'There seems,' Judge Arnold interposed, 'to be an implication that we opposed the suggestion that a second professional opinion be secured. I must protest--' 'You did!' Grove squeaked. 'We did not!' Gifford James barked. 'We merely--'
The three of them went at it, snapping and snarling. It seemed to me that they might have saved
30 Rex Stout
their energy for the big issue, was anything coming to Mrs. Mipn and if so how much, but not those babies. Their main concern was to avoid the slightest risk of agreeing on anything at all. Wolfe patiently let them get where they were headed for--nowhere--and then invited a new voice in. He turned to Adele and spoke. 'Miss Bosley, we haven't heard from you. Which side were you on?'
IV
Adele Bosley had been sitting taking it in, sipping occasionally at her rum collins--now her second one-- and looking, I thought, pretty damn intelligent. Though it was the middle of August, she was the only one of the six who had a really good tan. Her public relations with the sun were excellent.
She shook her head. 'I wasn't on either side, Mr. Wolfe. My only interest was that of my employer, the Metropolitan Opera Association. Naturally we wanted it settled privately, without any scandal. I had no opinion whatever on whether--on the point at issue.'
'And expressed none?'
'No. I merely urged them to get it settled if possible.'
'Fair enough!' Clara James blurted. It was a sneer. 'You might have helped my father a little, since he got your job for you. Or had you--'
'Be quiet, Clara!' James told her with authority.
But she ignored him and finished it. 'Or had you already paid in full for that?'
I was shocked. Judge Arnold looked pained. Rupert the Fat giggled. Doc Lloyd took a gulp of bourbon and water.
Curtains for Three 31
In view of the mildly friendly attitude I was developing toward Adele I sort of hoped she would throw something at the slim and glistening Miss James, but all she did was appeal to the father. 'Can't you handle the brat, Gif?'
Then, without waiting for an answer, she turned to Wolfe. 'Miss James likes to use her imagination. What she implied is not on the record. Not anybody's record.'
Wolfe nodded. 'It wouldn't belong on this one anyhow.' He made a face. 'To go back to relevancies, what time did that conference break up?'
'Why--Mr. James and Judge Arnold left first, around four-thirty. Then Dr. Lloyd, soon after. I stayed a few minutes with Mion and Mr. Grove, and then went.'
'Where did you go?'
'To my office, on Broadway.'
'How long did you stay at your office?'
She looked surprised. 'I don't know--yes, I do too, of course. Until a little after seven. I had things to do, and I typed a confidential report of the conference at Mion's.'
'Did you see Mion again before he died? Or phone him?'
'See him?' She was more surprised. 'How could I? Don't you know he was found dead at seven o'clock? That was before I left the office.'
'Did you phone him? Between four-thirty and seven?'
'No.' Adele was puzzled and slightly exasperated. It struck me that Wolfe was recklessly getting onto thin ice, mighty close to the forbidden subject of murder. Adele added, 'I don't know what you're getting at.'
32 Rex Stout
'Neither do I,' Judge Arnold put in with emphasis. He smiled sarcastically. 'Unless it's force of habit with you, asking people where they were at the time a death by violence occurred. Why don't you go after all of us?'
'That's what I intend to do,' Wblfe said imperturbably. 'I would like to know why Mion decided to Mil himself, because that has a bearing on the opinion I shall give his widow. I understand that two or three of you have said that he was wrought up when that conference ended, but not despondent or splenetic. I know he committed suicide; the police can't be flummoxed on a thing like that; but why?'
'I doubt,' Adele Bosley offered, 'if you know how a singer--especially a great artist like Mion--how he feels when he can't let a sound out, when he can't even talk except 'in an undertone or a whisper. It's horrible.'
'Anyway, you never knew with him,' Rupert Grove contributed. 'In rehearsal I've heard him do an aria like an angel and then rush out weeping because he thought he had slurred a release. One minute he was up in the sky and the next he was under a rug.'
Wotfe grunted. 'Nevertheless, anything said to him by anyone during the two hours preceding his suicide is pertinent to this inquiry, to establish Mrs. Mion's moral position. I want to know where you people were that day, after the conference up to seven o'clock, and what you did.'
'My God!' Judge Arnold threw up his hands. The hands came down again. 'All right, it's getting late. As Miss Bosley told you, my client and I left Mion's studio together. We went to the Churchill bar and drank and talked. A little later Miss James joined us, stayed long enough for a drink, I suppose half an hour, and left. Mr. James and I remained together until after seven. Dur
Curtains for Three 33
