A Right to Die

'Also,' I suggested, 'you don't know my name, and if you're asked to describe me you're not much good at describing people.'

'Do I describe him wrong?' she asked Henchy.

'Yes,' Oster said. 'Within reason.'

I made another suggestion, that they go ahead and I would take another elevator and also another taxi. You may think I was overdoing it, but I knew darned well what would happen the minute Cramer learned that Vaughn had gone there, if it was still office hours. I was pleased to find that there was room in my skull for still another suggestion, even though I had to veto it-the suggestion that one of them, namely Miss Tiger, might ride with me. It was nice to know that even in a crisis I didn't totally exclude consideration of such matters as companionship. I admit it was a factor that she had not yet given the slightest indication that she was aware that I was human.

But I rode alone, and as my cab pulled up in front of the old brownstone I was afraid there would be more delay. It was five minutes past four, and it was at least even money that Wolfe had gone up to the plant rooms. Three of them were standing at the foot of the stoop steps, and the other three were climbing out of their taxi. I paid the hackie and went and led the way up, and as I reached the top the door was opened by Saul Panzer. 'Mr. Henchy to the office,' he told me, 'and the others to the front room.'

Lawyers can be pests and often are. Eight people in the end of that hall disposing of coats are a crowd, and when I got Henchy separated and started him down the hall to the office, there somehow was Oster, moving like a man who intends to stay in charge. I thought, What the hell, it will be simpler to use the connecting door, and let him come; and sure enough, he went straight to the red leather chair, stood in front of it, and told Wolfe, 'Whipple's not here to interfere this time. You'll listen to me.'

Relieved that Wolfe was there and my errand was done, I sat down and got my notebook and pen. Let him do the reacting.

He didn't crane to look up at Oster but focused on Henchy, who was in one of the yellow chairs Saul had moved up. 'This is going to be unpleasant for all of us,' he said. 'Has Mr. Goodwin made the situation clear?'

Henchy nodded. 'Clear enough so we're here. We came.'

'You'll listen to me,' Oster said, in charge. 'We want to know what Vaughn said to Goodwin on the phone yesterday. What you say he said.'

Wolfe slanted his head back. 'Mr. Oster. I don't ask you to sit because I don't want you to. You will join the others in the front room. I am no longer acting in cooperation with you; henceforth my only commitment is to Mr. Paul Whipple. With me your status is now, to use a cant term, that of a murder suspect.' He pointed. 'That door.'

Oster made a noise, part snort and part snarl. He sat.

'That crap,' he said. 'The Great White Whosis. I'm a member of the bar, and what are you?'

Wolfe regarded him. 'I really can't blame you. If I were a Negro I would have been locked up long ago-or I would be dead. You actually believe that your skin color and mine are factors in my treatment of you. Pfui. I'm not a troglodyte. Archie, the relevant portion of your telephone conversation with Mr. Vaughn yesterday afternoon.'

I recited it for them as I had for Cramer, but slower and emphasizing 'important,' and adding at the end that he hadn't rung again. Henchy was frowning at me, concentrating. Oster was looking skeptical, but he was getting it. Wolfe spoke.

'Those were the last words, for us, from Mr. Vaughn. 'It's probably nothing.' But unfortunately for him it wasn't. It's a conclusion, more than an assumption, that he was going to see again someone he had seen earlier, or at least explore some suspicion resulting from an earlier contact. It's possible that that contact had not been at your office, but I know of none other he might have made relevant to the fate of Susan Brooke, and I doubt if the police do. It's also a conclusion, not lightly to be abandoned, that he was killed by the person who killed Miss Brooke. Do you reject that, Mr. Oster?'

'Reject it, no. If he said what Goodwin says he did.'

'For me that is not moot. If it is for you, it will be a soliloquy. Are you willing to tell me what Mr. Vaughn said to you yesterday, and what you said to him?'

'He said nothing, and neither did I.'

'He didn't see you?'

'He saw me, yes, but I exchanged no words with him. I was with Mr. Henchy in his room when Vaughn came, and I stayed and heard what they said, but I said nothing to Vaughn and he said nothing to me.'

'Had you ever seen him before?'

'No.'

'Had he ever seen you?'

'Not to my knowledge. I have been on television a few times.'

'Did you see him again yesterday? After five o'clock?'

'No. Next question, where was I last evening? If you have a right to ask any questions at all, which I don't concede, you have a right to ask that. I'll answer it by saying that I can't produce witnesses for the entire evening and night. I wouldn't, for you, but anyway I couldn't.'

'Few people could. Now, sir, I'm sure you would like this to be as brief as possible, and you can help. While I talk with Mr. Henchy you can explain to the others-'

'I'm staying right here.'