Heery put in, 'You just said that you assumed Assa took the wallet from Dahlmann himself. And he had it in his pocket.'
'Pfui.' Wolfe was getting testy. 'If Assa took it, who killed him and what for? His death changed everything, including my assumptions. He confronted one of you with his knowledge that you had the wallet. You explained that you had gone to Dahlmann's apartment that night, found him dead, and took the wallet, and Assa believed you. Either you told him that you had sent the answers to the contestants, or that you hadn't. If the former, Assa conceived the stratagem of giving me credit for it as a blind; if the latter, he really thought I had done it. You two discussed the situation and decided what to do, or perhaps you didn't; Assa may have discussed it only with himself and made his own plans. It would be interesting to know whether he insisted on keeping the wallet or you insisted on his taking it. If I knew that I would have a better guess who you are.'
Wolfe's tone sharpened. 'Whether or not you knew of his visit to me beforehand, you knew its result. He told you that I had refused to cancel the meeting, and that both of you would of course have to come. This raises an interesting point. If it was his report of his talk with me that so heightened your alarm that you decided to kill him, then you went to the cabinet to get the poison after seven o'clock. If your fatal resolve was formed earlier, before he came to me, you might have gone to the cabinet earlier. The former seems more likely. Dread feeds on itself. At first you were satisfied that Assa believed you, that he had no slight suspicion that you had killed Dahlmann, but that sort of satisfaction is infested with cancer--the cancer of mortal fear. The fear that Assa might himself suspect you, or already did; the fear that if he didn't suspect you, I would; the fear that if I didn't suspect you, the police would. When Assa told you of his failure to persuade me to cancel the meeting, the fear became terror; though you believed him when he said that he had given me no hint of his knowledge regarding the wallet, there was no telling what he would do or say under pressure from me with the others present. As I said, it seems likely that it was then, when fear had festered into the panic of terror, that you resolved to kill him. Therefore it--'
'This is drivel,' Hansen said curtly. 'Pure speculation. If you have a fact, what is it?'
'Out there, Mr. Hansen.' Wolfe aimed a thumb over his shoulder at the door. 'It could even be conclusive if that bottle has identifiable fingerprints, but I doubt if you--one of you--had lost his mind utterly. That's my fact, and it justifies a question. Mr. Assa left my office yesterday at ten minutes past seven. Who was on these premises later than that? Were you, Mr. Hansen?'
'No. I told you. I was here from four o'clock on, but left before six-thirty.'
'Were you, Mr. Heery?'
'No. I told you when I was here.'
'Mr. O'Garro?'
'Don't answer, Pat,' Hansen commanded him.
'Pah.' Wolfe was disgusted. 'Something so easy to explore? If you prefer the plague--'
'I prefer,' O'Garro said, 'to have this out with you here and now.' His bluster was gone. He was being very careful and keeping his eyes straight at Wolfe. 'I was here all yesterday afternoon. I saw Assa and spoke with him several times, but always with others present. Buff and I left together around half-past seven and met Assa at a restaurant. We ate something and went from there to your place--Buff and I did. Assa stopped off for an errand and came on alone.'
'What was his errand?'
'I don't know. He didn't say.'
'At the restaurant, what did he say about his visit to me?'
'Nothing. He didn't mention it. The first I heard of it was here from you.'
'When did you make the appointment to meet him at the restaurant?'
'I didn't make it.'
'Who did?'
O'Garro's jaw worked. His eyes hadn't left Wolfe. 'I'll reserve that,' he said.
'You preferred,' Wolfe reminded him, 'to have it out here and now.'
'That will do,' Hansen said, with authority. 'As your counsel, Pat, I instruct you, and you too, Oliver, to answer no more questions. I said this man is treacherous and I repeat it. He was in your employ in a confidential capacity, and he is trying to put you in jeopardy on a capital charge. Don't answer him. – -If you have anything else to say, Wolfe, we're listening.'
Wolfe ignored him and looked at Buff. 'Fortunately, Mr. Buff, Mr. O'Garro has spared me the effort of persuading you to disobey your attorney, since he has told me that you left here with him around seven-thirty.' His eyes moved. 'I deny that I am treacherous. My client is a business entity called Lippert, Buff and Assa. Until the moment of Mr. Assa's death I devoted myself exclusively to my client's interests by working on the job that had been given me. Indeed, I am still doing so, but the circumstances have altered. The question is, what will best serve the interests of that business entity under these new circumstances? Its corollary is, how can I finish my job and learn who took the wallet without exposing the murderer? I can't.'
He flattened his palms on the desk. 'Mr. Dahlmann, who was apparently equipped to furnish the vitality and vigor formerly supplied by Mr. Lippert, has been killed-- by one of you. Mr. Assa, who rashly incurred great personal risk for the sake of the firm, has also been killed-- by one of you. Who, then, is the traitor? Who has reduced the firm to a strait from which it may never recover? If it is reasonable for you to expect me to regard my client's interests as paramount, as it is, it is equally reasonable for me to expect you to do the same; and you are simpletons if you don't see that those interests demand the exposure of the murderer as quickly and surely as possible.'
His eyes fixed on the lawyer. 'Mr. Hansen. You are counsel for the firm of Lippert, Buff and Assa?'
'I am.'
'Are you Mr. Buffs personal attorney?'
