gracefully. About the meeting this evening--'
'We can discuss that later. I'll call you.'
He was off. Wolfe cradled the receiver, pushed the phone to one side, heaved a sigh clear down to where a strip of his yellow shut showed between his vest and pants, as usual, leaned back, and shut his eyes.
'Of course you know,' I said, 'that that will bring us company.'
'It can't be helped,' he muttered. Since the phone numbers of LBA and the Churchill were in my head, the only ones I had to scribble in my notebook were Clock magazine and Hansen's and Heery's offices. That done, I went to the kitchen, where Fritz was putting some lamb hearts to soak in sour milk and an assortment of herbs and spices, asked if I could use his phone, and started in. Four of them-Wheelock, Younger, Heery, and Buff--had already been invited and would get a reminder call later. Presumably Rollins had also been invited, but that had to be checked. I got two of them without much difficulty, O'Garro and Assa, on one call, but had a hell of a time with the others. Four different calls to Gertrude Frazee's room, eighteen-fourteen, at the Churchill, in a period of forty minutes, got me no answer. Three calls failed to land Rudolph Hansen, but he finally called back, and of course had to speak to Wolfe. I stood pat that he couldn't, and though he refused to accept the invitation to the meeting, I knew nothing could keep him away. I also got Harold Rollins, who told me in one short superior sentence that he would be present and hung up.
Susan Tescher was a tough one. First Clock told me she was in conference. Then Clock said she wasn't there today. I asked for Mr. Knudsen, the tall and bony one, but he had stepped out. I asked for Mr. Schultz, the tall and broad one, and he was engaged. I asked for Mr. Hibbard, the tall and skinny one, of the legal staff, and darned if I didn't get him. I told him about the meeting, and who would be there, and said that if Miss Tescher didn't come she might find herself tomorrow morning confronted with a fait accompli, knowing as I did that any lawyer would feel that a guy who used words like fait accompli was a man to be reckoned with. As I was starting to dial the Churchill number for another stab at Miss Frazee, the doorbell rang. I went to the hall for a look through the panel, then opened the door to the office. Apparently Wolfe hadn't moved a muscle.
I announced, 'Stebbins.'
He opened his eyes. 'At least it's better than Mr. Cramer. Bring him in.'
I went and unbolted the door, swung it wide, and said hospitably, 'Hello there. We've been waiting for you.'
'I'll bet you have.' He marched on by me, making quite an air wash, and on by the rack, removing his hat as he entered the office. By the time I attended to the door and caught up he was standing in front of Wolfe's desk and talking. '… the copy of the contest answers that Goodwin made last Wednesday. Where is it?'
If you want to see Purley Stebbins at his worst you should see him with Nero Wolfe. He knows that on the record of the evidence, of which there is plenty, Wolfe is more than a match for him and Cramer put together, and by his training and experience evidence is all that counts, but he can't believe it and he won't. The result is that he talks too loud and too fast. I have seen Purley at work with different kinds of characters, taking his time with both his head and his tongue, and he's not bad at all. He hates to come at Wolfe, so he always comes himself instead of passing the buck.
Wolfe muttered at him, 'Sit down, Mr. Stebbins. As you know, I don't like to stretch my neck.'
That was the sort of thing. Purley would have liked to say, 'To hell with your neck,' and nearly did, but blocked it and lowered himself onto a chair. He never took the red leather one.
Wolfe looked at me. 'Archie, tell him about the copy you made.'
I obliged. 'Last Wednesday I went to the safe deposit vault with Buff, O'Garro, and Heery. They got the box and opened it. I cut the two envelopes open, one with the verses and one with the answers, and made copies on four sheets from my notebook. The originals were returned to the envelopes, and the envelopes to the box, and the box to the vault. I came straight home with my copies and put them in the safe as soon as I got here, and they've been there ever since and are there now.'
'I want to see them,' Purley rasped.
Wolfe answered him. 'No, sir. It would serve no purpose unless you handled and inspected them, and if you got hold of them you wouldn't let go. It would be meaningless anyway. Since Mr. Buff decided to tell about them we knew you would be coming, and if anything had happened to them Mr. Goodwin could have made duplicates and put them in the safe. No. We tell you they are there.'
'They've been there all the time since Goodwin put them there last Wednesday?'
'Yes. Continuously.'
'You haven't had them out once?'
'No.'
Purley turned his big weathered face to me. 'Have you?'
'Nope.--Wait a minute, I have too. An hour ago. Buff was on the phone and asked where they were, and Mr. Wolfe told me to take a look to make sure. I took them out and glanced over them, and put them right back. That was the only time I've had them out of the safe since I put them in.'
His head jerked back to Wolfe and he barked, 'Then what the hell did you get 'em for?'
Wolfe nodded. 'That's a good question. To answer it adequately I would have to go back to that day and recall all of my impressions and surmises and tentative designs, and I'm busy and haven't time. So I'll only say that I had certain vague notions which never ripened. That will have to do you.'
Parley's jaw was working. 'What I think,' he said.
'I beg your pardon?'
'I said, what I think. So does the Inspector. He wanted to come, but he was late for an appointment with the Commissioner, so he sent me. We think you sent the copies of the answers to the contestants.' He clamped the jaw. He released it. 'Or we think you might have, and we want to know. I don't have to tell you what it
