'Why would her name appeal?' Jameg demanded
his trained baritone.
Wolfe turned up a palm. 'It vniy be evidence. It ould be established that just befo^ yOU struck Mr Son you said to him, Tou let my^ghter aime^ you
-.tard.''
I put my hand in my pocket. I ^ a ^ justified experience, that whenever a % jg f^^g those sent, or may be, a gun must be^y Not rggaj^j. the back of the third drawer fmy ^^ where y are kept, as handy enough, t.h^]Liine ^ ^ trans. one to my pocket before guestej.^^ That wag s pocket I put my hand in, knowi^ cocky Jameg
- But he didn't leave his chair. mereiy blurted it's a lie!'
Wolfe grunted. 'Ten people heq you ^y it rj^ old indeed be publicity, if you 4^ it ^^ oath I all ten of them, subpoenaed to ^ contradicted I honestly think it would bel^ to discuss it me.'
'What do you want to knowf y^ A^y de inded.
'The facts. First, the one alreadjllnoot ^^^ j Ue like to know it. Mr. Grove, yous^ present when famous blow was struck. j nuoted Mr. lames correctly?'
24 Rex Stout
'Yes.' Grove's voice was a high tenor, which pleased me.
'You heard him say that?'
'Yes.'
'Miss Bosley. Did you?'
She looked uncomfortable. 'Wouldn't it be better to--'
'Please. You're not under oath, but I'm merely collecting facts, and I was told I lied. Did you hear him say that?'
'Yes, I did.' Adele's eyes went to James. 'I'm sorry, Gif.'
'But it's not true!' Clara James cried.
Wolfe rasped at her, 'We're all lying?'
I could have warned her, when she gave me that glance in the hall, to look out for him. Not only was she a sophisticated young woman, and not only did she glisten, but her slimness was the kind that comes from not eating enough, and Wolfe absolutely cannot stand people who don't eat enough. I knew he would be down on her from the go.
But she came back at him. 'I don't mean that,' she said scornfully. 'Don't be so touchy! I mean I had lied to my father. What he thought about Alberto and me wasn't true. I was just bragging to him because--it doesn't matter why. Anyway, what I told him wasn't true, and I told him so that night!' 'Which night?'
'When we got home--from the stage party after Rigoletto. That was where my father knocked Alberto down, you know, right there on the stage. When we got home I told him that what I had said about Alberto and me wasn't true.'
'When were you lying, the first time or the second?'
Curtains for Three 25
'Don't answer that, my dear,' Judge Arnold broke , lawyering. He looked sternly at Wolfe. 'This is all elevant. You're welcome to the facts, but relevant s. What Miss James told her father is immaterial.' Wolfe shook his head. 'Oh no.' His eyes went from lit to left and back again. 'Apparently I haven't ie it plain. Mrs. Mion wants me to decide for her tier she has a just claim, not so much legally as orally. If it appears that Mr. James' assault on Mr. i was morally justified that will be a factor in my sion.' He focused on Clara. 'Whether my question i relevant or not, Miss James, I admit it was embar- and therefore invited mendacity. I withdraw it. this instead. Had you, prior to that stage party, given your father to understand that Mr. Mion had iuced you?'
'Well--' Clara laughed. It was a tinkly soprano rather attractive. 'What a nice old-fashioned ay to say it! Yes, I had. But it wasn't true!'1 'But you believed it, Mr. James?' Gifford James was having trouble holding himself , and I concede that such leading questions about his ghter*s honor from a stranger must have been hard take. But after all it wasn't new to the rest of the audience, and anyway it sure was relevant. He forced IWmself to speak with quiet dignity. 'I believed what tmy daughter told me, yes.'
Wolfe nodded. 'So much for that,' he said in a re jBeved tone. 'I'm glad that part is over with.' His eyes Irtaoved. 'Now. Mr. Grove, tell me about the conference |!ia Mr. Mion's studio, a few hours before he died.'
Rupert the Fat had his head tilted to one side, with hbs shrewd black eyes meeting Wolfe's. 'It was for the ^purpose,' he said in his high tenor, 'of discussing the demand Mion had made for payment of damages.'
26 Bex Stout
'You were there?'
'I was, naturally. I was Mion's adviser and manager. Also Miss Bosley, Dr. Lloyd, Mr. James, and Judge Arnold.'
'Who arranged the conference, you?'
'In a way, yes. Arnold suggested it, and I told Mion and phoned Dr. Lloyd and Miss Bosley.'
'What was decided?'
'Nothing. That is, nothing definite. There was the question of the extent of the damage--how soon Mion would be able to sing again.'
'What was your position?'
