'And a couple of paperbacks to read. If I'm going to stand mute I'll have plenty of leisure.'
'Happy weekend,' I said and hung up.
There's a shelf of books in my room, my property, and I went to get one- don't know why, since I wasn't in a mood for any book I had ever heard of -but realized that Fritz was probably wondering what the hell was going on. So I left, descended the two flights, and turned right at the bottom instead of left In the kitchen Fritz was at the big table doing something to something. Normally I would have noticed what, but not that time. AH the walls and doors on that floor are soundproofed, so I don't know why he wasn't surprised to see me. He merely asked, 'Something happened?'
I got on a stool. 'Yes, and more to come. A woman got killed, and it should mean a change of program, but he's trying to set a new world record for mules. Don't bother about lunch for me. chew nails. I know you have problems with him too, garlic and juniper berries and bay leaf, but-' The doorbell. I slid off the stool, went to the hall, took one look through the one-way glass panel, and entered the office. Wolfe was at his desk with the middle drawer open, counting beer-bottle caps.
'Sooner even than I expected,' I said. 'Cramer. Saul called. He phoned Lucile Ducos at nine o'clock this morning. The maid answered and he told her his name and said he was working for you. He told Lucile Ducos he wanted to see her and ask her some questions, and she told him to call her around noon.'
The doorbell rang.
He said, 'Grrrhh.'
'I agree. Do I let Cramer in?'
'Yes' I went to the front and opened the door, swung it wide, and he stepped in. I stood on the sill and looked out and down. His car was double-parked, with the driver in front at the wheel and one in the back seat I had seen but had never met. When I turned, no Cramer. I shut die door and went to the office.
He was standing at the edge of Wolfe's desk, his hat and coat on, talking.
'… and I may sit down and I may not. I've got a stenographer out in the car. If bring him in, will you talk?'
'No.'
It's barely possible that I have news for you. Do you know that Pierre Ducos's daughter was shot down in front of her house four hours ago?'
'Yes.'
'You do. The old man still won't talk, in any language, but a Homicide Bureau man and I have just spent an hour with Marie Garrou, the maid. Will you talk?'
'No.'
''Goddam it, Wolfe, what's eating you?'
'I told you three days ago that I was outraged and out of control. I am no longer out of control, but I am still outraged. Mr. Cramer. I respect your integrity, your ability, and your understanding. I even trust you up to a point; of course no man has complete trust in another, he merely thinks he has because he needs to and hopes to. And in this matter I trust only myself. As I said, I am outraged.'
Cramer turned his head to look at me, but he didn't see me. He turned back to Wolfe and leaned over to flatten bis palms on the desk. came here with a stenographer,' he said, 'because I trust you too, up to a point I want to say something not as Inspector Cramer or Mr. Cramer to a private investigator or Mr. Wolfe, but just as Cramer to Wolfe. Man to man. If you don't let go, you're sunk. Done. Let me bring him in and talk to me. Now.'
Wolfe shook his head. 'I appreciate this. I do. But even as Wolfe to Cramer, no.'
Cramer straightened up and turned and went.
When the sound came of the front door opening and dosing, I didn't even go to the hall fox a look.
If he had stayed inside, all right, he had. I merely remarked to Wolfe, 'About any one little fact, I never know for sure whether you have bothered to know it or not. You may or may not know that the Homicide Bureau is a bunch of cops that don't take orders from Cramer. They're under the DA.'
'Yes.'
So he might have known it and he might not. 'And,' I said, 'one of them helped him buzz Marie Garrou. I now know her name. And Cramer came straight here because he was sorry for you. That's hard to believe, but he did, and you should send him a Christmas card if you're where you can get one.'
He squinted at me. 'You changed your clothes.'
'Certainly. I like to dress properly. This is my cage outfit. Coop. Hoosegow.'
He opened the drawer, slid the bottle caps into it, shut the drawer, pushed his chair back, rose, and headed for the door. I supposed to tell Fritz to hurry lunch, but he turned right, and the elevator door opened and closed. Going up to tell Theodore to come tomorrow, Sunday. But I was wrong again; it went up only one flight. He was going to his room to change to his cage outfit, whatever that might be. It was at that point that I quit. The only possible explanation was that he really had a screw loose, and therefore my choice was plain. I could bow out for good, go to Twentieth Street, to either Stebbins or Cramer, and open the bag, or I could stick and take it as it came. Just wait and see.
I don't know, actually, why I stuck. I honestly don't know. Maybe it was just habit, the habit of watching him pull rabbits out of hats. Or maybe it was good old-fashioned loyalty, true-blue Archie Goodwin, hats off everybody. Or maybe it was merely curiosity; what was eating him and could he possibly get away with it? But I know why I did what I did. It wasn't loyalty or curiosity that sent me to the kitchen to get things from the refrigerator-just plain horse sense. It would probably be Coggin, and he would like it even better if we were just sitting down to lunch, and I had had enough of the sandwiches they brought you at the DA's office. As I got out sturgeon and bread and milk and cucumber rings and celery and brandied cherries, Fritz looked but said nothing. He knows it is understood that it's his kitchen, and if I take liberties without asking, it is not the moment for conversation. My copy of the Times was still in the rack on the little table, and I opened it to Sports. I felt sporty. I was on the cherries when the sound came of the elevator. When I went to the office Wolfe was at his desk with a crossword puzzle.
I admit I have been working up to a climax, and here it is. Wolfe had gone up to change. But he had changed
