to work this morning?'
'When 1 always do, a quarter to nine. I'm punctual.'
'Were the others already here?'
'Some were and some weren't.'
'Who was and who wasn't?'
'My Lord, I don't know. I didn't notice.' She was resentful. 'If you're going to expect me to remember things like that we might as well quit, and you wouldn't be a good manager. When I came to work I was thinking of something else. A lot of the time I am thinking of something else, so how would I notice?'
I had to be patient. 'Okay, we'll start at another point. You remember when Wallen came in and spoke with Fickler and went to Tina's booth and talked with her, and when Tina came out Fickler sent Philip in to him. You remember that?'
She nodded. 'I guess so.' 106
'Guesses won't get us anywhere. Just recall the situation, where you all were when Philip came back after talking with Wallen. Where were you?'
'I didn't notice.'
'I'm not saying you noticed, but look back. There's Philip, coming around the end of the partition after talking with Wallen. Did you hear him say anything? Did you say anything to him?'
'I don't think Philip was this X,' she declared. 'He is married, with children. I think it was Jimmie Kirk. He tried to make passes at me when I first came, and he drinks, you can ask Ed about that, and he thinks he's superior. A barber being superior!' She looked pleased. 'That's a good idea about Jimmie being X, because I don't have to say he really tried to kill me. I'll try to remember something he said. Would it matter exactly when he said it?'
I had had enough, but a man can't hit a woman when she's down, so I ended it without violence.
'Not at all,' I told her, 'but I've got an idea. I'll go and see if I can get something out of Jimmie. Meanwhile I'll send a reporter in to break the ice with you, from the Gazette probably. I know a lot of them.' I was on my feet. 'Just use your common sense and stick to facts. See you later.'
'But Mr. Goodwin! I want--'
I was gone. Three steps got me out of the booth, and I strode down the aisle and around the end of the
