con
Uov^ , rr~ -'*'~ ^??'pany i-ive-thirty West S^,n^nth Street- ^ the <, pounds ^ for ^ Feder. f^11,1111' your name ? Montgomery. He'U conduct yotf .^.,a P388^ that 6^ on Eighteenth Street, ^f' thfre! ^ at the curb or double parked, <UJf a *''^ handkerchief on the door handle. ^J^V' D?n fc Iose f time climbing in.
TT__ _?* KOC It!
thfi r?pr?lr T.iotar, A_ ... .. r 6
handle.
Have yo* ?' ' pounds ,
'I thi^* '^ Jfd better repeat the address.' I did *?' and told mm to wait ten minutes before starting, *? fve, ^^f J? &et there. Then, after hanging *# *honed So1 Feder to instruct hhn, got Wolfe on ^ehh?USef Pjone to ^rm him, and beat it. 1 shotJ^J%! ^' to Wait ^^ ? twenty minutes i^l5 ?'', ^^ I ** to 'V Post on Eighteen^,f^ ^ ? time. My taxi had just stopped, ^i ''?'? out to ?e my handkerchief on the dff^f^ T ' hf6 they ^e *?>? the sidewalk ^.ba. ?J of WL I swung the door wide, and Fred I**4*'^ threw Peggy in ^d (fi?Bd m ^
.
viai*
her.
^'?ied and we ro?^
i we ro^ ** we^rS ^ Aw'? I asked if they had
11811 brea*22 nS6y,^ J68'D0t ^*-'V enthusiasm. The ** B' ^y lo<*?d ? if they were entirely
'Okay ^Ver'' J Sajd 8ternly? 'you know where,' 1 *? rtjU^0-
Curtains for Three 47
tout of enthusiasm. Peggy's lightweight green jacket,
I which she had on over a tan cotton dress, was rumpled
{.and not very clean, and her face looked neglected.
* Fred's hair might not have been combed for a month,
|and his brown tropical worsted was anything but
fiiatty. They sat holding hands, and about once a minute
I Fred twisted around to look through the rear window.
'We're loose all right,' I assured him. 'I've been
saving Sol Feder just for an emergency like this.'
It was only a five-minute ride. When I ushered them into the office Wolfe was there in his big custom made chair behind his desk. He arose to greet them, invited them to sit, asked if they had breakfasted properly, and said that the news of their arrest had been an f unpleasant shock.
'One thing,' Fred blurted, still standing. 'We came to see you and consult you in confidence, and forty eight hours later we were arrested. Was that pure coincidence?'
Wolfe finished getting himself re-established in his chair. 'That won't help us any, Mr. Weppler,' he said without resentment. 'If that's your frame of mind you'd better go somewhere and cool off. You and Mrs. Mion are my clients. An insinuation that I am capable of acting against the interest of a client is too childish for discussion. What did the police ask you about?'
But Fred wasn't satisfied. 'You're not a double crosser,' he conceded. 'I know that. But what about Goodwin here? He may not be a double-crosser either, but he might have got careless in conversation with someone.'
Wolfe's eyes moved. 'Archie. Did you?' 'No, sir. But he can postpone asking my pardon. They've had a hard night.' I looked at Fred. 'Sit down
48 Rex Stout
and relax. If I had a careless tongue I wouldn't last at this job a week.'
'It's damn funny,' Fred persisted. He sat. 'Mrs. Mion agrees with me. Don't you, Peggy?'
Peggy. m the red leather chair, gave him a glance and then looked back at Wolfe. 'I did, I guess,' she confessed. 'Yes, I did. But now that I'm here, seeing you--' She made a gesture. 'Oh, forget it! There's no one else to go to. We know lawyers, of course, but we don't want to tell a lawyer what we know--about the gun. We've already told you. But now the police suspect something, and we're out on bail, and you've got to do something!'
'What did you find out Monday evening?' Fred demanded. 'You stalled when I phoned yesterday. What did they say?'
'They recited facts,' Wolfe replied. 'As I told you on the phone, I made some progress. I have nothing to add to that--now. But I want to know, I must know, what line the police took with you. Did they know what you told me about the gun?'
They both said no.
Wolfe grunted. 'Then I might reasonably ask that you withdraw your insinuation that I or Mr. Goodwin betrayed you. What did they ask about?'
The answers to that took a good half an hour. The cops hadn't missed a thing that was included in the picture
