Instead of retreating, I crossed the sill and got my back against the open door, since the main point was to make sure that it didn't get closed with me on the wrong side. They all came at me and hemmed me in so that I didn't have elbow room to put my notebook in my pocket, all demanding to know if the contestants had received a list of the answers, and if so, when and how and from whom?
I regarded them as-friends. It is always best to regard journalists as friends if they are not actually standing on your nose. 'Hold everything,' I said. 'What kind of a position is a man in when he is being tugged in two directions?'
Charles Winston of the Times said, 'Anomalous.'
'Thanks. That's the word I wanted. I would love to get my name in the paper, and my employer's name, Nero Wolfe, spelled with an e on the end, and this is a swell chance, but I'll have to pass it up. As you all saw at once, if the contestants have been sent a list of the answers by somebody it would be a hot item in a murder case, and it would be improper for me to tell you about it. That's the function of the police and the District Attorney.'
'Oh, come off it, Archie,' Missy Coburn said.
'Spit out the gum,' Bill Lurick said.
'Is it your contention,' Charles Winston of the Times asked courteously but firmly, 'that a private citizen should refuse to furnish the press with any information regarding a murder case and that the sole source of such information for the public should be the duly constituted authorities?'
I didn't want to get the Times sore. 'Listen, folks,' I said, 'there is a story to be had, but you're not going to get it from me, for reasons which I reserve for the present, so don't waste time and breath on me. Try Inspector Cramer or the DA's office. You heard Miss Frazee mention Rudolph Hansen, the lawyer. I've told you there's a story, so that's settled, but you'll have to take it from there. Cigarettes on my bare toes will get you no more from me.'
They hung on some, but pretty soon one of them broke away and headed down the hall, and of course the others didn't want him to gobble it so they made after him. I stayed in the doorway until the last of them had disappeared around the corner, then, leaving the door open, turned and went on in. Gertrude Frazee, in the same museum outfit she had worn five days previously, minus the hat, was in an upholstered armchair backed up against the wall, with a cold eye on me.
She spoke. 'I have nothing to say to you. You can go. Please shut the door.'
I had forgotten that her lips moving at right angles to their slant, and her jaw moving straight up and down, made an anomalous situation, and I had to jerk my attention to her words. 'You must admit one thing, Miss Frazee,' I said earnestly. 'I didn't try to spoil your press conference, did I? I kept out of it, and when they came at me what did I do? I refused to tell them a single thing, because I thought it wouldn't be fair to you. It was your conference and I had no right to horn in.'
She didn't thaw any. 'What do you want?'
'Nothing now, I guess. I was going to explain why I thought you might want to come to the meeting this evening at Mr. Wolfe's office, but now I suppose you wouldn't be interested.'
'Why not?'
'Because you've already got your lick in. Not only that, you've spilled the beans. Outsiders weren't supposed to know about the meeting, especially not the press, but now those reporters will be after everybody, and they're sure to find out, and they'll be camping on Mr. Wolfe's stoop. I wouldn't be surprised if they even got invited in. The others will know they've heard your side of the story, and naturally they'll want to get theirs in too. So if you were there it might get into a wrangle in front of the reporters, and you wouldn't want that. Anyhow, as I say, you've already got your lick in.'
With her unique facial design nothing could be certain, but I was pretty sure I had her, so I finished, 'So I guess you wouldn't be interested and I've made the trip for nothing. Sorry to bother you. If you care at all to know what happens at the meeting, see the morning papers, especially the Times.' I was turning to go.
Her voice halted me. 'Young man.'
I faced her.
'What time is this meeting?'
'Nine o'clock.'
'I'll be there.'
'Sure, Miss Frazee, if you want to, but under the circumstances I doubt--'
'I'll be there.'
I grinned at her. 'I promised my grandmother I'd never argue with a lady. See you later then.'
Leaving, I took the door along, pulling it shut gently until the lock clicked.
By the time I got home it was after six and Wolfe should'have been down from the plant rooms, but he wasn't. I went to the kitchen, where Fritz was arranging two plump ducklings on the rack of a roasting pan, asked what was up, and was told that Wolfe had descended from the roof but had left the elevator one flight up and gone to his room. That was unusual but not alarming, and I proceeded with another step of the preparations for the meeting. When I got through the table at the end of the couch in the office was ready for business: eight brands of whisky, two of gin, two of cognac, a decanter of port, cream sherry, armagnac, four fruit brandies, and a wide assortment of cordials and liqueurs. The dry sherry was in the refrigerator, as were the cherries, olives, onions, and lemon peel, where they would remain until after dinner. As I was arranging the bottles I caught myself wondering which one the murderer would fancy, but corrected it hastily to wallet thief, since we weren't interested in the murder.
At six-thirty I thought I'd better find out if Wolfe had busted a shoestring or what, and, mounting a flight and tapping on his door and hearing him grunt, entered. I stopped and stared. Fully dressed, with his shoes on, he was lying on the bed, on top of the black silk coverlet. Absolutely unheard of.
