'Here, brother. I represent the exposition management. We've decided you fellows are overworked. Take this as an expression of our esteem.'
He stared. 'What's that?'
'Don't try to understand it, just take it. Redistribution of wealth. A form of communism.'
'From the exposition management?'
'Right.'
'I'll be domed. They must be crazy.' He took the bill and stuffed it in his pocket. 'Much obliged to you.'
'Don't mention it.' I waved airily. He elevated the load of straw, a big one, about one-fourth of the entire pile, above his shoulder with an expert twist, and departed.
'You said salve, didn't you?' Jimmy Pratt sounded resent- ful. 'How the hell could I know you're Robin Hood? After what you said about salve, wasn't it natural to take you for a chiseler?' He turned to Nancy. 'He knows all about Broa- son and the paper Clyde signed, anyway, since he was there when you told Wolfe. As far as your father hearing about our being together is concerned…'
I was extremely glad he had shifted to Nancy, because it gave me an opportunity I was badly in need of. I grant that I have aplomb, but I'm not constructed of wood, and it still surprises me that nothing on my face gave them alarm. What I had seen was something that had been uncovered by the removal of a portion of the straw. Making a movement, my toe had touched some object that wasn't straw, and a down- ward glance had shown me what it was. It was a brown custom made oxford perched on its heel, an inch of brown sock, and the cuff of one leg of a pair of Crawnley trousers.
So, as I say, I was glad Jimmy had shifted to Nancy, for it gave me an opportunity to kick at the straw capriciously and thereby get the shoe and sock and trouser cuff out of sight again. Nothing was left visible but straw.
Nancy was talking to me: 'Perhaps I shouldn't, after Mr. Wolfe said he would help me, but I met Jimmy this morning and we… we had a talk… and I told him about that paper and Bronson still having it… and he thought he could do something about it and I was sure he shouldn't try it with- out seeing Mr. Wolfe first… and we arranged to meet here at 2 o'clock and discuss it…'
I had unobtrusively got myself moved around to where I could reach the pitchfork handle which was protruding erect from the center of the pile of straw. With my eyes respectfully attending to Nancy, my hand idly played with the straw, which is nice to touch, and without much effort it found the spot where the handle of the fork joined the tines. Two of my fingers-feeling with the ends of their nails, which don't leave prints-explored downward along a tine, but not far, not more than a couple of inches, before they were stopped by something that was neither tine nor straw. I kept the fin- gers there half a minute, feeling, and then slowly withdrew my hand.
Jimmy demanded, 'What's the use of deadpanning her? Either you and Wolfe are going to act as decent as he talked-'
'Deadpan?' I grinned. 'Not on your life. I wouldn't know about decency, but Wolfe and I always do what he says. But you children are only going to make it harder by being indis- creet all over the fair grounds. Osgood is a difficult enough client already. For God's sake postpone this reunion for a day or two. Everybody in the county knows you, and here you stand in plain view. If you'll do what I say I'll guarantee that Wolfe and I will be as decent as doves… and Osgood will never see that paper.'
Jimmy was frowning. 'Well?'
'Separate. Disunite. Immediately. You go out at the other end and I'll take her this way.'
'He's right. Jimmy. It was awfully foolish, but you in- sisted-'
'Come on, beat it. Ten people have stopped to look in here at us in the last three minutes.'
'But I've got to know-'
'Damn it, do what I say!'
'Please, Jimmy.'
He took her hand and looked her in the eye and said her name twice as if he was leaving her bound to a railroad track, and tore himself away. I told her to come on and left the stall and turned right with her, toward the door by which I had entered. Outside I took her elbow and talked as we walked:
'I've got work to do and I'm leaving you. You've acted like a female nincompoop. It's true that emotions are emotions, but brains are also brains. To go running to Jimmy Pratt for help when you already had Nero Wolfe's! You get away from here. I suppose you have a date to meet your father some- where. If so, go there and wait for him and practice thinking.'
'But I haven't… you talk as if-'
'I don't talk as if anything. Don't worry about how I talk. Here's where I turn off. See you in kindergarten.'
I left her in the middle of a crowd, thinking that was as good a place as any, and elbowed my way across the current to where I could make better time without displaying any in- dications of panic. It took less than five minutes to get from there to the Methodist tent. Wolfe was still there, at the table, looking massively forlorn on the folding chair. He had prob- ably never before digested good food under such difficult cir- cumstances.
He frowned up at me. 'Well? Mr. Bennett?'
I sat down and nodded and restrained my voice. 'I have to make a brief but tiresome report. Item 1, Mr. Bennett will be here in 10 minutes or so. He said. Item 2, I found Nancy Osgood and Jimmy Pratt in a cowshed, discussing means of getting the paper which I have in my pocket. Item 3, in the same shed I found Mr. Bronson lying under a pile of straw, dead, with a pitchfork stuck through his heart. No one knows of the last item but me… or didn't when I left.'
