Knudsen cleared his throat, rather loud, and she looked at him. There was no additional signal that I caught, but evidently she didn't need one. She let it lay. Returning to Wolfe, 'So,' she said, 'it's not personal. It's just that there is nothing to discuss.'
'From your point of view,' Wolfe conceded, 'there probably isn't. And naturally, for you, as a consequence of the peculiar constitution of the human ego, your point of view is paramount. But your ego is bound to be jostled by other egos, and efforts to counteract the jostling by ignoring it have rarely succeeded. It is frequently advisable, and sometimes necessary, to give a little ground. For example, suppose I ask you for information in which you have no monopoly because it is shared with others. Suppose I ask you: at the meeting last evening, after Mr. Dahlmann displayed a paper and said it contained the answers, what remarks were made about it by any of the contestants? What did you say, and what did you hear any of them say?'
'Are you supposing or asking?''
'I'm asking.'
She looked at Knudsen. His head moved. At Schultz. His head moved. At Hibbard. His head moved. She returned to Wolfe. 'When Mr. Assa asked me to come to see you he said it was about the contest, and that has no bearing on it.'
'Then you decline to answer?'
'Yes, I think I should.'
'The police must have asked you. Did you decline to answer?'
'I don't think I should tell you anything about what the police asked me or what I said to them.'
'Nor, evidently, anything about what the other contestants have said to you or you have said to them.'
'My contact with the other contestants has been very limited. Just that meeting last evening.'
Wolfe lifted a hand and ran a finger tip along the side of his nose a few times. He was being patient. 'I may say, Miss Tescher, that my contact with the other contestants, mine and Mr. Goodwin's, has been a little broader. Several courses have been suggested. One was that all five of you agree that the first five prizes be pooled, and that each of you accept one-fifth of the total as your share. The suggestion was not made by my clients or by me; I am merely asking you, without prejudice, would you consider such a proposal?'
She didn't need guidance on that one. 'Of course I wouldn't. Why should I?'
'So you don't concede that the manner of Mr. Dahlmann's death, and the circumstances, call for reconsideration of anything whatever connected with the contest?'
She pushed her head forward, and it reminded me of something, I couldn't remember what. She said slowly and distinctly and positively, 'I don't concede anything at all, Mr. Wolfe.'
She pulled her head back, and I remembered. A vulture I had seen at the zoo-exactly the same movement. Aside from the movement there was no resemblance; certainly the vulture hadn't looked anything like as smart as she did, and had no lipstick, no earrings, and no hair on its head.
'All the same,' Wolfe persisted, 'there are the other egos and other viewpoints. I accept the validity of yours, but theirs cannot be brushed aside. Each of you has made a huge investment of time and energy and ingenuity. How much time have you spent on it since the beginning?'
'I don't know. Hundreds and hundreds of hours.'
'The rules didn't forbid help. Have you had any?'
'No. A friend of mine with a large library let me use it nights and early mornings before I went to work, but she didn't help. I'm very expert at researching. When they gave me five to do in one week, to break the tie--that was on March twenty-eighth--I took a week off without pay.'
Wolfe nodded. 'And of course the others made similar sacrifices and endured similar strains. Look at them now. They are detained here willy-nilly, far from their base of operations, by no fault of their own--except possibly for one of them, but that's moot. Whereas you're at home and can proceed as usual. You have an overwhelming advantage and it is fortuitous. Can you pursue it without a qualm? Can you justify it?'
'I don't have to justify it. We made an agreement and I'm not breaking it. And I can't proceed as usual--if I could I'd be at the library now, working. I've got another week off, but I had to spend today with the police and the conference at the office and now here with you. I'll work tonight, but I don't know what tomorrow will be like.'
'Would you accept an invitation to meet with the others and discuss a new arrangement?'
'I would not. There's nothing to discuss.'
'You are admirably single-minded, Miss Tescher.' Wolfe leaned back with his elbows on the chair arms and matched his finger tips. 'I must tell you about Miss Frazee-she is in a situation comparable to yours. Her home is in Los Angeles, where three hundred of her friends, fellow members of a league of which she is president, have worked with her on the contest throughout. It is presumed, though not established, that she has telephoned them the verses that were distributed last evening, and that they are busy with them. A situation comparable to yours, though by no means identical. Have you any comment?'
She was staring at him, speechless. 'Because,' Wolfe went on, 'while there may be no infraction of the rules or the agreement, it is surely an unfair advantage--even against you, since you have already lost a day and there's no telling how much you'll be harassed the rest of the week; but Miss Frazee's friends can proceed unhampered. Don't you think that's worth discussing?'
From the look on Susan's face she would have liked to discuss it with Miss Frazee herself, with fingernails and teeth at ten inches. Before she found any words Knudsen arose, crooked his finger at the other two men and at Susan, and headed for the door. They all got up and followed. Wolfe sat and gazed at their receding backs. Not knowing whether they were adjourning or only taking a recess, I sat pat until I saw that Schultz, out last, was shutting the door to the hall, then I thought I'd better investigate, put down my notebook, went to the door and opened it, and crossed the sill. The quartet was in a close huddle over by the big walnut rack. 'Need any
