A Right to Die

13

Maybe I seldom crow, and I'm all for self-esteem, but I have some flaws, and one of them showed when I walked into the office of the ROCC and crossed over to Maud Jordan at the switchboard and asked, 'What time did Peter Vaughn get here yesterday morning?' That had been my suggestion to Wolfe just before Paul Whipple rang the doorbell, and using it verbatim appealed to one of my flaws, I'm not sure which one.

It wasn't answered. She looked down her long thin nose at me and asked, 'Whom do you wish to see?'

I didn't press her, since Whipple had made it unnecessary. I told her Mr. Henchy, and it was urgent. She used the phone and told me to go on in, and as I went down the hall Harold R. Oster appeared in the doorway of the corner room. I would have preferred to have Henchy alone because lawyers always complicate things, but didn't make an issue of it. He didn't offer a hand, and neither did Henchy when Oster nodded me in and closed the door. Neither of them nodded me to a chair.

I said, standing, to Henchy at his desk, 'Paul Whipple has told Nero Wolfe-not on the phone, in person-what he told you he would, about Peter Vaughn, and Mr. Wolfe wants to see you. Now. Everybody who spoke with Vaughn yesterday.'

'Sit down,' Oster said.

'I'd just have to get up again to go with you. You realize it's urgent. There's no telling how soon the cops will get here, and then you won't be available. If no one here knows where you've gone you won't be available to them for a while. If you think I'm pushing, I am.'

Henchy started, 'You certainly-' but Oster cut in, 'I'll handle it, Tom. Keep your shirt on, Goodwin. If and when the police learn that Vaughn came here yesterday, we'll answer any questions they may care to ask. He merely wanted to inquire about Dunbar Whipple and Susan Brooke, how intimate they had been. He insisted on it and he was a damned nuisance. Nothing he said or did here could possibly have any connection with his murder. Tell Wolfe I'll see him later, at six o'clock, when he's available.'

'He's available now.' I focused on Henchy. 'All right, I'll mention something that Mr. Wolfe would have preferred to mention himself, but it doesn't matter. Vaughn called me on the phone at ten minutes past five yesterday afternoon and said something that makes it extremely probable that he was murdered because of something that happened when he was here. Not only do Mr. Wolfe and I assume that, the cops do too.'

'They don't know he was here,' Oster said.

'They'll find out, and it may not take them long. They know what Vaughn told me on the phone. What they assume is that his murder resulted from his contacts yesterday, and when they learn he was here-well. Talk about questions. The whole damn ROCC staff material witnesses. The bail-'

'Good God,' Henchy blurted.

'I don't believe it,' Oster said. 'What did Vaughn tell you on the phone?'

'Mr. Wolfe may tell you. I won't.'

'I don't believe it.'

'Okay. It will be interesting to see who comes first, Homicide or the DA's bureau.' I went to a chair and sat. 'It will also be interesting to see how they handle it. Would you rather I wait outside?'

'Yes,' Oster said. 'We'll consider it.'

'You'd better consider fast.' I stood up. 'I don't know how long Mr. Wolfe will hold on.'

'I'm going.' Henchy got to his feet. His pudgy cheeks were sagging. 'I'm going to see him. You too, Harold.'

'I want to consider it.'

'No. I'm the responsible head of this organization. You come with me.' Henchy moved.

'And the others,' I said. 'Everyone who spoke with Vaughn, even one word. Including Miss Jordan. Do you want to leave them here to deal with the cops if they come? With you not here?'

'No,' Oster said. 'Of course. If we go, Tom, they must go too. Wait in the anteroom, Goodwin.'

'I advise you to step on it.'

'We will. If we're going, the sooner the better.'

I went. When I got to the anteroom Maud Jordan was busy on the phone, telling people to go to Henchy's room, and in a few minutes a girl came from inside, with very smooth dark skin and a little turned-up nose, to take over the switchboard, and Miss Jordan went inside. I decided to give them twenty minutes for their huddle and then go in after them, and began exercising my neck by turning my head about ten times a minute to look at the entrance door, hoping it wouldn't open. It did once, and my belly muscles tightened, but it was only a man with a package. Just one minute of the twenty was left when I heard footsteps in the hall, and they came, Henchy in the lead, then Oster, Cass Faison, Adam Ewing, Beth Tiger, and Maud Jordan. No strangers.

Rising, I asked Henchy, 'Miss Kallman?'

'She isn't here. She wasn't here yesterday.' He turned to the girl at the switchboard. 'Miss Bowen, you don't know where we're going.'

'Well, I don't,' she said.